A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XIII. No. 309. 



BARBADOS, FEBRUARY -28. 19U. 



Peice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Pace. 



Page. 



68 



Advent 



B..ok Slielf 



Cane Harvester, 

 <.f ... ... 



Cane-Planling Macliine 



O.-iyenne Pepper ... 



Coco-nuts, Manurial E.\peri 

 iiiunts witli 



Cniitidfiilial Advice 



Cotton Notes: — 



British Cotton (iroH ing 



Association 



West Indian Cotton ... 



{'otton. Way to Apply Man- 

 ures for 72 



Fungus Notes : — 



Green Muscardine Fungus 



in Samoa 78 



■Soil Sterilization in the 

 Controlt>f Plant Disease 78 



71 

 71 



f.7 



67 



72 



70 

 70 



Gleaninjjs 76 



India, Mutual Creilit in... 69 

 Insect Ni'tes: — 



Teniiites or White Ants 74 

 Mai de Caderas, Further 



Note on 7- 



Mal de Caderas, Po.sition of 

 Northern Islands in Re- 

 gard to 75 



Market Reports 80 



Notes and Oouuuents ... 72 

 Oils, IJm>'''1. Turning into 



Sidid Fats 73 



Rubber, New I'ses for ... 71 

 •Soil Teiiiperature, Stuilies 



in 77 



Wanleil: A Tropical A'_'ri- 



cultinal Note-Book ... 65 

 West Indian Pr>iducts ... 79 



Wanted : A Tropical Agricultural 

 Note-Book. 



T has been wisely said thut the gre.at art in 

 remembering is to make notes, and it is 

 (becoming very clear that sooner or later the 

 progressive agriculturist of the Tropics will have to 

 take this saying to heart. The number of facts and 

 figures which are accumulating in tropical agriculture 

 is astounding, and what is even more oi'er-powering, is 

 the circumstance that their reconlance is so scattered. 

 This can be appreciated by merely glancing at the 

 different references in italics which appear in nearly 

 every column of this journal. It is evident, therefore, 

 that a useful purpose would be served if all the more 

 important and firmly established results could be 

 grouped together in tabular form within small com- 



pass. This is the idea of the tropical agricultural 

 note-book which forms the subject of the jiresent article. 



The question might be raised — Is it yet worth 

 while to take action, considering the want of precision 

 in regard to a large nimiber of existing results/ How 

 are we to tabulate definite statements of general 

 application about the fermentation of cacao or the 

 preparation of plantation rubber, or about the para- 

 sitology of many of our ])lant diseases' It must be 

 confessed that if one ventured beyond the realms of 

 'probabilities' and 'local conditions' some of the largest 

 tields of interest would be left behind: but still in the 

 'certainties' we should find quite enough facts to 

 produce a very respectable compendium of widely 

 applicable information. One essential thing to remem- 

 ber is that in an agricultural note-book there is no 

 room for discussions nor for contradictory results. 

 Another feature of the project which would necessitate 

 careful consideration is the circumstance that a large 

 number of results, though thoroughly established, are 

 applicable only in certain countries. This opens up 

 questions as to whether it would be best to produce 

 a book of general information for a certain part of the 

 Tropics or for the torrid zone as a whole, or again 

 whether a note-book should be compiled relating to 

 one crop alone. It all depends upon whether the 

 utilitarian or the educational aspect is to receive 

 first consideration. Personally it is the opinion 

 of the writer that the educational side should 

 be regarded as paramount. 'J'his need not detract 

 from the book's practical value but only limit 

 the extent to which practical details could be entered 

 into. The principal aim would be to focus knowledge, 

 and to bring comparable results side by side. A better 

 idea of the possibility of compiling a book for general 



