88 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 14, 1914. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

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

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 37, Soho Square, W.; West India Committee, Seeth- 

 ing Lane, E.G. The complete list of Agents will be 

 found on page 3 of the cover. 



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 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

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^qriculturHl Tixm 



C^'-l' 



Vol. XIII. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1914. Xo. 310. 



"notes and comments. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Owing to the gradual depletion of the sources of 

 oil fuel, definite attention is now being given to the 

 utilization of alcohol for fuel purposes. In the editorial 

 of this number the different ways are discussed in 

 which this substance might be produced in tropical 

 agiiculture. 



On page 83, under the general heading Sugar 

 Industry, will be found two notes dealing with the 

 ripening of sugar-cane and the treatment of cane 

 cuttings respectively. 



Growers of vegetables will find interesting infor- 

 mation of a practical kind on page 84 concerning the 

 cultivation of onions and sweet potatoes. 



The important topic ot fodder grasses for the West 

 Indies receives attention on page 85 in the form of an 

 article on Rhodes grass, which has just been introduced 

 into the West Indies. 



On page 86, figures are presented showing the 

 yield of sisal hemp in Fiji and the cost of cultivating 

 cassava in St. Vincent. 



Insect Notes, on page 90, include an important 

 article dealing with ticks in the West Indies. Our 

 present knowledge in regard to the distribution of 

 these organisms is put forward. 



A summary of a very interesting report containing 

 much practical advice will be found under Fungus 

 Notes on page 94. 



Agricultural Affairs in the West Indies. 



The current issue of the West India Committee 

 C-;>ci(/ar contains a particularly large amount of infor- 

 mation which will prove of great interest to the agri- 

 cultural communities throughout the West Indies. It 

 is proposed in this note to present a brief review of the 

 principal subjects dealt with. First of all reference is 

 made to Major -J. A. Burden's road scheme for Dominica, 

 the principal feature of which is the projected construc- 

 tion of a highway in the shape of an inverted letter S, 

 quartering the whole island from Portsmouth to Grand 

 Bay. The scheme receives the West India Committee's 

 unqualified support. Another matter of a more or less 

 official kind is dealt with in an article on reciprocity 

 with Canada. In this, West Indian views of Canada's 

 action in regard to the admission of Mauritius is 

 discussed. 



Of considerable interest both in the West Indies 

 and in Great Britain is an article by Sir Daniel Morris 

 on the subject of bananas and health. It appears that 

 statements have been made recently in a certain 

 medical journal that there is a correlation between the 

 increase in the prevalence of appendicitis in Great 

 Britain, and the increase in the consumption of 

 bananas. Sir Daniel Morris examines critically the 

 facts of the case and shows conclusively that there is 

 no foundation for the statement. 



Of a more direct agricultural bearing are the 

 articles in the journal under consideration on the 

 'Battelle' sugar process, and on the timbers of British 

 Guiana. The battelle jsrocess consists of double car- 

 bonatation, but differs from the ordinary process in that 

 the juice, after liming and before carbonating, is raised 

 to boiling point with the object of destroying the 

 glucose present. The destruction of the glucose per- 

 mits the Steffen saccharate process being applied for 

 the extraction of the sugar from the molasses, with the 

 result of improved extraction of sugar generally. 

 — I ■^1^— 



Topics of the Rubber Trade, 



The leading articles in the India Rubber 

 World (February 1914) involve several interesting 

 topics The first one deals with the automatic 

 increase in rubber production. It shows how the 

 prices of rubber goods — tyres, rubber footwear and 

 golf balls, for instance — have fallen during the past 

 year; it concludes that 'Eastern planters need not 

 be greatly worried about the 300,000 tons of rubber 

 which they expect to have ready for market five years 

 from now, because, entirely apart from new rubber 

 articles for general consumption, the old standard com- 

 modities, as their price is lowered, will increase vastly 

 in popularity and come more and more into general 

 use.' 



Turning to the subject of another article, that of rub- 

 ber literature, we are impressed with the invasion of 

 books on the iudu."try, which has been made under the 

 command of a legion of publishers for the past ten years. 

 The following metaphors quoted from the article, are 

 not exaggerative: 'But if the disappointed seekers of 

 those days [speaking of ten years ago] are still inter- 

 ested in the theme, they need not go athirst. The 



