. 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OP 'I hi 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XIV. No. 340 



BARBADOS, MAY 8, 1915. 



Trice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Page. 



Ami-::" \-; i' ultura] and 

 Ri 



porl "ii 152 



Anti.i. i, l'.\ I nv foi the 



Mil. ni L53 



Antigu i, ^ r.iiK Rainfall in 1">:'> 

 Bahamas, Rei ival of Bei 



de mi i [ndustrj in ... 155 

 Beai sii V.mei ca, Ini eresl 



ing 158 



Caca i Ti i es, Thrips on.., I">7 

 Casfcoi i »il Seed Cultivation 

 in the West In. lies. 



Outlook for 155 



nuts for Planting, 



Selection of L49 



Cotton Noti 



A Cse of Sea Island 



Cotton 150 



British Cotton Grow m^ 



Association 150 



Cotton in Barbados ... 150 

 Fumigation of Egyptian 



Cotton Seed L50 



Wesl Indian t lotton ... 150 

 Cuba, Timber Resou i i 



157 



Depai i in. nt New s L55 



Dominica Official Guide... I"'-'. 

 Dynamite, Farming with... 147 

 Gleanings L56 



Increasing the I'lani s Effi 



145 



Insect Notes 

 A Method of Fumigal ing 



- d 154 



Cassava Stem Borei ... L54 

 Pi a and Bean W ee^ ils... 154 

 of Local Interest ... 159 

 Jamaica, Trade and Vgri 



culture of 151 



Lima lira i is. Cultivation of 158 

 ManurialExpei'iinentsw iili 

 Indian Corn in Nevis... K>7 



Market Reports L60 



Notes and Comments ... L52 

 is, Grape-fruit and 

 Pine-apples, Handling of 148 

 Poultry on Coco-nut Estates, 



Re iring of 151 



■11 during April, 



abnormal 152 



Sugar Industrj . 



Vet ion nf Micro organ- 

 isms in Cam- Juices 



and Syrups 147 



Sweet Potato \\ eevil ... 163 

 Tohoku College ol \ sp icul 



ture I.'p7 



1 to Exhibition, 1914, 



\\ est Indian Awards at I 48 

 Trinidad. Tonka Beans in, ]'<■'• 



Increasing the Plant's Efficiency. 



;N his address to the Agriculture section 

 »a1 the Melbourne n eting ol the British 

 ^Association for the Advancement of Science 

 Mr. A. I>. Hall, F.R.S., referred to the inefficiency of 

 tin planl as a buildi r up of food material, and called 

 attention to the necessity in the future of speeding up 

 the bio-chemical re; rhich produce ear bohyd rate 



The whole of existence,' said Mn Hall, 'is based 

 upon the fundamental process bj which the green leaf 

 utilizes thi energy of the light falling upon ii to spht 

 up the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere, .and trans- 

 form it into those fundamental carbon compounds - 

 sugars, starches, etc, which buildup the substance of 

 the plant. The animal creates nothing; it is only 



a transformer, and rather a wasteful i al that, of 



the compounds initially built up bj the plant. Now, 

 though the leaf is thus the prime creative force it is 

 yel a comparatively ineffective machine For dealing 

 with the energy contained in the light, for it dues not 

 succeed in storing up in the shape of plant materials 

 it produces as much as one per cent, of the energy 

 that falls upon it as light, and in bright, tropical light 

 the percentage utilized is even less. A steam engine 

 given a certain amount of energj in the shape of coal, 

 turns out again about one- seventh of it in the shape 

 of useful work, a gas or oil engine is an even more 

 effective transformer. Can the duty of the leaf be 

 increased so that it shall effect a greater production of 

 dry matter for the amount of light energy it receives? 

 We knew very little as yet about even the sequent 

 chemical changes in the leaf beyond the fact that we 

 begin with carbon dioxide and water .and end with 

 oxygen and some sort of sugar, we are beginning to 

 acquire knowledge as to the extent the rate "1 change 

 i- affected by the supplj of light, carbon dioxide, and 

 water, and by the temperature. lint we have now 

 many examples in chemistrj of reactions being speeded 

 up or rendered mere complete by means of some 

 adjustment of the external conditions, so it is perhaps 

 not too much to expect that this fundamental pi 

 of carbon accumulation maj also be tuned up until 

 the leaf becomes of greater efficiency than at present 

 in producing tissue from the materials and et 

 supplied to it.' 



