296 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



Sept] mbeb 1 1, 1915. 



EDITORIAL 



He id i Iffice 



NOTICES. 

 — Baebados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Departmenl of Agriculture, 

 ^Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the ' Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents, and nol to the Depart] 



The complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page 3 t 

 the cover. 



j,,,; imissi-tier of Francis Watts, CM. G., D.Sc, 



Agri West lndie> F.l.C, F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



I ific I ssistant and 

 Assistant Koitor 

 Entomologist 

 Vyci 



W". U. Duolop. 



II. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



VV. Nowell, D.I.C. 



LERK VI STAFF. 



■Ucuf Clerh 

 Assistant <'!<>!■ 

 Junior ' '!• * /. 

 Assistant Junior CJ( rk 



-Assistants for Publications 



\. (.. Bowell. 



M. P.. Connell. 



W. P. Bovell. 



P. Taylor. 



Mi-.?- l'>. Robinson. 



i A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



\L. A. Corbin. 



Agricultural yinus 



"Vol. XIV. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBEB 11, 1915. No. 349. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



•Contents of Present Issue. 



The new movement in the direction of organizing 



nee in Great Britain is dealt with in the editorial 



to this number. The significance in relation to the 



•organization of science in agriculture also receives 



attent ion. 



Considerable space is d< \ tfed in tins issue to sub- 

 jects pertaining to the production of sugar. These 

 articli s will be found on pages -2!>2 to 293. 



( in page 291 will be found a summary of the con- 

 tents of the recently issued report on the St. Lucia 

 Agricultural Department, 1914-15. 



Insect Notes, on page 298, give an illustrated 



Account of West. Indian wasps, while Fungus Notes, 

 [,:i U . ■:;(>•_» refer tea diseasi : of ma iig,,. >s ani 1 give an 

 interesting summarj of the new pamphlet just issued 



on the diseases of lime trees interest districts. 



A New Pamphlet. 



On another page in this number will be found 

 a note summarising thi contents of Pamphlel N>>. Tit 

 jusl issued bj this Department on the subjecl of 

 diseases oflime trees in forest districts. The pamphlet 

 written l>\ Mr. \Y. Nowell, Mycologist to this 

 I ). partment, who has given the subject much attention 

 Loth in the Held and the laboratory, and the causes and 

 methods of control are very clearlj indicated. Prim- 

 arily the information to the inland plantations 

 of Dominica where for some time a proportion of 

 the lime trees have been severelj affected by root 

 diseas s. There is no doubl that the trouble can 

 !).• arrested U the general adoption of the methods 

 indicated, but there is no known specific m the 

 nature of a definite cure. Everything depends upon 

 the planter's approaching the problem in an intelli- 

 gent and systematic manner. To assist in this 

 Mr. Nowell gives a plain-worded account of the 

 nature of fungi aud the ways in which they work. 

 Popular ideas on these points are less enlightened than 

 they should be, considering how much has been done in 

 past years to stimulate a proper appreciation. From 

 a literary standpoint the chief feature of the pamphlet 

 is its plain-worded and convincing style. The planter's 

 p lint of view is kept in mind throughout. 



The price of tnfe publication is 3d. There are forty 

 odd pages of subject-matter and five plates, prepared 

 from original photographs. 



Is the Fermentation of Cacao Necessary ? 



It was urged by Professor Perret at the Third 

 International Congress of Tropical Agriculture that 

 cacao might be prepared for export on the estate by 

 'stablization' in steam underpressure. This produces 

 a product which is incapable of undergoing any chemical 

 change, and there is good reason for believing that 

 beans thus stertilized' could be used in the chocolate 

 industry. 



A quality of cacao so treated on the Ivory 

 Coast has been submitted through oneofthe largest, 

 French chocolate firms to industrial treatment. To 

 the astonishment of those who were entrusted with the 

 roasting, the cacao became fragrant and was in no 

 respect inferior to the products obtained by fermen- 

 tation in the same region. Eere, therefore, is evidence 

 showing that fermentation of cacao seems to fefeofrio 

 advantage for obtaining an excellent product tor manu- 

 fac-t tiring purposes, and it is believed that its adoption 

 would have the doubts advantage of not raising the net 

 cost of production as well as securing for the manu- 

 facturers uniformity of grade ( 



It ma\ be asked whether this method of treating 

 cacao is not worth consideration as regards the West 

 Indies, particularly on those estates where trouble is 

 experienced in this matter! It might prove useful for 

 growers to communicate through their merchants in- 

 direct with chocolate manufacturers in regard to this 

 interesting point. 



