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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 17, 1914. 



different territories. Most of the tropical countries are 

 either Colonies or Protectorates, or else Powers (at 

 present) of the lower order, where national and commer- 

 cial predjudices are not strong. Conseijuently each 

 one, owing to its weakness, is forced to look to the 

 othei;^for help. There is no central clearing house for 

 knowledge, and a constant minding of each other's 

 business is a necessary condition for progress. It 

 would be an easy matter to enumerate a large number 

 of instances showing how foreign tropical territories 

 have assisted one another, but two or three will 

 suffice in the present connexion. 



Reference may be made first to the inter- 

 change of information and material between ento- 

 mologists and between mycologists. Recent progress 

 in connexion with the economic employment of 

 natural enemies of insect pests for example, has 

 been largely dependent upon whole-hearted co-opera- 

 tion between investigators, or rather, one might 

 say, between the Governments of foreign tropical 

 territories. Then, again, with the question of varie- 

 ties of different tropical crops one country may 

 owe a great deal to another. We may, perhaps, with 

 all due modesty, refer to Louisiana's, and to India's 

 and Queensland's obligations to the West Indies for 

 varieties of sugar-cane; though, on the other hand, the 

 West Indies owe a debt of gratitude to the Southern 

 States of America and to India for a vast amount of 

 information concerning tropical crops. Markets exist 

 for the results of scientific work just as they exist for 

 the results of economic production. (Jther instances of 

 the same kind of thing are to be seen in the extension 

 to East Africa and America of varieties of Egyptian 

 cotton, and in the example set to the rest of the sugar- 

 cane growing world by Java and Cuba in regard to 

 central factories. 



Sometimes where keen competition creeps in one 

 might expect something of an inimical spirit to exist. 

 One might understand, for instance, that Java would 

 not be too ready to instruct India in the management 

 of central factories, because India is Java's great com- 

 mercial market for refined, sugar. Similarly Brazil 

 might be imagined to be somewhat antipathetic 

 towards the Federated Malay States; though as far as 

 is known, even in a severe case of competition as this 

 instance affords, one could scarcely believe that the 

 scientific workers in connexion with rubber in each 

 country would be unkindly disposed towards each 

 other. In this connexion one of the weak points 

 involved in the work of technologists paid by commercial 



undertakings is brought out. Such investigators, quite 

 apart from any natural desire, are sometimes compelled 

 to conform to the policy of those upon whom they are 

 financially dependent, with a result that Science 

 sometimes suffers. 



■li. 



Taking everything into consideration, however, 

 one must admit that the feeling which exists to-day 

 between scientific workers in difi'erent tropical countries 

 is one to be admired and an extremely important factor 

 in the development of the Tropics as a whole. As 

 already mentioned, great benefit accrues in this respect, 

 from international conferences. Most people by now 

 will be aware ot the circumstance that the forthcoming 

 International Rubber and Fibres Exhibition and the 

 International Congress of Tropical Agriculture are to 

 be held in London during June this year. 



These conferences will be influential not only as a 

 means of distributing facts and ideas, and of providing 

 a means of advertisement. They will be influential as 

 well because they will strengthen the goodwill that 

 already exists amongst that large and increasing num- 

 ber of workers of all nationalities who have sacrificed 

 the academic and social advantages of their native 

 countries, for the purpose of devoting their lives to the 

 development of the farthermost portions of the empire- 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture left 

 Barbados by the R. M. S. 'Uruba' on the llth for 

 Jamaica, for the purpose of conferring with the Govern- 

 ment of that Colony on agricultural matters. 



^Ir. H. A. Rallou, M.Sc, Entomologist on the 

 Staff of the Imperial Department of Agriculture left 

 Barbados on Wednesday, January 14, 191 4, by the 

 R. M. S. Caraquet' for St. Kitts. Mr. Ballou will later 

 visit Antigua and also Mootserrat. In the first two 

 islands the principal object of the visit will be to 

 investigate the damage occasioned by soil-inhabiting 

 grubs; in Montserrat, spraying experiments are to be 

 conducted in connexion with the control of soale insects. 

 Mr. Ballou is expected to leave Mont-^errat for 

 Barbados on Februarv 9. 



Mr. W. Nowell, D.I.C, Mycologist on the Staff of 

 the Imperial Department, left on the same date by the 

 same steamer for St. Lucia. The object of his visit is 

 to report on the prevalence of sugar-cane diseases in 

 the island, and to make a general mycological survey of 

 lime and cacao cultivations. Mr. Nowell is expected 

 to leave St. Lucia for Barbados on January 23. 



