216 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.h \.\ 3, 1915. 



■ 



EDITORIAL 



Him 



NOTICES. 



Barbj> 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as .-ill 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Dep*artmen1 of Agriculture' 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page :! of 

 thi ci 



Imperia of Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc. 



Agricwllm foi On West Indies P.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFII STAFF. 



Scii ntific Lssi 

 .I taut I. < 



En ' 'onisi 



M logist 



\\ . R. Dunlop. 



H. A. Ballou, M.So. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



Chief Clerl 



Assist" at I 7, / /. 

 Junior < 7, , /. 



Assistant •' unior ( '!< rl 

 Typ, i 



Assistants i ■ Publications 



A. G. Howell. 



\I. B. Connell. 



\V. P. Bovell. 



I'. Taylor. 



Miss I'.. Robinson. 



I \. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



(1j. A. Corbin. 



Agricultural jOnrs 



Vol. XIV. SA'ITKDAY, -im ."., 1915. No. 344. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number contains a review of 



recenl literatur the alcdnol-as-fuel question, and 



suggests the desirability of demonstrations in some of 

 the West Endian colonies particularly those in which 

 sugar i- ' be staple produd 



i;, produced on page 213 will 1"- found the general 

 rules and grade descriptions of the [Jni ted j States 

 federal corn grades. 



The important subj i aciditj in soils is dealt 



with as a note and t page 217. 



Department of Agriculture, Trinidad and 



Tobago, 1913-14. 



The Report op the Department of Agriculture, 

 Trinidad and Tobago, for the year 1913-14, a copj ol 

 winch has recenth be< n i I al this ' (flEice contains 



several items of interest. As regards the work of the 

 Botanical Department, amongsl other matters taken 

 in hand during the year under review was the clea 

 burning and planting up of 2 acres of the lands in the 

 Emperor Valley in Hevea rubber and Robusta coffee, and 

 I acre each in Hevea rubber and limes, Hevea rubber, 

 limes and coffee, limes, Sapucaia nuts, and Tonka beans. 

 In connexion with the nursery work al theSt.-Clair 

 Experiment Station, it is mentioned that -lii th. of 

 Robusta coffee h.«| specialty imported from the 

 Belgian Congo were readilj disposed of. The total 

 amount realized bj sale of plants at this station was 

 £450 14*. \\\,I. as^compared with £197 12s. 2d. for 

 the previous year. In addition, plants, etc., to the 

 value of £36 L7s. T\d. were distributed free, or in 

 exchange. 



The Governnitent stock farm seems also to hi 

 maintained its efficiency and usefulness, especially in 

 regard to the raising of pigs. The breeds kept arc 

 Tamworth, Berkshire and I'.. land China; during the 

 Mar ninety-one pigs were sold, realizing $291"82. 



The average rainfall for fifty-two years L862-1913 

 is given as follows: Januar) 2"84, February 1*56, 

 .March 1-90, April L91, Ma) :) : 7!». .Mine 809, July 8-87, 

 August 981, September 7 "25, October ti (>."). November 

 (>■!!:>. December 471 inches, making a total of 6438 

 inches. 



[nsi ct Notes, on page 21 8, deal a ith t hi pests oi 

 ind beans, and Fungus Not !22 consist 



of the first article o aling with th< internal 



bolls. 



America, and Agricultural Engineering in the 

 Tropics. 



The Louisiana State University and Agricultural 

 and Mechanical College possesses an engineering 

 department in which a special stud) is made of sugar 

 machinery. Bulletins have appeared embracing the 

 results of such studies as the efficiency of heating and 

 evaporating apparatus, boiler test-, fuel economy, and 

 similar matters. 



During last year the department conducted an 

 investigation in Porto Rico in connexion with heat and 

 evaporation, and, according to the Twenty-seventh 

 Annual Report of the College, thi data obtained are of 

 especial value in that thej make possible comparisons 

 of the efficiencies obtained in good Louisiana and 

 tropical plants. 



In the West Indies, valuable data arc on record at 

 the larger factories, but there exists no institution where 

 this can be utilized for educational or investigation 

 purposes. In a recent editorial in this journal it was 

 shown that ject of agricultural engineerinj 



relatively neglected , in th West [ndies, and the case of 

 the Louisiana College offers an example of what might 

 be d ■ in these c ilonies. 



While speaking ol agricultural colleges in relation 

 to Porto Rico il mighl be in< nl ion d that Porto Rico 



