24 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Jam AKY 



1909. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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31 Qi-i cultural |li'iu.'i 



J 



Vol VIII. SATURDAY, JAXUARY 2:^, 1909. No. 17G. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The general conditions associated with the breed- 

 intr and rearing of live stock in the West Indies, 

 together with the possibilities of imp.-ovement in this 

 direction, are discussed in the editorial. 



Notes on experiments with seedling aixl other 

 canes, as well as manurial experiments, eanied out at 

 Barbados in the sea.soii 190(i-.S, will be fouutl on page 

 19. 



Rice in British Honduras. 



Rice is grown on small areas in British Hon- 

 iluias, and the Superintendent of the Botanic Station 

 makes one or two lefeicnces to this crop in his latest 

 Animal Rcjiort Ahout. 1 acre of rice was grown at 

 the new Station in 1907, the seed being dibbled into 

 the ground in rows in the ni'Mith of ,Jutie. A fairly good 

 crop w'as produced. An area ni 30 acres was also 

 planted with the cereal at Boltons Batik estate, and 

 made excellent growth. 'I"he vari^ty grown is a large 

 fiiU-graineil kind, and if produced in gr>-.iter cpiantity 

 should find a good market. A sinall rice- hulling 

 machine un>< introduced into the culony for the first 

 time ill 1907, by a private firm at Belize, and a fairly 

 large quantity of rice was prepared by its means during 

 the year. In view of the large areas of suitable land 

 that exi.st, the enterprising rice grower would find 

 abundant scope in British Honduras. 



Interesting investigations on the chemical changes 

 ■which go on during the ripening of some tid[iical fruits 

 have lately been made in Java. The results are 

 summarized on ])age 20. 



Expert reports on samples of sugar and cotton 

 from Antigua that wc^re recently exhibited in Liver- 

 pool are given on page 22. Photographs and notes 

 ■on West African rams in the West Indies appear on 

 the following page. 



The <iuestion of mechanical tillage and inijjinvi d 

 sugar-cane iiiac:hinery is attracting increased atteiitidii 

 in British (iuiana. (page ^(i.) 



The reports, for the year 1907-.S, nn the Botanic 

 Stations at Antigua and in British Honduras are 

 reviewed on page 27. 



Investigations carried out in Kiiijland have shown 

 that the cost of preparing the well-known Bordeaux 

 mixture may be reduced by three-fifths, without 

 diminishing its effectiveness (page 29). 



Woodlands and Rainfall. 



'i'he growing scarcity and increasing price of the 

 best kinds of timber are now frequently urged as 

 strong reasons for preserving, and. wherever possiblp, 

 extending wooded areas. Another reason for tree 

 planting which should comtnend itself to agricidturists 

 in countries that not iiifrequenti}' suffer from drought, 

 is the beneficial influence of woodlands upon rainfall 

 and the How of springs. This cpiestion is discussed at 

 considerable length in the Indian Fnreftcr (190.S, 

 No. •2), and from the data brought forward the con- 

 clusion is drawn that the moisture content and the 

 ch mces of rainfall are much greater in districts where 

 forests or plantations of considerable area exist th.-m 

 over bare lands. Observations made in ditfeient 

 localities, it is stated, have shown that woodlands 

 iiii-rease the rainfall from S to 1.5 per cent, above the 

 normal. Their neighbourhood also exerts a beneficial 

 infiuence in maintaining a more uniform flow of springs. 



Poot-and-Mouth Disease. 



Foot-and-mouth disease is an excessively contagi- 

 ous malady, chiefly affecting cattle, sheep, goats, and 

 swine. Horses, dogs. cats, and even poultry have also 

 been victims of int'ectioii, the last three classes being 

 particularly dangerous as carriers of infection. The 

 death rate from this disease is low, but since, in 

 practically all cases of attack, it runs through the whole 

 herd, numbers of animals are seriously dam;iged. 

 Cattle are the chief sufferers. Tiie disease is chai;icter- 

 ized by the eruption cjf blisters about the mouth aiul 

 feet, this being accompanied by constitulional distuib- 

 atice. The appetite is lost, and, in the case of cows, 

 the milk tiow stops. 



In a li'tter on tliis subject from the Biiie:iu of 

 Animal Industry, U. S. Department ot Atjricultiire, to 

 the Cidid lii'i-icw, attention is drawn tn the tact that 

 foot-and-mouth riisease has been known to occur •t> 

 tropical countries, having caused the loss of 10,400 

 cattle in Madras Province in 1S94-.5. Subtropical 

 lands have also sufi'ered severelv at different times. 



