A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



UAKU 



Vol. XIV. No. 356. 



BARBADOS, DECEMBEB 18, 1915. 



PRICE Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



\ j icultural Teaching in 

 A merican Schools 



Am igua, Soils of 



Cotton Notes: 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Department News 



Departmental Reports ... 



Gleanings 



Ground Nuts for Export... 



[nsect Notes:-r-r 

 Summary of Entomol- 

 ogical Information 

 During 1915 



Italian Citrus Prices in 1914 406 



Jamaica's Trade, Effect "t 

 War on 409 



Limes v. Lemons 408 



Market Reports 4l<> 



Meteorology, < lomparative 

 Agricultural and For- 

 estry 402 



409 

 413 



4i m; 

 405 

 4117 

 4 I 2 

 4H5 



4ln 



Page. 



Notes and Comments ... 408 



Plant Diseases: 



Revit w of Information 

 t '..ii lerning Plant 

 Diseases and Related 

 Subjects 414 



St. Lucia, Effect oi lv 

 ive Rainfall >>n Crops 

 in 403 



Science and the Press ... 401 



Sisal Hemp Plant, Dura- 

 tion of Life of 4117 



S] ge Cultivation, Pros- 

 pects of 402 



Sugar Indus! rj 



Muscovado Works and 

 Cents-a] Factories 



Compared 404 



T, a A Fodder Grass... 4ns 

 \\ esl Indian Products... 415 



SCIENCE AND THE PRESS. 



'EWSPAPERS are supposed to be the 

 [educators of public opinion, but more often 

 j than not they simpl) cater for the popular 

 tastes and make little effort bo mould public opinion in 

 the ways of light and wisdom. Even the best of them 

 have their own axes to grind, ami. fettered by political 

 prejudice j)i overcome by the modern lust for sensation 

 th<\ exert an influence which is not recognized as 

 legitimate in the realms of science 



As a subject of popular interest science labours 

 under the disadvantage that it is largelj impersonal. 

 It is lacking in humanistic qualities and for that 

 amongst other reasons the daily Press is afraid to 

 touch it. In the newspapers everything centres around 

 individuals, or rather around personalities, and as it is 

 impossible to give such a setting to scientific subjects 

 they are severely ignored. It is true that from time 

 to time articles involving scientific ideas do 

 appear, but in these cases it is only because 

 the essential conditions of presentation are satisfied. 

 A short time ago an article appeared in a leading 

 London paper under the following headlines: — 



FERTILIZED PEAT. 



Professor Bottomley am> a German. 

 A National Committer. 



Here it will be seen the two conditions of sensation 

 (or novelty) and personality are satisfied; and quite 

 irrespective of the relative worth of the recorded 

 information in the light of impartial scientific scrutiny, 

 the paper proceeded to hold forth at length, involving 

 as many extra personalities as possible, on the 

 revolution of English farming on account of the new 

 discovery. While the special subject under notice is 

 of interest and possibly of some considerable importance, 

 it is not even on a par with hundreds of other 

 discoveries, and ii simply shows that the I'm ss is 

 deficienl in the mailer ofpossessing members on its 

 staff who are in a position to gauge the relative worth 

 and importance of scientific work. This is rendered 

 evident in ever) case. We have been told that 

 on one occasion a great London newspaper having 

 heard of the John Innes Horticultural Research 

 Institute, which is situated at .Melton, in Surrey, 



