376 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



V>\ EMBER 20, 1915 



EDITORIAL 





i NOTICES. 



».■' 

 Ih >d Office V Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents' and no1 to the Department. 



Thi complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page 3 of 

 flu' cover. 



Imperial Commissioner <>/ Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc, 



Agriculture for the West Indies F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC ST Ml. 



JScieiitijic Assistant and 



Assistant Editor W. K. Dunlop. 



.Entomologist H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell, D.l ('. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



Chi.f </.-/. V i.. Howell. 



Assistant I M. !'■ »'"iin. -11. 



Tnnim Clerk W I'. Bovell, 



Assistant Junior CU I, P. Taylor 



Typist Miss i'> Robinson. 



,,„,.,. | \. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



Assist ints for Fm IL A Corbin 



^qricullura! MtM 



"Tol. XIV. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1915. No. 354. 



r- — 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number discusses the manner 

 in which trees growing in orchard and forest soils obtain 

 their supply of nitrogen. The question of the possible 

 importan< f fungi tn thisrespeel is raised. 



[mportanl experimental work with limes in 

 I lominica n ceiv< s attenl ion on page 272. 



Competition in the Orange Trade. 



According to an article u the Journal of (In' 

 /io ' Society of Arts, il appears that orangi interests 

 in Spain were much perturbed on the outbreak of war, 

 anil mass mi were la-Id i" urge the finding of 



new markets in America. With iliis object a delega- 

 tion of orange men wen! to the United States to in> 

 tigate that market, and to see ii i1 were possible to 

 inaugurate direel trade with thai country; but it was 

 so m discoi ered I hat compel ition with < lalifornia and 

 Florida fruit was not feasible. 



It, would seem that if a largo and old-established 

 industry like that of orang ro ing in Spain cannot 

 find an opening in the United States, it must be even 

 a more difficult matter for the West Indian trade to 

 effect such an opening. And wo have to remember 

 that it is not merely California and Florida with which 

 competition takes place, but also Cuba, Porto Rico 

 and Central America in fact all the vast fruit-pro- 

 ducing areas controlled by the United Fruit Company. 



[terns ot Local Lnterest will Vie found on the last 

 page but oho in this i- i 



insect Motes on page 378, < tern the control of 



, n i s which take awaj onion Beed; and Fungus Notes, 

 page 382, throw new light on the witch-broom 

 disease of cac to. 



War Conditions and the Rubber Trade. 



It is interesting to read in the Colonial Report 

 on the Straits Settlements for 1 !H3 that the inflated 

 dividends ot the rubber trade of' previous years are 

 'gone for ever': and then to turn to such an article as 

 that on Hevea in the Agricultural Bulletin, F.M.S., 

 for Jul) I !>1"), and see that the present condition of the 

 rubber market is in the nature of a small boom in 

 low-priced shares — a result ot' the present increased 

 demand tor the commodity. The war has made hea 

 demands upon the rubber trade both in England and 

 America. This no doubt was one ot' the reasons which 

 led to the removal of the embargo on Eastern rubber 

 for the United States last year. Increased production 

 is likel\ to be maintained tor some time. 



( >n the planter's side however, it is worth reflecting 

 on, that the present phase of activity maybe followed 

 l>\ one of greater depression than ever, and in this 

 connexion the present tendency towards reduction in 



estate expenditure is t o 1 le st I'ol I - / \ i'Iii l'.'l g ei I . |t \\,|S 



mentioned in the last issue of thi Agricultural News 

 that on some estates in Ceylon, for example, rubber 

 is being produced by means of alternate day tappings 

 and other economies al an all-in cosl of Id. per lb., or 

 even less. 



At this cost good profits can be realized if first 

 grade rubber is onlj selling at Is. per lb. instead of 

 2a lie. which is nearer the usual price. Further 

 saving may, it is expected, follow ultimately from the 

 selection of seed on the lines recently instituted by 

 Dr. Cramer, and advocated for the Federated Malay 



States by Mr. S nbs, Economic Botanist, in the 



Agricultural Bulletin, alreai red to«above. 



deduct expenditure in every kind of 



cultivation is the best I against economic 



depression in the markets. 



