390 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



December 5, 1914. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agi-icultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and not 

 to the Department. 



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

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^gricuttiirat llmufi 



Vol. XIII. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1914. No. 329. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number is the conclusion 

 of the paper on the improvement of soils, which is 

 based upon the address of Professor A. D. Hall at the 

 Australian meeting of the British Association. 



(Jn page 384, there is presented an important 

 article on the deterioration of sugars on storage — 

 a question needing attention. 



The articles, on page 386 refer to orange grafting, 

 and to recent legislation in Florida as to the shipment 

 of oranges and grape-fruit. 



An abstract of the first part of an address by 

 Dr. H. A. Tempany, on the recent International 

 Congi-ess of Tropical Agriculture, held in London, 

 appears on page 387. 



Under the headincr Indian Com, on page 389, there 

 is important advice given as to the selection of seed 

 corn in the field. 



In Fungus Notes, on page 396, there is an article 

 on hot water treatment for the prevention of cotton 

 anthracnose, and a note on the cob rot of corn. 



Insect Notes, on page 392, contain advice as to 

 the extermination of trouble.some ants, and notes on 

 the moth borer of sugar-cane in British Guiana. 



Notes on Indian Corn. 



As a result of the interest which is being mani- 

 fested in Indian com as a crop with considerable 

 possibilities for development in these islands, the Pam- 

 phlet No. 7(), which was mentioned in Notes and Com- 

 ments in the last issue of the Agricultural Newa, 

 has been prepared and issued by the Department. 

 In continuation of the attempt to bring forward useful 

 information with regard to this crop, it is pioposed to 

 present in each number of the Agricultural News, as 

 far as is pi'acticaV)le, Indian corn notes, one of which 

 appeared in the last number under the heading As to 

 Corn: the .second, in this present number, deals with 

 the Selection of Seed Corn. 



Pure Milk Supply. 



In his paper entitled A Veterinary Survey of the 

 Windward and Leeward Islands, whicli appeared 

 in a recent number of the West Indian Bulletin, 

 Mr. P. T. Saunders,' M.R.C.V.S., indicates in his notes 

 on each island that the milk supply, almost without 

 exception, is in need of improvement. 



In many localities in temperate countries where 

 scientific knowledge, has had a wider application to 

 matters of food supply and sanitation, nnxch has been 

 done in the way of governmental control of the supply 

 and sale of milk; in the Tropics, however, less progress 

 has been made. 



The Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist for 

 October last, presents the report of the Territorial 

 Veterinarian, in which stress is laid on the need for 

 effort towards the production of milk free from tuber- 

 culosis. 



Effects of Volcanic Action. 



From a review of a book b}- Dr. H. J. Johnston- 

 Lavis on the effects of volcanic action in the produc- 

 tion of epidemic diseases in the animal and in the 

 vegetable creation, and in the production of hurri- 

 canes and abnormal atmospherical vicisitudes, in 

 Nature, October 20, 1914, we glean that the writer 

 has come to the conclusion, after an examination 

 of the whole question, that while there is no direct 

 relation between volcanic phenomena and disease, 

 epidemic disease may be caused or increased during 

 or after volcanic eruptions in the following indirect 

 ways: — 



'(1) The irritating and depressing effects of 

 poisonous fumes on the eyes and throat; (2) the dis- 

 turbance of water-courses, leading to wells and surface 

 supplies being infected froi i sewage, and the inter- 

 ference of the ventilation of houses by the accumula- 

 tion of ejected matei-ials; '''■) the moral depression 

 from fear, with the hunger resulting from food supplies 

 being cut off.' 



It is admitted by all meteorologists that great 

 atmospheric disturbances are occasioned by volcanic 

 outbursts. 



