A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XIV. No. 



i;.\i;i'.\i)()S, i-'Ki:i;i ",\i;\ 27, L915. 



Peice lei. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Bananas, Note s on Experi 



mental Drying "t 



Baj ' 'il [ndu utry, \.d\ anci 



ment of West Indian ... 

 Triple Purpose 



Breed of 



C< n, Exp< i iinenl -m Kiln- 



Drying at Antigua ... 

 O Notes: 



Amendment of t he Cot- 

 ton Traffic < Ordinance, 

 St. Kitts-Nevis 



British Cotton Growing 

 Association 



\\ \>t Indian Cotton ... 



i ■ lenl News 



Departmental Reports ... 

 Divi drt i. Soui ce of Valu 



ableDye 



Dominica, Rainfall in 



r.M4 



-. Textile, Present 



Supply of 



!■' Istuffs. Animal, Con 



Papers "ii 



Fungus N • 't 



Rusts and Smuts of 



[ndian Corn 



Gleanings 



68 



Hookwoww 



Page. 

 Nodular 



I »isi ase in Sheep 67 



Insect No! is: 



Agricultural Pests, N ig< 



ri;i 74 



Introduction of Disease... 65 

 Items of Li.ru! interest ... 68 

 Jute and Hemp, Product ion 



of 77 



Linn- Juice, Deterioration 



of 76 



Limes, Cultivation of in 



St. Vincent 68 



Market Reports 80 



Notes and Comment 8 ... 7- 

 oils. Outlook for 



Fixed ... ... 7'.' 



Rubber, < iommercial, Shape 



of 73 



Sisal Hemp Industry in 



British East Africa ... 7."' 



Students' Corner 77 



Sugar Industry: 



Mam factureof t !oncrete 



Sugar 66 



Tapper, influence of the 



Skill of 7:5 



Thymol, Production 



of 73 



Introduction of Disease. 



jITlU'S CANKER will by dow be a familiar 

 )term to most readers of bhis journal, since at 

 [least bhrei surticles have appeared on the 

 subject in recenl The present discussion, 



however, unlike the oth rs, does not concern the .study 

 and control of the disease, but rather the grave lesson 

 afforded bj its widespread occuirence in the United 

 States. Citrus canker is present in all the Gulf 

 - and was introduced from Japan probably within 



t ho last five years. Florida appears to have been tho 

 latest State to become ■ I, and here,,in a country 



where citrus cultivation is a major industry, the rapid 

 spread of the disease lias produced a sensation and 

 called for efforts of eradication almost unparalleled u 

 the history of plant- pathology. Fearing re-infection 

 from abroad, the United States Governim has abso- 

 lute^ prohibited the importation of citrus stock into 

 ant part of the country. .Meanwhile the work of eradica- 

 tion continues. This work, strenuous and expensive, 

 is being vigorously undertaken by the growers them- 

 selves, in co-operation with the officials of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



The causative fungus was introduced originally, ib 

 is believed, on stocks of Citrus trifoliata from Japan. 



This species is fairly resistant to the disease, but is 

 easily capable of carrying it. Once in the Uniti 

 the infection spread from C. trifoliata to allied plants 

 like the grapefruit and orange, which proved to be 

 highly susceptible. Tea less extent it attacked limes 

 and lemons. These facts illustrate the danger not 

 only of introducing plants of a particular species 

 in cultivation, but the even greater danger of intro- 

 ducing allied plants. The latter, like C. trifoliata, 

 ma) be capable of effective resistance to a di 



OC ing in their native country; hut species in the 



countrj into which the allied pi, mis are introduced 

 which have not been exposed to the disease, may prove 

 to be extreme!) susceptible. The history of dis 



affords several instances of this. The A can i 



berry . tor example, isresistanl to mildew. But when these 

 hardystocks were introduced into Europe, thej brought 

 infection with them, which led to a widespread 

 epidemic amongst i he less hardy European gooseberry— 

 a catastrophe which ha- aecessitated the expenditure 



