A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



V..L. Xlir. No. 31i). 



IJAia'.ADOS, JULY IS, 19U. 



1'rice \d. 



CONTENTS. 



Pa.;i:. 



Agricultuiiil Oci-(i|)eriitinii 227 

 AuNtr;ilia s Svi]>|)ly of Coftue 232 



Britisli liiiiiina, Rut)l)er in 22!l 



Cottim Notes: — 



Cottiiu at tlie International 



Congress 230 



Little-known Cotton-gi'ow- 

 ing Areas in Foreign 



Countries 230 



West Indian Cotton ... 230 



Explosives, Lectures on ... 235 

 Fungus Notes: — 



A New Fungus on Lime 



I'AliE. 



Mangoes. Need for t'lassiii- 

 cafionof 228 



Mildew, Conditions Favour- 

 aide to the DevelojMnent 

 of 238 



Market Keports 240 



Notes and Comments ... 2.32 



Phili|i]iiiu' Exjxisition. 

 I'.tU 237 



Publications, Care of ... 235 



(.^>ueenslaMd Interest in 

 Cotton 233 



Rope and Its Cse on the 

 testate 239 



Rul)lier, Synthetic, Progress 

 ni ... ■ 239 



Soil-Tdlcr, New 235 



Soils in the Tropics, Liming 

 of 220 



Students' Comer 237 



Sugar Industry : — 



American Molasses in 



Eiuope 229 



Growth in the Application 



of Polarimetrv 228 



Results of the St. (.'roix 

 Sugar-cane Experiments 228 

 The Sugar Industry in 

 Australia 229 



Care of Publications. 



[HLS Department issues for the benefit of the 

 'West Indies pnblicatiims numbering nearly 

 lOO.OOO Copies annually, and a large propor- 

 tion of these are distributed gratis. For over ten years 

 tiiis output of printed matter, dealing with all branches 

 ot tropical agi'icultui-e and catering for all classes of 

 agriculturists has been .steadily continued, and we should 

 expect that by now a largi' number of Government 



Offices and even a larger number of estates in these 

 Colonies would be in possession of a useful and well 

 preserved collection of literature that should constitute 

 a technical library of much local interest and value. 

 T^nfortiniately, in many instances it appears evident 

 that this is not the ca.se. From enquiries that have 

 been made, and from voluntary expression of opinion by 

 tho.se who receive the literature, it would appear that 

 this neglect to take proper care of it is not due to 

 a want of intelligent interest in the publications 

 as they arrive. It seems to be rather the outcome of 

 not appreciating the value of periodicals for purposes of 

 reference and also perhaps due to dilator}- and careless 

 habits in the matter of tiling and binding. 



It will be readily seen that because the neglect under 

 discu.ssion involves an uimeeessary limitation of the 

 useful functions of pidjlicatioii work, it is clearly the 

 duty of this Department to take the matter up, especially 

 as the funds by means of which the work is carried out 

 are derived from Imperial sources. A feature in the case 

 which gives cause for particular regret is that, as 

 already intimated, the various departmental offices 

 of local Governments are not entirely exempt 

 from neglect — a circumstance of considerable official 

 as well as exemplary significance. There can be 

 no (questioning the view that the above mentioned 

 offices ought to be in possession of a complete 

 and properly bound set of the publications of the 

 Imperial Department. The local Agricultural Depart- 

 ments, of course, as a matter of ordinary routine, 

 give the requisite attention to the preservation of 

 agricultural literature; but the publications of this 

 Department are not entirely agricultural from the 

 estate ptiint of view only: they deal with move- 

 ments many of which ha\e Go\frimieiit financial 

 support, such as small holdings and credit systems and 



