152 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 6, 1916. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



NOTICES. 



Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 ■Bpecimens 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 Francis Watts, CM. G., D.Sc, 



Agriculture for the West Indies F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant and 



Assistant Editor W. R. Dunlop. 



Mitomolo<iist H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 

 •Chief Clerk - A. G. Howell. 



Assistant Clerk M.- B Connell. 



-Junior Clerk W. P. Bovell, 



Assistant Junior Cleik P. Taylor. ^ 



Typist Miss B. Robinson. 



(■ A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 

 \L. A. Corbin. 



Assistants for Publications 



giijriciiltural lleiui) 



• _ _ ■ ' 



■Vol. XV. SATURDAY, MAY 6, 1916. Xo. 366. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Methods employed in manurial experiments with 

 cacao and coco-nuts in the West Indies are compared in 

 the editorial for this issue. Attention is drawn to the 

 lack of uniformity, and to the caution necessary in 

 attaching absolute value to statistics. 



On page 1.50, the account of the proceedings at the 

 recent West Indian Cotton Conference is continued. 

 In the ne.xt issue the third day's proceedings will be 

 dealt with. 



An interesting article on land settlement schemes 

 for ex-service men appears on page 1.57. 



Insect Notes, on page 1.54, concern insects attack- 

 ing onions; Fungus Motes, on page 158, deal with 

 mychorizae. 



Maize Show at , Antigua. 



The first Maize Shijw held in the West Indies took 

 place in Antigua on March .30, 1916. The show was 

 opened by His Excellency the Acting Governor, who 

 was met on arrival by Mr. A. P. Cowley, Chairman of 

 the Agricultural and Commercial Society, and by 

 Dr. H. A. Tempany, Superintendent of Agriculture for 

 the Leeward Islands. 



After introductory remarks delivered by His 

 Excellency and Mr. A. P. Cowley, the meeting was 

 addressed at considerable length by Dr. Tempany. In 

 his opening remarks he referred to the significant fact 

 that the meeting indicated active interest in a minor 

 crop, in spite of the fact that the price of the staple 

 product of the island — sugar — was at a very high level. 

 This interest, like that which had been shown in the 

 recent Cotton Conference in St. Kitts, indicated that 

 West Indians were not blind to the danger and folly of 

 placing all their eggs in one basket. While the 

 price of sugar was high, it had to be remembered that 

 that for corn was high also. The total production of 

 maize of the world had been steadily increasing during 

 the past twentj' years, but increasing consumption was 

 more than outpacing production, and the result had 

 been seen, during the past few years, in a slow but 

 steady upward trend in prices. This had been felt 

 in Antigua, and there had been in consequence 

 a tendencj' to increase local production. There 

 had also been a marked decline in the imports of 

 maize in Antigua; this did not indicate decreased 

 consumption: there was reason to believe that the 

 reverse was the case. Dr. Tempany thought that no 

 maize ought to be imported into Antigua at all, and 

 also no corn meal. He then went on to outline the 

 development of the maize plant: touched on the 

 operation of kiln-drying grain, and referred to Dr. 

 Watts's observation that a kiln-drying plant was simply 

 an insurance policy against losing the amounts of 

 grain which were produced in excess of immediate 

 requirements. 



The speaker then made reference to certain pests 

 of corn, and indicated their distribution in the island 

 and methods of control. He further alluded to the 

 manurial requirements of the crop, and finally touched 

 upon utilization of by-products, as, for instance, the 

 emplo\^nient of husks in stutting beds and pillows, and 

 the sale of silks for their medicinal value. He la-tly 

 referred to the importance of selection in the improve- 

 ment of the yield per acre in Antigua. In this 

 connexion the Agricultiu'al Department had reserved 

 to itself the right of takings for breeding purposes, any 

 desirable ears which they choose out of the exhibits 

 that day. 



The prizes weie distributeil later in the after- 

 noon by His Excellency the Acting Governoi-. 



As regards the quality of the exhibits, the general 

 level was exceptionally high, and in the classes for corn 

 on the cob and shelled grain a remarkably fine run of 

 maize was shown. The prize for the best twenty-four 

 ears of corn, and also the champion prize for the best 

 single ear were won by Pares estate. The champion 

 ear was a fine specimen of corn of the red flint type, 

 practically pure to all appearances, measuring 11 



