Vol. XIV. No. 351. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 





arrival of a sugar chemist (Mi W. McMillan) who is 

 under engagenv Dl to work on their East Coasl esl 

 .Ali\ McMillan is said to have been previously engaged 

 in Cuba. 



The Gardens of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. 



Situated at Wisley, in Surrey, are the Gardens of 

 tlic Royal Hortii Itura S much of « hose work 



is familiar to English horticulturists. Changes however, 

 are in contemplation. Tin- principal function "I the 

 station in the past has been thai of a testing ground 

 tor new species and varieties of fruits and vegetables 

 with a view to their introduction into general cultiva- 

 tion, also as a training ground for men of the gardener 

 class. In ih'' pa-i a considerable amount of Held 

 entomology ami mycologj has also been carried out. 

 Arrangements have now been made (though their 

 execution has been interfered with by the war,) to 

 make the educational and research work wider and 

 more academic. It is intended to institute a degree 

 course in horticulture in co-operation with the Imperial 

 College of Science and University of London. During 

 ih. summer the students will engage themselves in 

 pratical gardening work, and in the study of physiology 

 and pathology iii the rield. During the winter, lectures 

 and demonstrations will lie given at South Kensington. 

 Wisley is equipped with a small entomological and 

 a small mycological laboratory, also experimental glass 

 bouses and orchards Inning reserves to lie entirely 

 devoted to pathological investigation. It is intended 

 to adapt the training to meet as far as possible the 

 needs of the colonies, and it is understood that both the 

 Director (Professor Keeble, F.R.S i and the consulting 

 entomologisl (Professor Maxwell-Lefroy) are desirous 

 of giving special consideration to West Indian facilities 

 lor tropical agricultural education. 



It inn) be mentioned that the Wisley gardens 

 are verj ornamental as well as useful, the Heck garden 

 being one ofthemost notable of its kind. In many 

 respects Wislej should be a better training ground 

 for the tropics than the Agricultural Colleges 

 though it is doubtful whether, from a purely educa- 

 tional standpoint, the curriculum of a horticultural 

 coursi is as good as the broader principled and more 

 complex agricultural one. 



Agricultural Banks for Trinidad. 



Since L889, or even earlier, there has been 

 throughout the West Indies considerable agitation to 

 obtain agricultural credit, banks. In Trinidad the 

 movement has been particularly vigorous and. if may 

 be added, ineffective, until quite recentlj Many years 

 ago a People's Hank was established, but this failed. 

 nor would it ever have reached the foundationer all 



rural • perative concerns even if it had existed 



namely, the treeing of the peasant from the money 



lender. A useful account of the h 



movement for cred inks in the Wesl Indies will be- 



found in the II liullrti „ , Vol. XIV. No. I. 



ile hi ading oi l ■ Wesl Endii - and ( !o opi 



I 'i > dlt. 



It would appear thai at last the go\ of 



Trinidad has decidi ike the matter up defii 



We learn that a draff bill 1m- been drawn up, 

 apparently on the lim - ol the St. Vincenl Agricultural 

 f Iri dit Act. which w ill be found re] ed in the 



m above. This has, however, been some- 

 what amended sine The main object is to assist 

 and control the formation oi Societies along Raiffeisen 

 lines, as in St. Vincent. It is understood that the 

 Director of Agriculture will be Registrai undei tie 

 Ordinance, and thai in maj If he think tit appoint 

 Inspectors. The Government has reserved the right 

 to refuse without explanation a lie, -use to any proposed 

 society, and it also reserves the right to cancel the 

 registration of any bank for reasons which may appeal 

 good and sufficient. Apparently if is intended to 

 govern the system with a firm hand, and we believe 

 that this will be the only satisfactory way of carrying 

 the scheme in Trinidad to a successful conclusion. 



Imperial Bureau of Entomology. 



Mr. Austen Chamberlain, the newly appoint 

 Chairman of the Managing Committee of the abc 



institution, has presented a very satisfactory and 

 encouraging report on the Bureau's work for 1914. 

 He is able to record the emphatic opinion of the 

 Committee"~"Unat, for the two years during which it 

 has been established, the Bureau has more than 

 justified its existence. The most gratifying recogni- 

 tion of its work is perhaps the unsolicited testimony 

 that has been extended from abroad. Thus Professor 

 Kulagin, the distinguished Director of the Moscow- 

 Agricultural Institute, writing to the Director of the 

 Bureau (Mr. < •. A. K. Marshall) on the subject of the 

 Review of Applieil Entomologn (one of the Bureau's 

 publications) said: i am prepared to serve you as far 

 a- I possibly can. Your journal is necessary for all 

 entomologists, and it is the duty of all of us to help 

 you.' And Mr. E. Porter Felt, the State .Entomologist 

 for New York, recently wrote: I wish to voice m\ 

 personal appreciation of the Review published, and to 

 express the hope thai it will be continued along 

 substantially the same lines, since with the passage 

 of years it is going to he an exceedingly convenient 

 medium for keeping track of work in all branches ,,) 

 entomology.' 



The Bureau is a l work in all parts of the Empire, 

 and has very fine collections of economic insects in its 

 possession. By means of these, determinations can be 



made for entomologists Ul the colonies and elsewhere, 



ami track kept of the distribution of [tests and their 

 parasites. The Imperial Bureau of Entomolgy has on 

 inan\ occasions rendered valuable assistance to th< 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture in the West 

 Indies. 



