Vol. IX. No. 203. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



45 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



FEBRUARY. 



FiPST Period. 



Seasonal Notes. 



Wheie cacao is being grown, read up the subject of 

 cacao grafting; in doing this, reference should be made to 

 Pamiihlet No. 61 of the Department, entitled The Graftiwj 

 of Cacao, as well as to what has appeared from time to time 

 in the other publications; special mention may be made of 

 the Wtit Indian DuUetin, Vol. VIII, p. 1 37, and of the A(jri- 

 cultural Xews, Vol. VIII, p. 313. Satisfy yourself that 

 certain advantages are gained, in regard to special plants, by 

 the practice of grafting, and make yourself familiar with the 

 circumstances in which these advantages consist. Consider 

 what part of the stem has an intimate use in connexion with 

 grafting, and try to give a reason why this operation cannot be 

 practised with certain plants, and whj-, where it is possible, this 

 is only the case where the plants are of either the same kind 

 or closely related to one another. What effects may be 

 shown by grafting (1) on the stock, (2) on the scion ? In 

 suitable weather, make actual practice of grafting, where it is 

 possible for this to be done. What is the essential difference 

 between grafting and budding, and why is the former recom- 

 mended for some plants and the latter for others ? What are 

 the chief causes of unsuccessful grafting and l)udding i 



In some of the cotton fields, it may be noticed that 

 many of the leaves fall before their time, leaving the plants 

 with many bolls that are still to open. An e.xamination of 

 such leaves will probably di-sclose the fact that the mycelium 

 of a fungus is present on the under side of the leaf; the 

 presence of this fungus is possibly the cause of its premature 

 falling. In what ways may the fungus be enabled to gain 

 access to the interior of the leaf > What is most likely to 

 become of the fungus after the leaf is dead? Study the life- 

 history of the fungi, and obtain a clear account of those 

 which attack the different parts of the cotton plant. (Pam- 

 phlet 4-"), ^17)C' o/ C'o^foji Plantinq; Wi^t Indian IJulhtin, 

 Xo). IV, p. -255; Vol. V, p. 178; Vol. VI, j). 117; Vol. IX, 

 p. 216; Aiiricultural News, Vol. VIII, pp. 251, 267 and 2S3.) 

 In regard to the leaf-blister mite, it should be noticed that, 

 where there has been an early attack by this pest, the chances 

 of obtaining a second crop of cotton are lessened, as the 

 plants become badly infested by it. 



An examination should be made of the seed yielded by 

 any particular cotton plant. It will be found that this 

 exhibits great uniformity, so that it is natural to conclude 

 that the lint borne by the plant is of uniform quality. This 

 consistency in the matter of (juality of yield makes the 

 examination of cotton from different plants a simple under- 

 taking, as the quality of the bulk can be determined from 

 investigations of a few normal lint-bearing seeds. 



Now that the cotton plants are in bearing, an oppor- 

 tunity is afforded for making observations as to what is 

 the most useful and convenient type of plant, in regard to 

 shape. It will be seen that a large proportion of the plants 

 suffer a loss of yield through the development of low-lying, 

 spreading branches, the bolls on which decay through being 

 subjected to the unfavourable conditions on or near the 

 ground. It is thus explained why, in seed selection, some 

 account is taken of the .shape of the plants which have been 

 chosen to give the seed for examination. Note that the 

 bolls borne by different plants show variation in size. This 



variation is sometimes sufficiently great to make one type 

 require fifty more bolls than another in order to provide 

 a quantity of cotton weighing a pound. Examine the lint 

 from bolls from various sizes; it will be found that small bolls 

 do not nece.ssarily contain seeds yielding short lint. An 

 interesting observation may be made, where both selected 

 and unselected cotton are grown, by examining seed from the 

 two kinds in order to determine the proportion of clean black 

 seeds in each case. 



In places where a large number of cane cuttings that 

 have been planted have failed to sprout, dig up several of 

 them and a.scertain, as far as possible, the cause of death. 

 Make observations, also, with a view to determining if the 

 cuttings were pushed to the bottom of the hole in which they 

 were planted. If the cuttings in different fields have been 

 treated differently before planting — that is to say if some 

 have been treated with IJordeaux mixture and some with 

 lime-water — make counts for the purpose of finding the per- 

 centages of failure in the two cases. A sufficient number of 

 observations of this kind should give useful information as to 

 the relative efficiency of the two methods of disinfection. 



Questions for Candidates. 



PRELIMINAEY QUESTIONS. 



(1) (Jive a short account of the structure of the foot of 

 the horse. 



(2) Describe carefully the true stem of arrowroot and of 

 ginger. 



(3) Give a careful description, with sketches, of the 

 growth of a cane 'top' or of a cane cutting. 



INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS. 



(1) What do you understand by mulching? Describe 

 several methods of mulching, and state what advantages are 

 derived from the operation. 



(2) State what varieties of cacao are recognized by you. 

 AMiich variety is most suitable for the district in which you 

 live, and why? 



(3) How would you cultivate the soil in an old lime 

 orchard? 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Oommissioner of Agriculture return- 

 ed from an official visit to the Northern Islands, by 

 the SS. 'Oruro', on January :iO, 1910. During part 

 of the time, Dr. Watts accompanied the party of 

 planters and others from Barbados who were visiting 

 Antigua in order to gain information concerning the 

 equipment and working of the sugar factories in that 

 island, and to enquire into methods of implemental 

 tillage, as well as for other purposes connected with the 

 interests of agriculture. 



Mr. Austin H. Kirb}', B.A., of St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, Agricultural and Science Master, Antigua, 

 has been approved by the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies for the appointment of Scientific Assistant on 

 the Staff of the Imperial Department of Agriculture in 

 the West Indies, in succession to Mr. W. Biffen, B.Sc, 

 who has resigned on account of ill health. 



