- 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 31, 1915. 



EDITORIAL 



II i !!■ On i.K 



NOTICES. 



Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publii ell as all 



specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commission Imperial Departmenl of Agriculture' 

 Barb 



All ap ns for copies of the Agricultural 



News' and other Depart ntal publica mid be 



addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Vgents, and ili«' subscription 

 and advertisemeirl rates, will be found on page •'{ of 

 the cover. 



/.in <if ncis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc 



Agrit West hidies F.I.C., !■' ( - 



SCIKNTIFII STAFF. 



Scientific Asbistnni and 



Assistant h'oitoi 

 J&ntomologisi 

 ^Mycologist 



\V. II. Dunlop. 



H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



i i i . i ' ', i STAFF, 



■Cluef Clerk 

 Assistant ( 7. i /. 

 Junior ( '/■ 1 1. 

 jltsistant Junior Clerk 

 -Typist 



Assistants for 1'tili! irntioi, 



\. G. Howell. 



VI. B. Connell. 



« P. I'm Mil. 



P. Taylor. 



Mi>s B. Robins 



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



IL. A. Corbin. 



Agricultural linrii 



"Vol. XIV. SATURDAY, .H'l.V 31, 1915. Xo. 346. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



^Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in ibis number deals with the arl of 

 nature teaching, and consists o.f a review ofa publication 

 which contains many suggestive ideas thai should 

 prove stimulating and usefuljn the Wesl [ndies. 



In connexion with the above, attention should be 

 given i" the review of tropical readers on page 243. 



[terns of local agricultural interest will be found on 

 '24-5. 



A suggestive article on the planting of teak on 

 waste lands appears on page 253. 



Inseci Notes and Fungus Notes deal with the 

 pink bull worm of cotton, and a new form of black rool 

 ase "ii cacao, respect \\ el) . 



West Indies in Canada, 1915. 



Tins v(.u's edition of the illustrated handbook hav- 

 ing the above title basjusl been issued by this Depart- 

 menl and forwards to Canada for distribution ai the 

 trial Exhibition which opens at Toronto inwards 

 the end of August. The figures relating to trade 

 between the Wesl Indies and < !anada have been brought 

 up to dateand include • I statemenl for thi 



ending .March 25, 1915. The section di West 



Indian products has been i u full) rised, and in this 

 ami other sectons of the publica ion man) new illus- 



ms have been introduced. As in former Mars the 



advertisement section ( tinues to bean important 



[t is worth noting that since none of the colonies 

 with the exception of Jamaica are exhibiting, the present 

 publication is prac icall) the onlj West [ndian medium 

 these colonies have this year, for bringing their wants 

 before the ( Canadian public. 



One oi i he objects of I he handbook is to encoui 

 the visits oft lanadian tourists and men of business, ft 

 is hoped that, in spite of the disturbed conditions, next 

 s ason may see a goodly number of such visitors in 

 these islands. 



Eradication of Weeds. 



The Experiment Station Record for Febro 

 L 91 5 refers to a paper dealing with observations on 

 the eradication of weeds by the use of kainit, in which 

 are described twelve experiments with several kinds of 

 weeds growing with cereals and treated with varying 

 amounts of kainit. The author concludes thai kainit, 

 is a serviceable weed killer when used under certain 

 favourable conditions. The first requirement is the 

 application of a sufficient quantity, not less than 

 1,200 kg. per hectare (1,068 in. per acre), and increasing 

 with the age of the weed to a probable maximum 

 application oi •_'.()()() kg. The application must be 

 made on heavy dew or rain-dampened plants; the best 

 results follow use on a drj da) Fogg) or misty 

 weather after the application retards the action of the 

 kainit and will make the results doubtful. In the 

 experiments, the action of kainit was especially 

 favoured by dry or slightlj frozen ground, which condi- 

 tions seemed to re.ta.rd the flow of water to the plants 

 tu relieve the j ilasuii ilyl ic act ii hi . if t In • kainit. The 

 useoffinely ground kainit evenly distributed greatly 

 favoured its action. The weeds musl not be old, and 

 the younger, the better were the results. 



All kinds of weeds were not equally acted upon by 

 the kainit. A heavy application of kainit had an 

 injurious effect upon the texture of the soil surface 

 except in tin presence of lime. The potash in the 

 kainit served for, remaining plants or future crops, 

 Cereals were onl) temporariTj injured b) the applica- 

 tions. Barley seems the st easil) affected but soon 



recovered even with an applicati f -_\.*><to kg per 



hectare. 



The author discusses ai some length the action 

 of the various compounds in killing weeds. Carnallit 

 was more • ffeel ive t ban s\ Ivanit. 



