120 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



Apkil 11, 1914 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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|i.gricultur;il ^xm 



Vol. XIII. SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 1914. No. 312. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number treats of the subject 

 ■of seasonal climatic changes. The importance of world- 

 wide research in meteorolog}' and of upper air investi- 

 gations is emphasized, and several instances are given 

 showing the useful generalizations which have already 

 arisen from such investigations. 



On page 114, under the heading Sugar Industry, 

 appear a review of the past sugar-cane crop in Porto 

 Rico, and an article concerning deterioration of seedling 

 canes in Hawaii. 



Under the heading Kruit, on page 116, is pre- 

 sented the second and final article on cold storage of 

 fruit and vegetables. 



On page 117, will be found interesting information 

 concerning the fruiting of the date palm and the 

 preparation of pa])cr pulp from grasses. 



Considerable space is devoted in this issue, and 

 will be allowed in the succeeding one, to the subject of 

 agricultural education. An important Indian report is 

 reproduced and commented on, whilst the petition in 

 the West Indies will also be dealt with editorially. 



Insect Notes, on page 122 comprise two articles 

 entitled, A Useful Garden Syringe (illustrated), and 

 the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, respectively. 



Fungus Notes, on page 12(i,com])rise an article on 



leaf cut or tomosis of cotton. This disea.se occurs in 



the United States but has also apparently been 



•discovered to exist in the West Indian island, St. Croi.x. 



Report on the Botanic Station, British Hon- 

 duras, 1912. 



The limited amount of information which this 

 publication contains refers entirely to such routine 

 work as has been carried out in the Botanic Station. 

 It is noted that a few plants of what is said to be 

 a useful indigenous fodder grass were successfully 

 esiablished at the Station from material brought in by 

 the Superintendent, from the bush. The plant has 

 been identified at Kew as Panicutn elepliantipes, 

 locally known as 'dum cane'. It is stated that cattle 

 feed on it regularlarly and thrive well. During the 

 year 1,329 coco-nut plants were distributed and 800 

 rubber seedlings sent out. There is very little else of 

 interest to record. 



Although the contents of this report conform to 

 the title which it bears, the view may be expressed 

 that it would be a useful improvement if a section 

 could be included dealing with external agricultural 

 affairs under a heading corresponding to 'Progress in 

 the Industries" of the West Indian islands reports. As 

 the publication exists at present, no facts are provided 

 to show the economic value of the Botanic Station to 

 the agricultural community beyond the statements 

 concerning ihe distribution of plants. 



Attention may be called to several bad printer's 

 errors, particularly in the case of the so-called 

 'scientific' name?; for instance, Hevca brasiliensis 

 appears as Hevia braziliensis, and Ehuis gulneensis 

 as Eloeisquinceiisis. 



A Weather Map for the World. 



With further reference to the subject of the 

 editorial in the present issue of this journal, attention 

 may be called to some important remarks appearing 

 in Nature (February 2(), 1914), presumably from the 

 pen of r>r. W. N. Shaw. i\Iany readers will be familiar 

 with the fact that Dr. Shaw has been, and is one of the 

 strongest promoters of cosmic research in meteorology. 

 In the article referred to, the usefulness of a daily map 

 of the main features of the distribution of pressure and 

 temperature over the entire globe is pointed out as 

 a continuation of the announcement that the United 

 States Weather Bureau is now publishing synoptic 

 charts daily for the northern hemisphere. 



Practically no lines are drawn on these maps for 

 latitudes lower than 25°, and Dr. Shaw suggests it is 

 interesting to speculate as to what sort of characteris- 

 tics a synoi)tic chart of the equatorial regions would 

 show if it could be drawn. In the Tropics there is no 

 room for 'parallel' isobars because the influence of the 

 rotation of the earth is too feeble. Consequently 

 a pressure distribution sufficiently permanent to be 

 mapped could only be made up of 'circular' isobars, and 

 therefore a chart of isobars for part of the equatorial 

 region ought to be a collection of small circles with 

 whatever may be necessary to represent the diurnal 

 variation. 



The translation of a collection of barograms for the 

 Tropics, into synoptic charts would be an attractive 

 problem. It would presumably tell us what the 



