LlUKARV 

 NEW YOH 



BOTANIO 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES, qahobn 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



Vol. IX. Xo. 2;^5. 



BARBADOS, DECEMBER 10, 1910. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Page. 



Agriculture in Xv;iSMlanil, 



1909-10 ..." 



Bookshelf 



British Colunil)i:i, Plant 



I'riitection in 



Cacao in Brazil. 1910-11 

 Cotton Notes :— 



Prize-HnIilingsComj)eti- 



tion in Carriacou 

 The Cotton Industry of 



Peru 



West Indian Cotton ... 

 Cotton .Seed Ini])ort.ation 



into West Africa 

 Cigar Tobacco Growing in 



Pennsylvania 



Cultivation of Citrus 



Plants in Florida ... 

 Decorticating Machinery 



Department News 



Fruit Trees, Cleansing ... 

 Fungus Notes : — 

 MiscellaneiMis Fungi 



Recently Examined... 



392 

 395 



388 

 392 



391 



390 

 390 



:?97 



399 



38.5 

 393 

 399 



388 



398 



Gleanings .■59() 



Gold Coast, Agriculture on 389 



Insect Notes : — 



Plant Bugs Injurious to 



C.tton Bolls .394 



Mangos, Pruj)ag<ition by 



Circumposition 388 



Market Reports ... ... 400 



Nature Knij«le<lge and 

 Elementary Hygiene 

 in British Guiana ... 393 



Notes and Couuuents ... 392 

 Rice in British Guiana ... 389 

 Soy Hean CaKe, Feeding 



Value of .195 



Students' Comer 397 



Sugar Industry: — 



Central Sugar Factories 

 in Liiuisiana 387 



The Prevention of .Scal- 

 ing by Calcium Sul- 

 phate, in Evaporators 38G 



The Cultivation of Citrus Plants 

 in Florida. 



I l^RING the time that the Entomologist to 

 the Department was on k-ax e, recently, in the 



i United States, a visit was made by him to 

 Florida for the purpose of making observatiims on cit- 

 rus cultivation, especially in regard to the control of 

 pests in the plantations. The information gained by 

 him is of particular usefulness, because the growing of 

 citrus products constitutes the most valuable agricul- 



tural industry of the State. This is indicated by the 

 fact that the value of the exports of such products from 

 Florida, during the last season for which figures are avail- 

 able, was nearly 4^ million dollars. Although the rais- 

 ing of citrus fruit is an industry of seci>ndar\- importance 

 in the West Indies, the fact of its existence, and the exten- 

 sion that is taking place at present, justify the gaining 

 of information arising from the experience of others, 

 whenever the opportunity is available. 



The conditions in Flori<la are of particular interest 

 to fruit growers in the West Indies, because the clim- 

 atic conditions in the two places are generally similar 

 Florida, unlike California, which is the other great 

 citrus-producing region of the United States, has a fairly 

 humid climate, the rainfall being about -54 inches. The 

 greatest matter ofditfereiice, from an agrlctilfcural stand- 

 point, is its possession of an open, permeable soil with 

 a Hat surface and a high water table. The methods of 

 cultivation and the use of manures in the best orchards 

 in Florida are the results of experience extending over 

 many years, so that they form matters worthy of con- 

 sideration by every citrus grower who carries on the 

 Work under simihr conditions. 



The distance of planting of the trees is such that 

 the branches of different plants are never allowed to 

 touch one another. The chief reason for this is the 

 necessity for the provision of room for working around 

 the plants, and for spraying and fumigating, the last of 

 which are employed to a fairly large e.xtent ia 

 the State, in connexion with citrus culture. When 

 a i)lantation has been made, no deep tillage is practised 

 after the roots have taken jjossession of the ground. 

 The procedure adopted is to work the surface soil 

 lightly during the early part of the season. Stibse- 

 quentl}', weeds are allowed to grow up, undisturbed. 



