408 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Decembek 24, 1909. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 fipecimens for nauiuig, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Injperial Depurliuent of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Cojiies of the ' Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents : Messrs. Dulau & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, \V. A complete list of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News: Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4s. 4d. 



^D run! It lira I ^ImuH 



Vol. VIII. FRIDAY, DECE.MBER -24, 1909. No. 200. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In the editorial, the uses and scope of the peri- 

 odical publications of the Iinpcnal ])epartmeiit of 

 Agriculture are discussed. 



A descri|ition of interesting experiments with 

 ground nuts, which have been undertaken in Dominica 

 and St. Kitts, is given on page 404. 



In relation to Dominica also, an account of notable 

 iloueniig plants that are at present growing in the 

 Garden will be I'ouiid on pagi' 40.5. 



An abstract of a useful repurt on the cottons at 

 present being grown in the Ignited States is presented 

 on page 406. 



The Insect Notes of this number, on page 410, 

 form the conclusion of the series of articles on the 

 Natural History of Insects. In this one, the functions 

 of digestion and reproduction are treated. 



A useful sviminary of such of the more recent 

 niy< ©logical work of the Department as has been 

 des-cribed to readers of the Agricultural News is 

 contained on Jiage 411. 



A further, interesting contribution to the state 

 of knowledge in regard to the supposed poisonous 

 properties of wild ipecacuanha {Aschpias curassavica) 

 appears on page 41,5. 



The Late Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G. 



Telegraphic news was received on December 14 

 that Sir Alfred .Jones had died of heart failure, follow- 

 ing a chill, on the 13th instant. 



Sir Alfred was born at Carmarthen in 184G, and 

 early showed an aptitude for commercial affairs. It 

 was this aptitude that led to his becoming the senior 

 ]iartner of the firm of Elder, Dempster & Co., the 

 noted shipowners. He was one of the first to recognize 

 the value of the undeveloped resources of the Empire, 

 and the results of his work in assisting in the expansion 

 of trade in West Africa and .Jamaica remain as- 

 a testimonial to his abilit}. 



Among his other positions Sir AUred was an Hon- 

 orary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford; President of the 

 Liverpool Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the 

 Bank of West Africa, Limiteii; and Founder of the 

 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine It is hardly- 

 necessary to say that his death has caused almost 

 as great a loss to colonial interests generally, as to the 

 more particular commercial concerns which he chiefly 

 directed. 



Lime-Seedlings in Nurseries. 



Useful information in connexion with the raising 

 ■ of lime-seedlines in nurseries is given in the annual 

 report on the Experiment Station, St. Lucia, which has 

 recently been issued. It appears that the lime-seedlings 

 raised in August 1908, were seriously affected, while 

 quite young, by heavy rains and flood water, and in 

 consiquence damped off in thousands. As soon as the 

 damage was observed, the seedlings were sprayed with 

 Bordeaux mixture, with a repetition of the treatment 

 alter twelve days. The opinion is given that this 

 doubtless pre\'enled the total loss of the seedlings. 



(Jb.-ervatious would appear to show that the disease 

 commenced at one end of the seed plots; when it was 

 noticed first it had taken possession of three quarters- 

 of tne area of the plot, and was advancing rapidlv, 

 showing a very distinct boundary betu-een the healthy 

 and diseased areas. After spraying, the line of this 

 ooundary remained fixed and conspicuous, proving that 

 the fungicide had effectually arrested the course of the 

 disease. 



Tlie Preservation of Timber. 



On page 249 of the current volume of the Agri- 

 cidtund News, a note was given on the Powell Wood 

 Process. Further particulars relating to this process 

 appear in a recent number of the Journal of the Royal 

 ^Sacirlg of Arts (October 22, 1909.) The process 

 consists of boiling timber in a saccharine solution, and 

 then drying it in specially constructed chambers. The 

 inventor of the process obtained his idea through 

 observing that the timber used for flooring or wall 

 plates in sugar refineries never appears to be affected 

 by dry rot. From a number of experiments, he was 

 led to conclude that wood which had been boiled in 

 a mixture of molasses and water, and carefully dried in 

 a kiln, could be seasoned rapidly without splitting or 

 cracking. In its developed state the process includes 

 the addition of other ingredients which also give 

 immunity to the action of white ants and teredo. 



