A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



MF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 





Vol. XIII. Xo. 326. 



BAEBADOS, OCTOBER 24, 191t 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Paue. 



Antigua Onion Growers' 



A>-siiciiitinn 341 



Bananas, Miiiiuring of ... 338 

 Coco-nut and Avocado 



Fear 343 



departmental Rujiorts ... .")45 

 Drugs and S])ifu> on the 



London .Markrt 349 



Fungus Notes: — 



Wilt Disease of Legumi- 

 nous Plants 348 



(ileanings 34t) 



Gn lund Nuts, Cultivation of 338 

 Heredity, Modern Views 



on 343 



Indigo 342 



Insect Notes: — 



A New C.itton Pest... :;44 

 Items of Local Interest... 348 



P.\.;e. 



Market Reiiorts 3.5(1 



Montserrat, Agricultural 



Prosjiects in ■. .340 



Notes and Conniients ... .''142 

 Sisal Henij) and Henei|uen 342 

 Stoniata and Leaf Move- 

 ment .347 



Students' Corner 347 



Sugar Industry: — 



Soliilitied Mola.s.ses ... 337 

 The Messcliaert Grooved 



Mill Roller .Tw 



Telegony :U4 



Tri-tri in St. Lucia :Ut 



West Indian Cotton 341 



West Indian Cotton in Siena 



Leone 341 



West Indian FoodProduc- 



ti. m 3:55 



West Indian Food Production. 



^>r5)pRKARLV fifteen years ago, in the first volume 

 f '"^^^V'* t'l'^' ^''^** Indian Bulletin, a paper 

 ^^^y, appeared on the subject of food supplies of 

 some of the West Indian islands. This paper dealt 

 witli the possibilities of sidistitmiiig locally grown 

 produce for imported food, and n IfiTed, in a general 

 inainier, to several matters of iinicli economic interest. 

 At the present juncture, when the question of food 

 supplies is one of special importano , it will be instruc- 

 tive to consider some of the points raised in this paper, 

 and to try to extend the information so as to bring 

 thi- present treatment of the subject up to date. 



Before proceeding to do this, however, it may be 

 advisable to point out that at the time the paper was 

 written (1900) many of the West Indian islands were 

 in a serious state of depression both as regards capital 

 and labour. To-day, in a sense, and to a certain e.xtent, 

 the position is also critical. It is, however, not so 

 much a (|uestion of financial depression as it was then; 

 it is rather the e.xistence of a menace that there might 

 in the near future be a temporary shortage in the supply 

 of fiMicl. If this (iccurred, it would naturally mean an 

 increase in prices. Assuming this happened, the 

 l>urilen would fall upon the poorer classes unless there 

 was a corresponding increase in wages, or at least an 

 increase in the possibilit}' of continuous employment. 

 Without entering further into a point of contro\ersy, it 

 will be apparent that the conditions to-day and fifteen 

 or twenty years ago are critical, and that this circum- 

 stance lends particular interest to the subject under 

 consideration. It is not to be inferred, however, that 

 the subject is unworthy of consideration under normal 

 circumstances: even under ordinary conditions the 

 supply of food in these islands is of extreme importance, 

 and it is as an ordinary economic problem that it is 

 proposed to consider the matter in this article. The 

 significance of the \ lews at the present juncture will 

 be self-apparent. 



Food supplies in any country fall into two great 

 di\ isions: those which are imported, and those which 

 are grown locally. For purely agricultural colonies, 

 anrl especially for colonies dependent on transport by 

 sea, the quantities of imported foods consumed in these 

 islands are very large. The most important articles of 

 diet obtained from abroad are flour, corn (maize) and 

 salted fish: as far as the labouring classes are concerned, 



