1G& 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 23, 1914. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 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 

 the Department. 



Local Agents : Advocate Co., Ltd., Broad St., 

 Bridgetown. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & Co., 

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

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

 found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News : Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4s. id. 



^gricultiinil Jleius 



Vol. XIII. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1914. No. 31-5. 



l^OTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number deals with the ques- 

 tion of manuring Sea Island cotton with special refer- 

 ence to the utilization of cotton-seed meal. 



One page 162, the opening of the new corn-drying 

 factory in Antigua is reported and an account is given 

 of the history of its development and of its future 

 functions. 



Two articles in this issue deal with agricultural 

 matters in Mauritius; one on page 163 summarizes the 

 position in that colony as regards agricultural banks, 

 whilst the second, on page 165, describes a move that 

 has been made in connexion with educational affairs. 



Cotton Notes, on page 166, contain two interest- 

 ing articles concerning, respectively, studies in Indian 

 cotton and the possibilities of growing cotton in 

 Queensland. 



Lnder the caption of Agricultural Engineering, on 

 page 173, the new fibre-cleaning machine which has 

 given such satisfactory results in Jamaica, is explained 

 in considerable detail. 



On page 174, Fungus Notes comprise an article 

 dealing with two diseases of the tomato. 



Insect Notes, on page 170, review the report on 

 insect pests in Barbados. 191 2-13. 



Exports from Dominica, 1913. 



The value of the lime products exported from 

 Dominica in 1913 was £142,431 compared with 

 £96,673 in 1912 and £73,883 in 1911. Analyzing the 

 first total given, we find it composed of the following 

 items: concentrated lime juice £60,842; citrate of lime, 

 £17,026; raw lime juice £1-5,083; lime juice cordial, 

 £349; fresh limes, £39,298; distilled linie oil £3,625; 

 ecuelled lime oil, £6,208. Oranges were shipped valued 

 at £1,119, whilst the cacao exported was worth 

 £24,759 — a falling off on the previous year's figures. 

 Coco-nuts valued at £987 were exported. 



Most of the produce represented by the above 

 returns went to the United Kingdom. The trade with 

 Canada has shown a falling off. Whereas in 1912 raw 

 lime juice valued at £3,724 was sent to the Dominion, 

 in 1913 only £623 worth was shipped. The exports 

 of fresh limes to Canada, however, has nearly doubled 

 itself, being valued at £120 in 1912, and £203 in 1913. 

 The trade in fruits in general with the Dominion shows 

 a firm tendency to improve, and it is hoped that 

 advantage will be taken of the new steamship arrange- 

 mets to bring about still greater developments in this 

 direction duricg 1914. 



The Production of Rice. 



According to the Bulletin of the Imperial Insti- 

 tute (January-March 1914), it is estimated that about 

 35 per cent, of the cultivated area of British India is 

 under the rice crop. For 1911-12, the Indian rice crop 

 was some 26,100,000 tons, and in spite of a large local 

 consumption India exports more rice than any other 

 country in the world, the shipments for 1911-12 

 amounting to 2,625,000 tons. Rice in Ceylon is the 

 staple article of food of the native population, and in 

 1910-11 the estimated area under the crojj was roughly 

 680,574 acres. Rice cultivation is an important native 

 industry in the Federated Malay States, Fiji, Queens- 

 land and Egypt. In West and East Africa rice is 

 grown by the natives but not sufficient to meet the 

 local demands. Experimental shipments for the 

 purpose of ascertaining the commercial value of the 

 produce has demonstrated the necessity for more care 

 in the selection of varieties and in the cleaning and 

 husking of the grain. 



No reference is made in the article to rice-growing 

 in British Guiana where the area has increased from 

 6,000 acres in 1900 to over 40,000 acres 1912-13. The 

 imports of rice into this Colony have fallen from over 

 11,000 tons in 1897-8 to 82 in 1912, while nearly 

 2,750 tons of a value of .?185,856, and rice meal of 

 a value of $13,336 were e.'cported during that year, 

 mainly to the West Indian islands, where the grain is 

 considered by merchants to be superior to that 

 previously obtained from the East. 



