400 



THE AGEICULTUKAL XEWS. 



DtCEMBER 19, 1914. 



functions of the Agricultural Departments and their 



■ officers in relation to new aspects of agiiciilture may 

 be discussed. 



Practical agriculturists^the world over are known 

 to be conservative. So long as the crops under general 

 cultivation are in demand, new ones are not usually 

 sought after; so long as the existing practices are fairl}- 



■ satisfactory, new methods are not tried. 



This is a natural and essential characteristic of 

 planters and farmers generally. There is always some 

 reason for the crops that are grown in any locality, and 

 for the existing methods of cultivation. Sound experi- 

 mental work continued over a suitable period of years 

 may, and often does, demonstrate reasons for changes, 

 but the practical agriculturist is generally quite 



■ correct in waiting till the need arises, or until he has 

 been shown good reason for making substantial altei-a- 

 tions either in crop or methods. The experimental 

 work devolves upon agricultural officers who should 

 keep sufficiently in touch with planters and peasants to 

 be able to keep them informed as to the results obtained, 

 -and place them in a position to decide as to the 

 practical value of any advice offered to them. 



As a part of its work the Experiment Station 

 makes trial of new crops, a.nd year after year records 

 results which may seem to have no very particular 

 application to the needs of the practical agriculturist; 

 but when circiunstances arise which necessitate changes, 

 these results prove to be of value. Similarly with new 

 plants which the Botanic Gardens procure from other 

 districts; they appear at first to be merely of very pass- 

 ing interest, but the time may come when they will be 

 found useful. The same remark applies to agricultural 

 practices. At first tried on purely experimental lines 

 and recommended for their theoretical value, they 

 often come to be of general application. 



If a few concrete examples are taken to illustrate 

 the points mentioned, we are led to consider recent 

 development in the cultivation of such crops as cotton 

 :and Indian corn, beans and ground nuts. 



For several years cotton' has figured as a crop of 

 major importance in the West Indies, but before its 

 cultivation was taken up on estate lines, trials had 

 been made in Experiment Stations, which indicated 

 •the possibilities of cotton as a crop, and also suggested 

 the kind of cotton that should be grown. Since that 

 time, suitable strains of seed have been maintained by 

 .;seed selection, in which work agricultural officers have 

 Jtaken a prominent part, and indeed in some islands 



practically the whole of the selection work has devolved 

 upon these officers. 



At the present time efforts are being made to stimu- 

 late the interest of planters in the possibilities of Indian 

 corn as a crop likely to have special value under the 

 present circumstances. Indian corn was probably grown 

 in the West Indies before the discovery of these 

 islands by Europeans, and has been grown con- 

 tinuously since that time; but in nearly every island it 

 has been cultivated mostly as a minor crop on estates, 

 and by peasant proprietors. It is not yet known just 

 how far corn growing on a large scale can be made 

 profitable, but by suggesting lines of improvement in 

 cultivation, seed selection, and storage of the gi-ain, it 

 is hoped that trials will be made to prove the point, 

 and that a crop will be developed which shall be 

 attractive to estate owners, and at the same time 

 greatly reduce the importations of a product which can 

 be grown locall}". 



Another example of the part played by official 

 agriculture is to be foimd in the experimental work of 

 the budding and grafting of tropical plants, which has for 

 many years been carried on in certain Botanic Stations 

 in these islands. Some of this work, as in the case of 

 of mangoes and oranges, is already of recognized impor- 

 tance, while that relating to other plants such as cacao, 

 limes, avocado pears, and others has considerable 

 possibilities. 



The budding ^and grafting of cacao and the budd- 

 ing of limes was, at first, generally considered to be 

 merely a nice bit of technical horticulture, but now 

 it is known that grafted and budded cacao is useful, 

 since a degree of uniformity in the finished product 

 may be obtained by budding and grafting, which is 

 impossible in the crop from seedling trees. 



In the case of limes also, the point is well illus- 

 trated. Planters believed that budded limes could not 

 be gi'own profitably because of the cost of procuring 

 and establishing such plants. The work already done 

 has, however, demonstrated one very important point: 

 that the sour orange makes a suitable stock for budding 

 limes upon, and since the appearance of a serious root 

 disease of limes, observations have led to the sugges- 

 tion that probably, ilimes budded on sour orange stock 

 can be grown on lands where seedling limes are being 

 killed by the disease. 



In the matter of estate practice also, advice is 

 often given long before the plantei's are ready to adopt 

 it. Suggestions as to tillage, mulching, rotation of 



