A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW "^'"^ 



NEW « 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. ua«uhn. 



Vol. IX. No. 223. 



BARBADOS, NOVEMBER 12, 1910. 



Pricb Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Page. 



Agricviltur.il Ruswiicli, 



Centializatiiiii of ... 353 

 Barium in United Stsites 



Soils 3.VJ 



Buihviiipil, Florida, Success 



in West Indies with... 336 

 Castilloa Cultiv.ation in 



Jamaica 360 



Cotton Notes : — 



British Cotton-Growing 



Association 358 



Cotton in Nyasaland ... 359 

 West Indian Cotton ... 358 

 Departmental Reports ... 363 

 Fungus Notes : — 



Root Disease of Cacao, 

 Limes and other Plants 36C 

 Gambia, Trade of, I'JOfS... .361 



Gleanings 3()4 



Insect Notes : — 



Scale Insects and Black 

 Blight in Grenada ... 362 

 International Riiliher 



E.\hibition, 1911 ... 357 



Lime Cultivation, Catch 



Cro|)S in 361 



Market Reports 368 



Millions, Knemy of .355 



Nit r(igi-n- Fixing! )rganisms 



in the .Soil, I'se of ... 360 

 Notes and Comments ... 360 



Paper-Making Material, 



Requisites in 361 



Porto Rico, 'Sick' Soils of 361 



Pot.itos, Irish, Material 



for Planting ... .. 357 



Rice. Hough, for Feeding 



Horses and Mules ... 367 



Rubber-Tapping Experi- 

 ments in Ceylon ... 354 



Sorrel, Cseful Variety of 356 



Students' Corner 365 



Sugar Industry: — 



Experiments in Drying 



Megass 355 



The .Analysis of Megass .355 



West Indian Products ... 367 



The Centralization of Agricultural 

 Research. 



^<|;:^(_!HICULTUKE, in the modem .sense of the 

 ^V^jterni, is a m.in\ -sided siibji-ct, and requifes 



'^^^i'ov its successful advancement the work of 

 many men who have been trained, not only in different 

 branches of natural science, but also along veiy different 

 lines. The two extreme types of men interested in the 

 advancement of this most important branch of human 

 knowledq-e are repi-esented by the practical planter on 



the one hand, and the academical scientist on the other. 

 JLidwa}" between these .stands the man entrusted with 

 the care of field experiments, who must be ]iossessed 

 not only of a general knowledge of the nature and value 

 of the different branches of scientific inrestigation, bub 

 also of the methods and conditions of practical agri- 

 culture as exhibited in the district to which his work is 

 intended to be of service. 



Now it is piirt of the nature of scientific research 

 that the general conclusions at which it arrives are, in 

 many cases, applicable to practical methods over a very 

 large area, when once they have been modified to suit 

 local conditions. Consequently, the number of indi- 

 viduals required to investigate the scientific side of any 

 problem is relatively small, while the number of practical 

 workers to whom they may be of value is larg(\ The 

 channel by means of which the results obtained in the 

 laboratoiy are usually conveyed to the practical workers 

 in any agricultural district is through the man entrusted 

 with the comluct of field experiments. The number of 

 these men must dej)eu(l either on geographical condi- 

 tions <ir on the extent to which land is under cultivation. 



The functions of the middle man referred to above 

 are threefold. In the first place, he must test the value 

 of laboratory restilts as applied to the production of 

 crops under local conditions: though the lines along 

 which these tests should be made must be indicated by 

 the scientific investigator who interprets the results. 

 In the second place, he is required to give advice when 

 needed to the practical worker, in the light of the knowl- 

 edge ac(|uired from the tests conducted, .so that the 

 information obtained may be thoroughly disseminated. 

 Lastly, he may from his experience of local i>roblems 

 suggest lines of investigation, which wotild be of value, 



