A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THB 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol, XIII. Xo. 306. 



BARBADOS. JANUARY 17. 1914. 



Peice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Pa.^e. 



Agriculture and Elc-ctricity 21 

 Banana Industry in Culm 9,0 

 Bat, Ecimoniic Value of... Ill 

 Coco-nuts, Manuring of ... 20 

 Cotton Notes: — 



Controlline the Formation 



Paoe. 



of Cotton Branches ... 22 

 West Indian Cotton ... 22 



Department News 18 



Dynamite for Rul)lier 



E.states 30 



Fungus Notes : — 



Summary of Information 

 Respectini; Plant Diseases 



in 1913. .T 30 



(jleanings 28 



'Gootee' Method of Proi)aga- 



tion 20 



Grena<la Soils, Survey of 25 

 Horticultural Department, 



New Delhi 20 



Imperial Departmentof Agri- 

 culture, External Work of 24 

 Insect Notes : — 



Notes on the Silkw(jrm 

 Industry 26 



Insect Notes (Vnnhl.):— 

 Summary of Entomologi- 

 cal Information in 1!)13 26 



Live Stock Notes 23 



Market Reports .32 



Motor Plough Competition 22 



Notes and Comments ... 24 



Practical Agriculture, Exam- 

 inations in 29 



Rice, Mechanical Cultiva- 

 tion of 22 



Rubher Industry : - 



Re]jortof the Standardiza- 

 tion Connuittee 27 



Sugar Industry : — 



Experiments with Sugar- 

 cane in Porto Rico, 1913 19 

 The Manufacture of White 

 Sugar 19 



Tropical Agriculture, Inter- 

 natii>iial Spirit in 17 



Tropical Agriculture, Teach- 

 ing in a College of ... 25 



Tro))ical Agriculture, Third 

 International Congress of 25 



West Imlian Armadillos ... 31 



The International Spirit in Tropical 

 Agriculture. 



jNE of the strongest political arguments in 

 ) favour of State aid and recognition in scien- 

 I tific research is the circumstance thab few 

 things have tended more to bring about an intelligent 

 international understanding than the march of knowl- 

 edge and its application to the affairs of daily life. 



The time was when the investigator in any country, or 

 even in any institution of that country might, like the 

 alchemists of old, experiment in the strictest seclusion 

 without thought or regard to external activities. Bub 

 to-day not only hns the scientist to be familiar 

 with the records of previous and contemporary work 

 in his own country, but he must also have at his com- 

 mand the opinions, methods and established results 

 that have arisen in foreign places. This requirement, 

 it can be seen, leads to the systematic perusal of foreign 

 literature, to extensive personal correspondence, and to 

 that which is even more important — international con- 

 ferences. As a good example of a science which has 

 done a great deal to improve international relation- 

 ships, we may mention the study of genetics. The 

 study of this subject is not limited by political and 

 geographical barriers, but rather has it a positive 

 influence in the direction of their dissolution. Id 

 seeks to eliminate war and disease; it endeavours 

 to create new and improved varieties of plants and 

 animals: and above all, it tries to elevate the human 

 intellect and point of view with the object of eventu- 

 ally establishing a scientific basis for human happiness. 



But to come to the more restricted aspect of the 

 subject with which we are immediately concerned, it is 

 obvious that international interchange of ideas and 

 facts in regard to tropical agriculture is a matter of the 

 greatest moment. And just as in general scientific 

 research this interchange is necessary for progress, and 

 is conducive to international gratitude and admiration, 

 so the same thing holds good in agriculture; and perhaps 

 in no other branch of .scientific work does there exist 

 more inter-dependence and a better goodwill than in 

 investigation work in the Tropics. The reason for this is 

 partly the outcome of the constitution and extent of the 



