120 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Apeil 8, 1916. 



t:ditorial 



Head Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News ' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page 3 of 

 the cover. 



Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies 



Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc, 

 F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant and 



Assistant Editor 

 Entomologist 

 Mycologist 



CLERICAL 

 Chief Clerk 

 Assistant Clerk 

 Junior Clerk 

 Assistant Junior Cleik 

 Typist 



Assistants for Publications 



W. R. Dunlop. 



H. A. Ballon, M.Sc. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 

 M. B Connell. 

 W P. Bovell, 

 P. Taylor. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 (A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 

 1 L. A. Corbin. 



Agricultural Jlcius 



Vol. XV. SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1916. No. 364. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this nninber deals with modern 

 ideas in regard to the conduct of field experiments. 

 Their careful consideration in connexion with future 

 work in the West Indies is desirable. 



West Indian Cotton Conference. 



The West Indian Cotton Conference held under 

 the auspices of the Imperial Depa-tment of Agriculture 

 in the Presidency of St. Kitts, March 1.3 to 18, was in 

 every respect a success. A summarized account of the 

 first day's proceedings will be found on another page of 

 this issue, and fun her instalments will appear in 

 subsequent issues. The thanks of the Imperial 

 Department are due to the local Organizing and Recep- 

 tion Committee for the manner in which arrangements 

 were made to facilitate the conduct of the proceedings, 

 and for the generous hospitality shown to all the visiting 

 delegates in regard to entertainment at the conclusion 

 of each day's work. 



The following is a list of the delegates: — 

 St. Vincent — Mr. S. C. Harland, B.Sc , Assistant 

 Agricultural Superintendent; Leeward Islands — Dr. H. 

 ArTempany,Clovernment Chemist and Superintendent 

 of Agriculture: Montserrat — Mr. W. R.bson, Curator, 

 Botanic Station, Mr. K. P. Pencheon and Mr. S. W. 

 Howes: Antigua — Mr. T. Jackson, Curator, Botanic Sta- 

 tion, Hon. R. Warneford, and Captain J. T. Dew: Bar- 

 buda — Mr. G. Sutherland, Government Manager; Nevis 

 — Mr. W. I. Howell, Agricultural Instructor, Hon. J. S. 

 Hollings, Mr. J. O. Maloney, and Mr. J. Sampson; 

 St. Kitts — Mr. F. R. Shepherd, Agricultural Superin- 

 tendent, Mr. A. O. Thurston, Mr. J. K. Yearwood, 

 and Mr. A. M. Reid; Anguilla — Mr. Carter Rey (absent 

 owing to indisposition). 



The officers of the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture present were — The Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture (Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., President of the 

 Conference); the Scientific Assistant (Mr. W. R. Dunlop, 

 Honorary Secretary to the Conference): the Entomolo- 

 gist (Mr. H. A. Ballou, M.Sc), and the Mycologist 

 (Mr. W. Nowell. D.I.C). 



The Conference was formally opened by His 

 Honour the Administrator, St. Kitts-Nevis (Major 

 Burden, C.M.G.), who attended the greater number 

 of the sessions. Hon. T. E. Fell, Colonial Secretary of 

 Barbados, was also present at the Conference. 



On pages 114 and 11.5 is a review of the report on 

 experimenf^ with sugar-caie conducted in Antigua and 

 St. Kitts. 1914-1.5. 



Th'^ first day's proceedings at the West Indian 

 ( 'otioh Confer ncearouiiiM Miizcid on pages 118and Hit. 



lii,-cct N'ltes deal with the banana Aveevil, and 

 witli si'ine pi'sts in British (Juiana; under Plant 

 Di.si'a.sc.s will Ix' found soni' important results concern- 

 ing lii.- iritiinMl di^iMse ot cotton bolls. 



Rainfall in Dominica, 1915. 



Copies of rainfall returns of Dominica for 191.5 

 have been forwarded to this Office by Mr. Joseph 

 Jones, the Curator. From these it is gathered that the 

 mean rainfall for thirty-four stations was 137'1 1 inches: 

 for eleven Leeward Coast stations 103-31 inches; three 

 Windward stations 150-31 inches: thirteen Inland sta- 

 tions l()9-7() inches: seven Lasoye stations 12392 inches. 

 The highest precipitation, namely 2.S9-81, was recorded 

 at Gleau Jfanioc, this being followed by Corlet with 

 202-78 inches. The lowest total fall was 70-{)0 inches, 

 i-egistered at I'atalie. The precipitation seems to have- 

 been fiiirly generally distributed throughout the colony,, 

 onlv six stations registering below 100 inches. 



