120 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 17, 1909. 



EDITORIAL, NOTICES. 



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 Commissioner, Iinpeiial Department of Agricidtiire, 

 Barbados. 



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 Co., o7, Solio Square, W., and 'i'he West India Com- 

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 Agents will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural lYmcs ; Price lil. per number, 

 post free 2t/. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2c-?. Post free, 4.s. 4d. 



^Qricultural |leiu!) 



Vol. VIII. S.\TLJR1).\Y, .\l'l!Ib 17, 1909. No. 182. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Some of the chief problems and lines of investi- 

 gation that have occupied tiie attention of the Bureai; 

 of Entomology, U. S. Depaitment of Agriculture, are 

 difcussed in the editori.-d. 



An interesting article dealing with the question 

 of cultivating ratoon curies will be found on page 11.5. 



Specimen trees of the litchi e.xist in many of the 

 West Indian islands. Some particulars in relation to 

 this friiit are given on jjage IIG. A brief article on 

 maize cultivation appears on the following page. 



Castor oil plants may sometimes form a useful 

 crop in these islands (page 11<S). Abmit (!00,000 lb. 

 of arrowroot .are produced annually in (.^(ueensland from 

 Canna iduUs (p. 110). 



Bosin wash has proved an especially useful 

 spraying mi.\tiire for thrips on cacao tiees at St. Lucia 

 (page 120). ■=>•<.■ 



An aiticle dealing with the parasitic and pre- 

 daceous enemies of scale insects whicli occur in the 

 West Indies will be found on^page 122. 



Agriculture arid tiade in the Leeward Islands 

 have shown great improvemcmt in the past five years 

 (page 128). _ 



A resolution in favour (jf the establishment of an 

 Imperial Dcfiartnu'ut of Tropical Agiicidture was 

 lately carried unaniniously by the Associated Chambers 

 of Commerce of Great P>ritain (j). 12.5). 



Queen of Plowera*-' 



A number of spcciuiens of the ' Queen of Flowers ' 

 {Lagcrstroemia Flini-Rtyiuac) are included among 

 the collection at the Dominica Botanic Station, and 

 about sixty young plants of this beautiful and showy 

 flowering tree were distributed in 1907-8. 



Referring to this in his last annu.il report, the 

 Curator of the Botanic Station mentions that the seeds 

 of this tree require iSpecial treatment, or are not likely 

 t') gei-minate satisfjictorily. If collected when the 

 fruit capsules show signs of bursting, and sown in boxes 

 filled with river sand instead of soil, a very fair 

 pe>-centage of the seeds will be found to germinate. 

 Wiien the seedlings, ^ire large enough to handle, they 

 should be potted in bamboo or other pots witii good soil. 



Cotton at Montserrat. 



Latest reports I'roin Montserrat state that the 

 frequent rains of January were very harmfid to the 

 second picking of cotton, and a good deal w.is lost. 

 This second crop was somewhat disappointing, but in 

 one or two cases the flower-bud maggot was the chief 

 cause of the loss experienced. 



The planters of the island having realized the 

 necessity of clearing off their old cotton before plantinof 

 the young crop, in- order to c )mbat the leaf-blister 

 mite, are generally fivourable to the establishment of 

 a definite ' closed season, ' when no cotton, old or 

 young, would be found on estates. 



5Ir. Kobson in his report dr.iws attention to 

 a point which again emphasizes the importance of seed 

 selection in citton * planting. A shipment of cotton 

 from a field oj Dagenham estate, planted with selected 

 seed from Orove Station, w,is very favourably re[)nrled 

 on from England, and (.'ouimandcd .i price higher by 

 a penny per pound than any other cotton shipjjed from 

 this estate. 



Spray Mixture for Thrips. 



Owing to complaints of the occurrence of thrips 

 on young cacao trees at St. Lucia, the Agricultural 

 Superintendent of that islanil was in .Septensber last, 

 advised to try the effects of four spiaying washes on 

 these insect po.-.ts. The washing mixtuies in question 

 were — (1) rosin wash, (2) kerosene emulsion, (8) 

 kerosene emidsion with whale oil soap, and (4) rosin 

 and whale oil soap compound. Directions for the 

 prepaiation of all these washes , -ire given in the West 

 Jiidiin) liallctln, Vo'l. IX, p. 191, and are also included 

 in Mr. Ballou's pamphlet, ' Insect Pests of Cacao,' just 

 issued by the De|)artmi'nt, a review of which will be 

 found en page 12(! of this issue 



5Ir. Moore lately repoitnl on the tri.ils made by 

 him, and states that while .all the mixtures were more 

 or less ert'ective in destrining the thrips, the rosin w.isii 

 a|3peared to do the best work. On account of its 

 sticky nature, this mixture adhered well to the cacao 

 leaves, and on trees .so treated dead thrips were 

 observed in greater number than when other washes 

 were used. la 



Owing to the caustic [iroportics of the rosin wash 

 (it contains caustic soda) it should be h.indled carefully. 



