

A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES 



New 



BOTA 

 QAIi 



Vol. XIII. No. 313. 



BARBADOS, APRIL 25, 1914. 



Peice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



P.AGE 



Agricultural Industries in 

 the Straits ."Settlements, 

 1912 143 



Antigua Onion Growers' As- 

 sociation, Progres.s Report 

 on 132 



Ai'senic on Soil Proce.sses, 

 Effects of J33 



Book Shelf 141 



Ci>rt'ee. A Parasite on ... 141 



Cotton Notes: — 



West Indian Cotton ... 139 



Departnientiil Reports ... 135 



Gleanings 140 



Imperial DiiJ.crtimnt and 

 Agricultural Kducntion J 29 



Index tn Agricultural 

 News 136 



Indian Report, An 142 



Insect Notes: — 



Entomologist's Visit to 

 Demerara, Trinidad and 

 Barbados 138. 



Page. 



Jamaica, Agricultur.il Attiiirs 

 in, 1912-13 l.'!6 



Market Reports 144 



Mauritius, Agricultuial 

 Activities in 139 



Nitrification, Effect of Car- 

 bon Bisulphide and Tolu- 

 ene on mS 



Notes and Comments ... 13(j 



( !)n;anic Compounds in the 

 Soil 136 



Philippines, Cacao in ... 143 

 Report on Agricultuial 



Chemistry for 1913 ... 13". 



Rotation of Crops 137 



Rubber Position in Brazil 137 

 Sisal Henij) in the West 



Indies, Cultivation of ... 134 

 .Sugar Industry: — 



Cane Cultivation in South 



Africa 131 



The Imperial Department and 

 Agricultural Education. 



:-llEliE are various educational systems 

 ojjeratiDg in the West Indies for the promo- 



^tion and diffusion of knowledge in relation 

 to agricultnre: taking the elementary schools first, 

 we find in the official cnrriculum of practically 

 every colony suitable provisions for encouraging, if 

 not enforcing, the study ot the principles and prac- 

 tice of horticulture; and although in some places 

 natural disadvantages have militated against rapid 

 progress in this useful line of educational work in 

 others, for instance, in St. Lucia and in Trinidad, 



a great deal of permanent success has been attained. 

 In the secondary West Indian schools of the colonies, 

 progress in the direction of agricultural education has 

 been a matter for very general satisfaction. 3Iosti 

 of the existing institutions now possess a definite 

 agricultural side under the charge of a scientific 

 officer, and in manj' cases, by means of Govern- 

 ment scholarships, pupils may take advantage of 

 opportunities of acquiring information gratis in 

 practical and theoretical agricultural science and 

 horticulture. After the time has come for leaving 

 school, the agricultural pupil may, in many instances, 

 be granted the opportunity to proceed with technical 

 training under the direction of the local department of 

 agriculture. The way in which this is arranged varies 

 somewhat in the different colonies, but is virtually the 

 same in each, and consists principally in the carrying 

 out of practical work in the Botanic Gardens and 

 Experiment Stations and Farms. In several of the 

 islands a special arrangement known as the Cadet 

 System prevails, which possesses certain features that 

 have been proved by experience to answer satisfactorily 

 under the conditions obtaining in the Leeward and 

 Windward Islands. But as well as this practical train- 

 ing, provision is made in the West Indian Colonies for 

 Reading Courses and Examinations, whereby the rising 

 agriculturist can train his intellectual faculties sunul- 

 taneously with his practical powers. In Trinidad and 

 Barbados, the system of examinations in agriculture 

 which follows this work possesses several features that 

 are different from those which characterize the syt>tem 

 obtaining in the Windward and Leeward Islands. 

 The relative merits of the different systems it is not our 

 present object to discuss, and the reader may be 

 referred for this comparison to the official publications 

 that have been issued. The point is, that there exists 



