A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OK THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Bit 



Vol. XIII. No. 321. 



RAKP.ADOS, AUGUST 15, 19U. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



mil 



.. 2(i:i 

 .. 2r>() 

 .. 2«() 

 .. 2(iO 

 tlie 

 .. 204 



Page. 



Agiicultiual OpeiiiiiL;> in 

 Foreign Countiit": ... 2(55 



Biicteiizoil Pout, Fuitlier 

 E.\i)tiiiiieiits ... 



Cocd-mit, Lipase in 



Odcn-nut. Ki|K'ning 



Cdffef. (.luality nf 



Cclonial .Iniirnal 

 West Indius ... 



Congifss (if Trijpical Agi'i- 

 culture, Third 2t>2 



Cdntagidus Diseases in (ireat 

 Britain and Canada, Stamp- 

 ing <»ut 270 



C'li-operatiim, Notes on ... 2(>7 



(Jotton Notes: — 



West Indian Cotton ... 202 



Cyananiide and Su])erplios- 

 liliate, Mixed Dressings 



P.\(;e. 



... 20S 



the 



.. 2(;(i 



.. 271 

 ,. 272 

 21 -.4 



of 



Department News ... 

 De]iartmental Reports 

 Electro-Potash. A 



INIanure 



Foi idst irti's, Li ically-groHii, 



and the War in Km'ope 2G4 



... 2t>3 



... 271 



... 2(il 



New 



... 259 



Gleanings 



Insect Notes: — 



Sugar-cane Pests of 



Leeward Islands ... 

 Items of Local Interest 



Market Iveports 



Notes and Comments 

 Khodesias Developing Cattle 



Industry 27il 



St. Lucia Governnieiil Sni.ill 

 Holdings Scheme 2(il 



Students' Corner 2()!» 



S\igar Industry: — 



Recent Progress in the 

 Cultivation of the Sugar- 

 cane 25!t 



Toronto Eshiliitiou, Ex- 

 hibits for 2l>5 



Tropical Agi-iculture, ("om- 

 mercial Standardization 



in 



Pear 



West Indian 

 Industry 



West Indie.s, 

 tion on ... 



New 



... L'o7 

 < lyster 



2l).5 



Puhlica- 



•>>;-) 



Commercial Standardization in Tropical 

 Agriculture. 



^ 1^ 



< Qs^ N the production o 



ot c\ cry class ui raw mate- 

 rial that has to uiulergo niamifacttire before 

 0> ^^-^gi^:^ l>eing suld to tile ciiHsiuiier, it is very desir- 

 cc able, and indeed necessarv, tliat .scientific methods 

 Csl shotihl be available for the ])recise determination or 

 ^ standardi.sation of the so-calleil conimercial gr.ides. The 

 ^ introduction of a system having this object is particu- 



larly favourable tt^i the interests of the producer or 

 grower, for it assi.sts him in forming a true judgement 

 of the market value of consignments, and enables him 

 to frame a di'finiteidea ofthe class of material he should 

 aim at producing. On the inanufactnrer's side, also, 

 benefit accrues, from the fact that he is more likely to 

 l)e supplied with the particular grade he is in need of, 

 and this in uniform quantities. 



Throughout the range of tropical agriculture the 

 importance of standardization is everywhere evident. 

 In the ca.se of suoar, it will be reinend;iereil that in the 

 old days the refiners depended upon such character- 

 istics as colour as a means of fixing a value, exemplified 

 bv the expression ■ 1 'utch colour standard': but it was 

 soon found, as the industry grew, that dependence on 

 such an arbitrary and inaccurate system loi wely based on 

 ph\-sical characters was entirely out of the question, 

 and the final result was the introduction, and world- 

 wide use of the polariscope. The valuation of sugar 

 was placed upon a scientific basis. 



In the case of other cmps, in spite of a similar 

 need being experienced, little progress has as yet been 

 made in the direction of standardization. Cacao grow- 

 ing, tor in.stance, is a typical instance where the valua- 

 tion of the produce is left to 'rule of thumb' and 

 'personal fancy'. At present it is difficult to decide 

 what the laboratory can do to assist in the standardi- 

 zation of cacao beans, and it is generally agreed 

 that in the meantime planters should make a point of 

 adopting uniform methods of estate manufacture 

 (e.g. fermentation), and furtlier make every endeavour 

 to grow uniform varieties — an object which in all 

 probability could be achieved with practical success by 

 establishing future plantations with budded cacao and 

 not from heterogenous seed. 



