216 



THE AGEICULTUEAL NEWS. 



July 1, 191C. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



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NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



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All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

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 and advertisement rates, will be found on page 3 of 

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Imperial Oomniissioner of Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc, 



Aqric'tlturefor the West Indies F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scieiifi/ic Assisfniit and 



AfSiStaiit Editor 

 Entomohxjist 

 Mycologist 



Chief Clerk 

 Assistaiit Glerk 



Clerical Assistants 



W. R. Dunlop. 



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CLERICAL STAFF. 



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Agricultural Ifciufi 



Vol. XV. SATURDAY, .M'LV 1, 1916. Xo. 370. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editoral in this issue calls attention to the 

 shortage of pigs, and to the necessity for increasing the 

 local supply. 



'I'he ajjproach of the hiirricane season lias made it 

 desirable to publish (on page 210) an article showing 

 the sio-ns which indicate tiic movement of these storms. 



On pages 214 and 215 the fourth day's proceedings 

 of the Cotton Confcivnce are concluded and part of the 

 fifth day's is given, in summarized furm. 



Insect Notes constitute a continuation of the 

 article on the native food plants of the cotton stainer; 

 another article deals with cacao thrips and die-back in 

 St. Vincent. 



An interesting note on the composition of milk in 

 the tropics will be found on page 228. 



Manuring the Sugar-cane in the West Indies. 



More experinients have probably been done in 

 the West Indies on the manuring of the sugar-cane 

 than on any other problem. The work has been 

 carried on for a large number of years in the Leeward 

 Islands (Antigua and St. Kitts). in Barbados, in 

 British ( Juiana, and of recent years in Trinidad. Very 

 few people, however, have a clear idea of the exact 

 conclusions drawn from this work: consequently ah 

 article in the current issue of the Wett Indian 

 Bulletin entitled, A Summary of the Manurial 

 Experinients with Sugar-cane in the West Indies, b}- 

 Mr. W. K. Dunlop, of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, should prove useful to planters and 

 investigators alike. 



This article shows that the remnucrative manuring 

 of the sugar-cane depends largely upon local conditions 

 anrl circumstances. It is not possible to make many 

 generalizations for the whole of the West Indies; indeed, 

 considering the great variation in local conditions, it 

 would be surprising if this were possible. There is 

 one general statement that may be made, however, and 

 that is that nitrogen appears to be the principal 

 constituent governing the yield of the crop in <iiiestion. 

 The use of artificial nitrogenous manures generally pays. 

 The extent depends upon whether one is dealing with 

 plant canes or ratoons, the amount of pen manure 

 available, soil conditions rainfall, and the price of sugar. 

 The importance of maintaining the humus content of 

 the soil by the application of pen manure and green 

 dressings is indicated. 



As regards the reliability of the results inferred from 

 the mass of figures that have accumulated, it appears, 

 from a mathematical examination, that if we are 

 satisfied with a 10:1 chance that the differences produced 

 by manuring are significant, the experiments, generally 

 speaking, may be regarded as yielding reliable results 

 to the extent of always coming true nine times out 

 of ten. 



It is desirable that the manager of every estate 

 should consider his scheme of manuring in all its 

 aspects, on the basis of the information in the article 

 ix'ferred to above, and decide according to probable 

 seasonal conditions, what form of treatment it is best 

 to adopt. 



^— ..^•-♦-^ 



Manuring of Cacao in Ceylon. 



In the Monildy Bulletin of Agricaltural Inkl- 

 ligence, and Plant Diseases for January 191(j, are 

 recorded the results of experiments in the manuring 

 of cacao conducted at Peradeiiiy.i. The plots used 

 contained a mixed variety of cacao — Forastero, Caracas 

 and Amelonado.the first-named predominating. Various 

 manures including artificial and organic were applied 

 annually from l!i()2to ll'll when all manuring was 

 stopped. 



The conclusions diawii ti-om tlu- results, briefly 

 stated, are as follows: Ammonium sulphate gave the 

 best results for the six years manuring and the yield 

 increased during the first year after manuring had 

 ceased, and then foil off rapidly. Similarly with 

 potassium chloride, while potassium sulphate had 



