A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL :PARTMENT AGRICULTUR HE WEST INDIES. '«^ 



Vol. XIV. No. 351. 



BARBADOS, OCTOBEB 9, 1915. 



Pek k Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



A i [cultural Banks for Trini- 

 dad 329 



Agricultural [ndustries in 

 Deuierara 328 



Agricultural Progress in 



Fiji 335 



\ : i : ult ure in i In- Fed- 

 erated Malay sen, - ... :;:',i 



Ant igua ( • 1 1 i < >i i < trovers' 

 Association: Report foi 

 [91 I L5 324 



< btoi Notes: 



i '"linn Expo] ts from the 



West Indies :'.•-><; 



West [ndian Cotton ... 32(i 



1 i mat el j Situated ... "''-'1 

 ii- .it the Royal Hor 

 ticultural Societj 329 



Gleanings 332 



Insert Notes 



The Acrobat Ant 330 



Imperial Bureau I 

 mologj 329 



[terns ..I Local Interest... 320 



Page. 



Manjack Deposits in I'nit 

 ish West [ndies 



M et Reports 



V - and Comments ... 



Notes from • !rown Colon) 

 Reports 



Plant Diseases 

 The Effects of Exposure 

 of I. nne Trees 



P Rico, A Year's 

 Work ... 



Ri - Suitable for Cultiva- 

 tion in West [ndies ... 



Sugar industry:— 



How t" \\"i'i Errors 

 in Field Trials with 



Sugar-cane 



Removal oi Sugar Duties 



m r.s \ 



Tomatoes and Manure... 



West [ndian Agriculture, 

 i i > operat ive Insurance 

 in 



West Indian Products 



331 

 330 

 328 



330 



334 



327 



323 



322 



325 



324 

 335 



Fortunately Situated. 



jONSIDERABLE anxiet) is being fell in 

 ) many countries at the .present nine concern- 

 ■ ■ !,. scarcit j ol p tsh manures, the supply 

 iif which is .i ( lerman monopol) . Vigorous efforts have 

 been made to develop certain potential sources such as 

 ma) be found in varieties oi felspar and in seaweeds, 

 bul it appears impossible t<> make good in this way 

 the present deficiency, at least in a manner that will 

 prove economical. A tecenl article by Dr. Russell of 

 Rothamsted silently acknowledges this fact, for in it 

 attention is confined to the courses that should be 

 adopted in tanning land without the usual potash 



manures. Two methods, says Dr. Russell, may be 

 adopted: other sources of potash can In- used instead 

 of the Stassfurl salts: and secondly, the supplies of 

 potash in the soil can be made available. 'Other 

 sources' consist of the ashes of various plants together 

 with animal tnanun s. I treat care, it is said, should be 

 taken of liquid manure, a valuable source of potash 

 which is often allowed 10 run to waste in normal times- 



The second suggestion of making supplies in the 

 soil available is new and important. It must, be 

 remembered that potash is not easily washed out of the 

 soil; it is absorbed by various substances. Consequently 

 if a soil has been well managed, considerable stores are 

 to be fotmd in it though much of it ma) be in 

 slowly available form. Two agencies may be adopted 

 to set free the mineral: sodium salts, especially 

 salt and sodium sulphate may be .added, oi 

 lime or chalk ma) be applied. Neither lime nor 

 salt actually supplies potash; their action is in the 



nature of a substitution process in which lim ■ 



soda takes the place of potash in the unavailable 

 chemical compound. Possibly, however, in the ease of 

 many crops, the soda is directly useful to the plant and 

 will fulfil some of the functions of potassium salts. 

 Lime, however, cannot take the place of potash, audits 

 effeel is entirely indirect. The processas a who 

 essentially one of liquidating capital, and if persisted 

 in for many seasons might have bad effects: but, as 

 Dr. RnSsell points out, as a war measure no harm i ed 

 l>e anticipated. Some crops grown in England and 



other temperate countries require very large i mnts 



of potash. The potato crop is an example. Unfor- 

 tunately there are firmly rooted objections to the 

 application of lime and salt to potato land, .and it looks 

 as if the world's potato crop of 156 million tons 

 annually, is likely to suffer. It is certainl) tin- largest, 

 and perhaps the mosl important crop in the world. 



