A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



LIBRARY 



NEW YORI 



BOTANICAi 



OARDEN. 



Vol. VIII. No. 200. 



BARBADOS, DECEMBER 24, 1909. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Tlie Publications of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture. 



J^,yVw^ S the present number of the Agricultural 

 r^rr-\.'^.^"''(cs forms the two hundredth issue, this 

 t&yjir!^^ paper having been sent out continuously 

 since April 2.5, 1902, a suitable opportunity is given 

 for a consideration of the position of the periodical 

 publications of the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture. These consist, in addition to the paper Just 

 mentioned, of the Wext Iiidlan Bulletin, the Pamphlet 

 Series of the Department, the Annual Reports, and 

 various leaflets. The Agricultural Netvs is issued 

 fortnightly, the TFesi Indian Bulletin (\naxier\y, or as 

 nearly so as circumstances permit, and the pamphlets 

 ■when the occasion occurs. 



Commencing with the Agricultural News, 

 attention is drawn to the editorial of the first number. 

 A statement appears in that article to the effect that 

 this paper laid no claim, when it was first issued, to 

 public recognition beyond an earnest desire, on the part 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture,' to instruct 

 and assist all classes of the community, and to promote 

 the agricultural interests of these colonies'. This 

 claim may now be extended, in view of the work which 

 has been done through the medium of this paper, 

 in serving the interests of West Indian agriculture. 

 In regard to its scope, it is evident that, although any 

 one issue of the paper cannot have direct application 

 as a whole to some particular interest, yet it always 

 contains articles that have a general agricultural 

 bearing. It is not only meant to give information, but 

 to have a use in making suggestions, chiefly in regard 

 to the adoption of new methods and means of carrying 

 on agricultural operations, and the improvement of 

 those methods and means that exist already; to the intro- 

 duction, where this is advisable, of new crops or varieties 

 of plants : to the presentation, in a broad manner, 

 of new or modified theories connected with agricultural 

 practice: and in relation to plans for continuing experi- 

 ments that have already been commenced, as well as to 

 schemes for initiating and carrying out those which 

 are new. 



Though it is well to keep in mind this broad 

 aspect of the purpose of the Agricultural Ncius, 

 attention is due to the fact that it is int?nded to have 

 a particularized usefulness in regard to the special 

 agricultural interests in the West Indies. There are 

 indications that this side of its utility is often in- 

 sufticiently appreciated. One of the aims in this 

 publication is to give information and statistics which 

 will be helpful, not only to the agriculturist, but to 

 those whose work is of a more directly commercial 



