A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



NEW ^ 



BOTA^ 



OAiti] 



Vol. IX. No. 219. 



BARBADOS, SEPTEMBER 17, 1910. 



Pbicx lei. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



P.\GE. 



Blackbird of Diiiiiinicii, 



The 297 



Book Shelf 299 



Canadiun Kxhiliitious, 



Trinidad. St. Vincent 

 and Tort.ila and the 291 



Cotton Notes : — 



Cotton K.xportsfrom the 



West Indies 294 



Cott'in-Growing in 



Malta 294 



West Indian Cotton... 294 



Departmental Reports ... 295 



Felling Trees, A new 



Method for 297 



Fruit Exportation from 



Natal 292 



Fungus Notes : — 



Some Diseases of Rub- 

 ber Trees, Part I ... 302 



Gleanings .300 



Guayule Rubber 294 



Indian Agriculture, Im- 

 provements in 293 



Insect Notes : — 



House-Flies and Disease 

 The Brussels Congress 



of Entomology 



.laffii Orange, The 



Maintenance of Soil I'm- 



ductivit y. The 



Market Reports 



Notes and Comments ... 



Para Rublier Tree. Tap- 

 ping nf 



Publication^ of the 



Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture 



Rubber Industry of Brazil 

 Sesljania Aculeata as a 



Green Manure 



Students' Corner 



Sugar Trade Laboratory, 



New York 



Trade an<l Commerce of the 



Seychelles, 1909 ... 

 Vanilla, PnMluctioii of ... 



298 



298 

 292 



289 

 .3(14 



29ti 

 303 



29(i 

 297 



297 

 .301 



291 



297 

 295 



The Maintenance of Soil 

 Productivity. 



*X most parts of the world, agricultural 

 practice has reached the stage of full recog- 



i!iition, in individual cases, of the necessity of 

 keeping up the fertility of the soil by approved methods. 

 An imderstanding of the needs of the soil has been 

 gained, so that there is a decreasing tendency to take 

 whatever this may yield, without treating it in ways 

 which will prevent its exhaustion. This phase of the 

 methods of agricultural production is naturally of the 

 greatest importance, especially as it enables the area 



concerned in that production to be conserved eflfectively. 



The principles of the maintenance of soil produc- 

 tivity are, however, usually employed in a narrow way 

 only. They are considered to relate to matters on 

 a particular estate, or group of estates, or to the pro- 

 duction of Dne given crop. This is insufficient where 

 the agricultural welfare of a whole district, or colony, ia 

 concerned. Such welfare dej)ends mainly on the level 

 of .the agricultural efficiency of the inhabitants, and 

 therefore on the extent to which agricultural methods 

 suited to the particular conditions are in vogue. Indiv- 

 idual effort may be of use in limited areas, but in 

 couni lies where the means of production are generally 

 inferior, those areas, alone, will profit by it, and the very 

 existence of this inferiority will increase the difficulty 

 of the effort, and lessen the value of its results. 



This matter possesses a special importance in regard 

 to districts or colonies which have become noted for 

 a ])articularly high grade of some definite commodity, 

 because of the large area from which this comes, and 

 on account of the s])eedy deterioration, and consequent 

 reproach, that it will suffer in the event of its produc- 

 tion under less favourable circumstances. A reason is 

 thus given for the exercise of the greatest care to pre- 

 vent negligence in the course of this production, and 

 thus to ensure that the soil, in which the plants gi-ow 

 that yield the commodity, shall not be made to furnish 

 this in amounts too great for its capacity, or be per- 

 mitted to undergo exhaustion on account of neglect. 

 Once such untoward circumstances are allowed to come 

 into being, the efforts of individuals to remedy matters 

 are of little use. There is need for a wide consideration 

 of affairs, and the adoption of methods which will 

 improve agricultural conditions in a perfectly general 

 way. 



