A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



BOTAI 

 OAR 



Vol. IX. No. 213. 



BARBADOS, JUNE 2.5, 1910. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Atjricultuie in British K;ist 



Africa 20:5 



Bees, To Prevent fmni 



Swarinini; 207 



Bookshelf 197 



Cattle, lireetlers' As.socia- 



tionsfcir Improvement 201 



Cotton, Indian, liii|iortation 



into TniteJ .State.s ... 200 



Cotton Notes : — 



Cotton Exports fiiim the 



West Indies 1'.I8 



Tile BritisliCiitti Ill-Grow- 

 ing Association 198 



West Indian Cotton ... 198 



De|iartment News 197 



Fruit Kx]i(irtation frnm 



Natal 19G 



Fungus Notes : — I 



Thread and llurse Hair 

 Blii,'lits 20(i' 



Gleanings 204 



Insect Notes : — 



The -Acarina or Mites, 

 Parti 202! 



Page. 



Maize. .\ New, from China 20:'. 



Market Reirort.s 208 



Milk Testing, An Ai.l in 201 

 Notes anil Comments ... 2lt0 

 Piiwell W.".d Process. The 2Ml 



Rainfall in ."^t. Lueia 



At.ii..rmal 201 



Rice, KtlVct of Corking ... 197 

 liubber Cultivation in 



Bolivia 200 



.St. Vincent Agricullural 



Sucicty 199 



Soil, Changes in and its 



Ferlilily 19:5 



Soils .Maintenance of tlie 



Productivity>f ., 2115 



Students' Corner 2(lij 



Sugar Industry : — 



Product ii'n of Seedling 



Canc^ in .lava 195 



Vanilla Kxliact. New Way 



of Preparing ... .'. 200 

 West Indian Prnducts ... 2; '7 



Changes in the ^'oil and its 

 Fertiliiv. 



'HE attention of agriculturists is being drawn 

 continually to the fact that the soil is in 

 a state of constant change. Formerly, the 

 ideas concerning this change were restricted to the 

 more obvious sources of loss or gain in available plant 

 food, and these were attributed to purely physical or 

 chemical causes, brought about by natural means, alone 

 This is no longer the case. Full recognition is being 

 attained of the great importance and e.xtent of the 



action of living organisms in the soil, and there is no 

 longer the general opinion that the operation of 

 manuring the soil results simply in the addition of 

 plant food in a more or less available condition. The 

 consequence of these matters seems to justify their 

 review in the form of a summary. 



The conditions which surround any given portion 

 of soil will, first of all, d.-tcrmine if it is to continue to 

 e.xist .IS such. Where the 'wash' from rain storms, 

 especially on hillsides, will probably be great, the loss is 

 lessened by the construction of contour drains. Plants 

 possessing strong, binding roots are also used for the 

 same puipose, and have been found especially useful 

 where the soil is likely to be blown away by wind. The 

 conservation of the soil by means of plants has, however, 

 a Car wider importance than this. It is a subject which 

 requires due recognition when the reatTorestation of 

 a district or country is being considered. It was the 

 want of knowledge of this that led to the destruction 

 of forests that has taken place in some parts of the 

 world, in the past, and which has caused all the evils 

 that have arisen from such destruction. 



The importance of the changes in the water con- 

 tent of the soil is evident. These are likely to be 

 of greater proportionate magnitude than any of the 

 others, and are of especial consequence to the agri- 

 culturist because of the necessity of water to the plant. 

 It suffices to draw attention to the progress that has 

 been made in the development of tillage methods that 

 are designed to conserve the water that the soil contains, 

 for the uses of plants — methods that have turned 

 semi-arid regions into districts of large agricultural 

 usefulness. 



Ne.xt to water, the most potent factor in influencing 



