56 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 19, 1910. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 epecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Cii[>ies of the ' Agricultural 

 News' should be'addres^ed u< the Agents, and not to 

 the Department. 



Local A'linits: Messrs. Dow en & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau Sz 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, W. A complete list ot .\gents 

 will be found oajjage 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News: Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4s. 4d. 



gigriculturat ^xm 



Vol. IX. SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 19, 1910. No. 204. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



The editorial deals with the subject of the relation 

 between the practical agriculturist and those whose 

 duty it is to advise him. It is intended to point out 

 how co-operation between the planter and the .-gri- 

 cuUiiral department can add materially to the efficiency 

 of the work of the latter. 



Under the heading Sugar Industry, on page -51, 

 a description is given of the way in which sugar 

 cultivation is carried on in Peru. 



The article on pages .52 and 53, which deals with 

 the position of vanilla in the principal markets for that 

 product, shows that this plant, generally speaking, is 

 quite unstated to be a main crop. 



A suggestive article on the uses of cotton seed oil, 

 especially of the refined product, is extracted on page 

 .54. 



The Insect Notes in this issue (page 58) deal with 

 the root borer of the sugar-cane, and with two other pests 

 that are somewhat similar in a few respects. Special 

 attention is drawn to the remedial measures for the 

 root borer. 



The Fungus Notes, on page 59, have for their 

 subject the more important ' smut ' fungi in the West 

 Indies. 



A general account of the Conference on Agri- 

 cultural Matters that was recently held in Antigua, 

 appears on page 62. 



Orange Oils in Jamaica. 



A recent report by Messrs. Schimmel & Co., on 

 orange oils from .Jamaica that have been examined by 

 that firm, states that all the samples had a good odour, 

 and that those which were pressed from sweet fruit also 

 agreed in their contents (apart from a slightly smaller 

 residue of evaporation) with Italian oils. On the 

 other hand, the two samples of bitter oil were somewhat 

 lighter, and showed a higher optical rotation than is 

 usually the case. It is suggested that the cause of this- 

 lies in their source of production, but that it is not 

 unlikely that insufficient care has been taken in selecting 

 fruit for pressing, for the variations referred to may be 

 obtained bv the addition of sweet to bitter oil. 



Trade Within the Empire. 



The forty-sixth statistical abstract for the British 

 colonies, possessions and protectorates, issued by the 

 Board of Trade, contains interesting figures, which 

 indicate the extent of the development of those parts 

 of the British Empire during the last fifteen years. 

 They show unmistakably the great and increasing 

 importance 6f the colonial market. During the time 

 under review, the total value of the trade in this has 

 more than doubled, having risen from £34(5,000,000 

 to £696,000,000 The United Kingdom's share of 

 this total is still greater than that of all foreign 

 countries combined, but the trade of the colonies with 

 those countries is increasing much more rapidly than 

 that with the United Kingdom. This is shown by the 

 fact that, while since 1904 colonial trade with the 

 Jlother Country has increased by £13.S,390,000, that 

 with foreign countries has risen by £154,172,000. 



In regard to area and population, the latest returns 

 show that the former, exclusive of the area of the United 

 Kingdom, is 11,211,000 square miles, with a population 

 of 343,748,000 in 1901. In 1891 the population of the 

 Empire was, similarly, 307,483,000 — an increase of over 

 36,000,000 in ten years. 



The Availabihty of Phosphates in Acid Soils. 



The second Research Bulletin, issued by the Uni- 

 versity of Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 contains the results of work that has been taken up in 

 continuation of previous investigations at that station, 

 which indicated that acid soils usually stand in require- 

 ment of phosphatic manures. The new work shows 

 that acid soils are usually lacking in available phos- 

 phates, for a higher percentage of their total phosphoric 

 acid is united with iron and aluminium, and a lower 

 percentage with calcium, than is the case with soils 

 that are not acid: though this does not mean that the 

 latter soils may not be lacking in available phosphates 

 from some other cause. Results have been obtained 

 which suggest that humic phosphorus may be unavail- 

 .able to plants. 



Another conclusion of general interest that was 

 obtained was that i-normal nitric acid is an excellent 

 indicator of the needs of a soil in relation to phos- 

 phates: this is due to the fact that it indicates the 

 amount of calcium phosphate in soils. 



