232 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.In.N IT, 1915. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Ofi 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados 



Li bfcers 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 he 

 addressed to the Agents, and not, in the Department. 



The complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page '■'• of 

 the co\ ii. 



Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agricultu) • for the II'. si Indit i 



Francis Watts, CM. G., D.Sc. 



K.I.C., F.O.S. 



-. n;vi III.' STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant mid 



Assistant Editor 

 Entomologist 

 Mycologist 



VV. R. Dunlop. 



H. A. Ball. hi. M.Sc. 

 W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



i LERII II STAFF. 



Chief I 



Assistant ('/.//, 

 Junior Clerk 

 Assistant Jv/nior Clerk 

 Typist 



Assistants for Publications 



A. G. Howell. 

 M. B. Connell. 

 W. P. Bovell. 



i'. Taylor. 



.Miss B. Robinson. 



("A. B.Price, Fell. Joum.Inst. 



I L. A. ( '.irliin. 



Agricultural JjUim 



Vol. XIV. SATURDAY. .11' I A' 17, 1015. X,,. :!|5. 



Research at Rothamsted: 1914. 



In the Annual Report of the Rothamsted 

 Experimental Station for l!U4. Dr. E. J. Russell (the 

 Director) furnishes a useful review of the latesl 

 principles of soil chemistry. At Rothamsted two 

 general methods oj investigation are adopted the 

 operations of the best practical men are studied; and 

 experiments are mail.' to discovi i precisely the plant s 

 requirements. The Brsl often furnishes useful ideas, 

 but the second generallj gives i 'e precise informa- 

 tion, and frequently purely academic investigations 

 have been the moans ..t solving practical problems. 



Water-supply is a factor of tin- first importance 

 In, ih as regards the supply of mineral nutrients and 

 the activity of micro-organisms. Recenl research has 

 furnished important results concerning the evaporation 

 of soil moisture (see Agricultural News, Vol. XIV, 

 p. 205) and work on tin soil atmosphere has been 

 equally profitable. In tin- latter connexion it has been 

 found, tor instance, that there is a second atmosphere 

 dissolved in the soil moisture and colloids, and that 



oxygen is used up in this 'water-at sphere' mere 



rapidly than if is renewed by solution from the 

 tree ail. 



.Much has been done in regard to the effects of 

 lime and chalk, but the precise effects of these sub- 

 stances are still to Vic determined. New ideas have 

 arisen concerning methods of soil analysis. The usual 



method of extraction of acids is apparently being 

 displaced by a process of absorption. The reaction 

 between dilute acids and soils app ars to he essentially 

 a displacement of absorbed material by something 

 which is itself absorbed. Hence, by this view, any 

 agenl capable of being absorbed 1>\ the soil can be used 

 at any rate for the extraction o| bases. In fact it has 

 been found already that ammonium nitrate dissolves 

 as much potassium, calcium, etc.. as an acid does. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number deals with thesubjecl 



of ankylostomiasis, more commonly known as hook- 

 worm disease. Its cause prevalence, and means "of 



eradication receive attention. 



On page 226 will be found a review of a recenl 

 Rook by Dr. Prinsen Geerligs entitled Practical White 

 Sugar Manufacture. 



Some interesting information concerning minor 



crops appears on pages 228 and 229. Ai gst those 



considered are onions, maize and indigo. 



Insect Note- deal with the subject of col 

 etainers and stained cotton. In Fungus Notes the 

 article on the internal disease 61 cotton bolls the firsl 



■ I which appeared in last issue, is concluded. 



Universities in the Tropics. 



The interesting sketch of the late Dr. Treub's 

 energetic work in connexion with the promotion of 

 botanical res. arch in Java, which appears in Tropical 

 Life tor April 1915, calls to mind the striking 

 circumstance that educational movements in the 

 tropics have been almost entirety foreign in origin. In 

 other words, countries like the United States and 

 Holland have been the pioneers a- regards the 

 establishment of public institutions for agricultural 

 research. The Philippines possess a large university 

 in which agriculture holds the status of an important 

 faculty; Porto Rico has an agricultural college, which, 

 though in its infancy, may 1» expected nevertheless to 

 develop successfully; and as Tropical Life points outs 

 Holland made Buitenzorg a centre lor the study of 

 1 ropical botany in t he East. 



Tic- striking feature of Dr. Treub's constructive 

 work in the promotion of agricultural research was its 

 international character. Not content with providing 

 facilities tor local students. Dr. Treub founded the 



