

A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW wj^* 



0' THE %^tAJ^ 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. ****'»^ 



Vol. XIII. Xo. 303 



BARBADOS. JANUARY 3, 1914. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Aiiliyuii Onion Cjro\vi.'is' 



Assofi.'ititm 



Aioiils in New V- rk 3 



Han:inas, Itipening of ... 4 



B<M.k Shelf 7 



C;icai) ill Kaiiieiiiu 4 



Caiao .Market, Notes on ... 8 

 Caidaiiioiiis inCeyloii, Ciiiti- 



vaticju (.f 4 



Cotton Notes:— 



Ainerieai) Sea Islamt 



Cotton 6 



ExjioiLs of \Ve>t Indian 



C ttoii, 1913 () 



West Indian Col ton ... C 

 Culiaii Fruit Grower.s' and 



81nij])cr.s' Association ... 4 

 Departmental Reports ... 5 

 Disease without iSjuiiiUmis 11 

 Fungus Notes : — 



Black Spot on Ripse 



Uaves H 



Follies Sciiiitostus ill Brit- 

 i>li Guiana ]4 



Page. P.^ge. 



(rleanings 12 



[nsect Note.s :— 



.•\ Fungus Parasiiie on the 



Coconut Beetle 10 



How Orycte.s Rhino -eids, 

 a Dynasiid Beeile, I'.ses 

 its Horn 10 



Journal of .At ricuUiiral 

 Science 9 



Market Report-s HI 



Me.Iical Plants. Breediii',' :•! 



Notes and Comments ... 8 



Practical Agriculliirc, J'ixiiii- 



inations in 1". 



Rice Soils. Gasrs of Swamp 14 



liiiMicr liidiisliT 11 



St. Vincent, Rep"it on Land 



Setileuienis, I'.l, '_'.].", ... 8 



Students' Corner 13 



Sweet Totatocs as a Source 



of •'su^;ar 3 



West Indian Piod"ce during 



li.ii:;. Market Prices of...'' 1 

 We~r Indian Product h ... lb 



Market Prices for West Indian Produce 

 during 1913. 



^HE beginning of the new year ;iffoi<J.s a 

 J favourable opportunity for presenting a gcn- 

 [eral retrospect of the market prices for West 

 Indian produce during the past twelve months. Before 

 proceeding to deal with the numerous matters which 

 call for comment, we have pleasure in stating that 

 during this period, agricultuial progress in the West 

 Indies, and in Briti.sh (iuiana h.is been satisfactory, 

 and that the demand for West Indian produce has, on 

 the whole, been decidedly strong. 



The chief limiting factor of agricultural produc- 

 tion in these Colonies is, of course, the rainfall, and it 

 may be permissible to refer briefly to this important 

 subject before entering into the main points at issue. 

 Compared with 1912, the weather conditions have, 

 generally speaking, been favourable. In some places, 

 lor instance in the Leeward Islands, very dry weather 

 was experienced in the middle of the year, but the 

 conditions improved considerably later on. In other 

 places, for example in St. ^'incent and St. Lucia, in- 

 convenience and loss have on one or two occasions been 

 caused during the year by excessive rains, Demerara 

 and Trinidad have happily been spared a repetition of 

 those disastrous droughts which characterized 1911 and 

 1912: and, taken altogether, climatic condiiion.s have 

 been good and the exports consequently above those of 

 the previous two years. 



Turning now to a consideration of the niarkets, 

 we find changes have taken place of so striking a nature 

 that they must be regarded as characterizing the agri- 

 cultural year under review. Dealing first with .sugar, 

 it will be remembered that the year began with 9(i' 

 crystals at 405c. and 89° muscovados at S'o.'S. For 

 the first few months there was a steady fall, culmi- 

 nating in a drop to 3"3-">c. for centrifugals and 2'5Sc. 

 for muscovados, in May. From that month onwards 

 there was some improvement, but the old le\el has 

 not yet been regained. 



In Barbados and the Leeward Islands, muscovado 

 makers were forced to turn their attention to syrup 

 manufacture, and although in Barbados this was no 

 new development, in Antigua and St. Kitts it was, and 

 consei|uently, the advice and assistance of the Dejurt- 

 ment of Agriculture were greatly in demand. The 

 latter months of the year saw the sugar market with 



