Vol. XIV. No. 355. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



391 



problems arising from seasonal in ril ■ 



rainfalls. This is fortunal -I the auth i 



unravel mat phenomei 



them forwi nanner winch will en 



rs, less favi >ply his 



ings lo the solution of their own problems. In this 

 respect f indispen le to those inti i 



in cott parts of th< world, and particularly 



to us in the West Indies, with and developing 



industry. 



[t is impossible in the space of a brief review to allude 

 to all the points to which special ti a might well be 



il as an illustration i ictical intei t of the 



book, attention may be drawn to the excellent studies of the 

 growth and development of the boll and its contents. The 

 information given in the text of the book in this particular 

 issummarized in an interesting and useful table, showing the 

 ohronologj of boll development, and this table is supple- 

 ■ most instructive series ol drawings, arranged in 



two si ts, showing in the firs lopment of the flower 



bud and the formation of the seed, and"in the second series, 

 the sti 'I of the see I. These 



diagrams contain a wonderful amou oi ion, much 



of it the outcome of the author's own Work, and the form of 

 presentment is such tha< the facts impress themselves upon 

 the mind of the student with remarkable facility and clear- 

 ness, and enable him to understand a wide range of facts 

 connected with the development of essential details in the life 

 of the cotton plant. 



The statistical method ol investigation is followed 

 throughout, the object being to present each feature, as far as 



ile, in terms of definite measurements, thus replacing 

 opinion by measured fact, [n this way the effeel of the 

 environment on the developing boll and its contents is 

 studied, md two complete series oi observations aregivenin 

 detail, the results being stated numerically, and in the form of 

 curves. The importance of the remarkable root-system ol 



th. tton plant, and 'I |ual importance of the water 



supply and it- relation to the root are brought out, and it is 

 shown that, undei I ;yptian conditions, the limiting factors 

 of growth are intimately associated therewith. 



In all this the development of the lint, the conditions 

 which determine its length, its strength and fineness, are 

 presented to the student in a most illuminating manner. It is 

 evident that this work will have far-reaching effects on the 

 investi of other observers, who are bound to be 

 stimulated by t! bservations here presented. 



Underlying the whole ol the work is the theme thai 

 uniformity of character is the matter of most concern to 

 the user "i cotton. A cotton uniform in its characters is good 

 cotton for some purpose or other, while cotton lacking in 

 uniformity is poor cotton notwithstanding the excellence of 

 some of its features. This being so, the author insists that the 

 improvement of cotton is likely best to be achieved bj 

 developing pure strains, and from these pure strains procuring 

 supplies of [in re seed for geneial cultivation. In separating 

 the pure strains it is necessar} to have regard to the 

 propci ire measurable, and to mal e pal ient statistical 



record of all these characters. How this is to be done the 

 book plainly indicates. The authoi - own summary in this 

 particular may be quoted. He says: 'Roughly summarized, but 

 with most rigid definition of every word, it consists in 

 obtaining seed from single plants by self-fertilization 

 exclusively, until plants are found which give offspring all 

 exactly alike constitutionally in ever} I isible and measui ibli 

 feature.' 



Usefi '<■ hods 



of conducting field - ind 



> the results; these an lated 



of much 



to increase the accuracy ol their work, while indicati 

 them some of the limitations' attaching to it, 



dence n, , reasonably be given to property 

 experiments. 



An appendix containing an outline of th of 



investigation employed by the author, i ■ if the 



most useful pari i The n i 



are characterize 1 by their endeavour to secure a high degree 



uracy, while many tl . ice at by the 



labour of keeping the '. I numbei oi i Is may bo 



minimized, at the same time maintaining the full degn i 



accuracy. As a matter of general interest refi rence m 



le to the author's method of determining lint length for 



comparative purposes. This is nol done bj measuring the 

 pulled lint, but by measuring the lint after combing out but 

 still attached to the seed. The lint is combed into a halo 

 chiefly around the basal portion of the seed, and it- length is 

 measured as follows. 



"The seed with its flat halo of lint is laid on a dark 

 back-ground, held down by the forefinger of the left hand 

 resting on the seed ; one leg of the dividers is then b 

 up against the butt of the seed, and the other is swung 

 around and adjusted until it moves along the edge of the 

 hake Successive measurements made in this way on the 

 sain.- seed vary only 1 millimetre, so that the halo e Ige is 

 obviously quite definite, even in \ r cotton.' 



The refinements of method used in th more detailed 

 examination of lint will appeal with full force to those who 



are making investigations on this subject. There is a fund of 

 information, much of it associated with. md clever 



devices, and throughout there is a. striking desire to 

 labour and time. 



As the outcome of intimate comparison betwe 

 results obtained by himself and by professional gi 

 dependent upon finger tests alone, Mr. I '.alls expresses profound 

 regard for the accurac; lined by the latter. Ile remarks 



that 'while we amateurs are working out the lint length of 

 a sample by ten minutes of effort the glider will satisfy 

 himself in as many seconds. . . . and it should be remembered 

 that any person who has spent less than ten years in the 

 daily grading of cotton, and has not in addition bee 

 with the instinct implanted in him, is an amateur at i 

 grading.' 



The limits of Space available preclude reference to 

 a great number of points of much interest, but 

 interested in cotton, whether as a ginner, an investigator, or 



i spinner, should obtain the 1 k. which will afford him both 



pleasure and profit in its persual, while it is likely to be kept 



at hmd for ready ai s< as a text-1 k to be frequently 



consulted. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture lefl 

 Barbados on December 1 by the CM!. M.S. 'Chaleur' for 

 the purpose of paying an official visit to St. Vincent. 



Mr. II. A. Ballon, M.S.-.. Entomologisl on the Stati 

 ol the Imperial Departmenl of Agriculture, return d • 

 Barbados on November 24, by the S.S. 'Denis', after 

 three months' leave of absence spent in the I 

 Stati - "i America. 



