280 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 29, 1914. 



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^griciiitiiral llriuii 



Vol. XIIL SATURDAY, AUCiUPT I'U, 1914. Xo. 32J. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents oi Present Issue. 



Thi' editorial in this number deals with the subject 

 ot legi.slatory ppjtection of plants and animals. This 

 has sj^ecial reference to the quarantine methods that 

 ha\e been adopted in various parts of the Tropics for 

 the protection of cultivated crops. 



Cotton Notes, on page 27-"). contain the latest 

 Market Reports (August 10, 1!)14), and a statement 

 showing the exports and value of West Indian Sea 

 Isl,-ind Cotton fni- the March aud June (|uai'ters, 1!)14. 



Un page 277 will be found an important article- 

 dealing with the qur^tion of the topping of the sugar- 

 cane. 



An interesting account of recent discoveries in 

 connexion with the sensibility of plants will be foiuid 

 i>n page 270. 



In this i.ssue, Insect Notes, on page 282, deal with 

 the .S2:)rays known under the names of Paranaph and 

 Scale. 



Fungus Notes, on page 2.S(), comprise information 

 on the bud-i'ot of coco-inits in India. 



Agricultural Colleges for the Tropics. 



As noted in the last issue of the Agricultural News, 

 the need for colleges was the dominant note in the 

 proceedings at the recent International Congress held in 

 London. With a view to giving further publicity to 

 the edticational requirements of the Tropics, the Editor 

 of Tropiccd I^^fe (Mr. H. Hamel Smith) publishes 

 a leading article on the subject in the issue of that 

 journal for June 1914, which reviews the discussions 

 that took place at the Congress, and furthermore makes 

 an apjjeal to the Home Government for official encriur- 

 agement and financial sttpport. It would seem clear 

 that all are agreed that at least two colleges are wanted: 

 one in the East and another in the West. Their estab- 

 lishments rests entirelv upon the provision of ade(iuate 

 funds, which for the present are not likely to be forth- 

 coming. 



When one considers the comparative unimportance 

 of British agriculture as a source of rewnue and food 

 for Great Britain compared with tropical agriculture 

 it seems remarkable that Great Britain should be 

 supplied with over twenty agricultural colleges of 

 university standing whilst the many millions of .square 

 miles of tropical territory are devoid of even one such 

 institution. The value and claims of the British 

 tropical colonirs will no doubt be more fully appreci- 

 ated in England during the course of the next jear or 

 two and the necessity for aiding their development by 

 the encouragement of education and research may 

 ev(n:itually receive the attention and support that it 

 is deserving of 



Teclinical Education and the Sugar industry. 



Some instructive consi(lerati(jns are ^jut forward 

 in regard to the value of technical education in tite 

 sugar industry by Dr. C. E. Coates in the Louisiana 

 Planter for July 25, 1914. Eeferring to Java, it is 

 maintained that the value of science is seen from the 

 fact that the study of vari(jtis workers in connexion with 

 technical problems has made the Java cane-sugar in- 

 dustry both 'stable and profitable. In Lotiisiana, too, 

 the inti-oduction of .scientific control has led to vast 

 improvements. 



Before any industry can be placed under .scientific 

 control it becomes necessary first, ofcour.se, to train the 

 men to ttndertake this work. Attention is gi\en to 

 the circumstance that in the past the so-called sugar 

 chemist was frequently nothing more than a jwlariscope 

 reader. Nowadays it is necessary to find a man who 

 is able to pa.ss chemical judgment on the various pro- 

 cesses in vogue in the sugar industry, an otficer 

 thoroughly trained in the chemical engineering of sugar 

 and one who can interpret laboratory results in terms 

 of factory practice. In order to train workers to fit the 

 post of a sugar chemist, special courses of instruction 

 are necessaiy, and it nmst be admitted that in the 

 British Tropics there is a sad want of an institution 

 capable of proxiding such a tiaining in its best and 

 broadest sense. 



