A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XV. No. 371. 



BARBADOS, JULY 15, 1916. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Page. 



Bay Tree us a Cmp Plant 



Book Sholf 



Bougainvillaeas, Hybrid ... 



Britisli Cotton Gi'owing 

 Association 



(jassava Roots, Composi- 

 tion of 



Coco-nuts in Difierent 

 Countries, Notes on ... 



Cotton Conference: — 

 Fifth Day's Proceedings 

 and Conclusion 



Department News 



Dominica Legislative Coun- 

 cil, Address to 



Dominica Water, Report 

 on (Samples of 



Gleanings 



Ground-Nut Oil .. ... 



Honduras, Agricultural Con 

 ditiuns in 



Lime Juice, Concentration 

 of 



Live Stock, Co-operative 

 Insurance of 





228|Marl<et Reports 



2;57Nolis and Comments .. 

 235|Palmetto in the I'nitci 



States, I'tilizing 

 231 1 Peat. Bacterized, Exagger- 

 ated Statements Con- 

 22i)i cei-ning 



Pigs in Cuba 



228lPlant Diseases:— 



Pink Disease in the 



West Lidies 



230jKicc- Planting( )perations... 

 220Sua Island Cotton Market 



Seeds, Bad ^rerminatitm oi 

 235 Sorii.'ties, Agricultural Cre- 

 dit, S[>read of 



235 S(.rils, Steam Sterilization of 

 230 Sponges, Demand for 

 227 Sugar Industry: — 



I Sugar-cane Experiments 

 233 in British (iuiana ... 



Thyniol Production in the 

 2341 West Indies and Florida 



Tilth, Measurement of ... 

 22'.liWest Indian Products ... 



24(1 

 2:{2 



. 235 



233 

 234 



238 

 235 

 231 

 225 



233 



23!) 

 232 



226 



233 

 232 

 23!t 



The Bad Germination of Seeds. 



CORRESPONDENT ha.s recently com- 

 plained of the bail germination of some 

 imported vegetable seed, and is inclined to 

 attribute the matter to the oftccts of fumigation. This 

 idea of the ill- effects of fumigation is by no means an 

 uncommon one, but it is (juite unfounded, for the 

 reason that imported vegetable seed is seldom fumi- 

 gated, and even if it were, the methods employed 

 would not injure the seeds to any serious extent. The 

 causes of bad germination are to be found in other 

 directions, and their consideration here will not be 



inopportune in connexion with the matter referred 

 to above. 



At the outset it must be borne in mind that the 

 effect of a tropical climate on the seed of temperate 

 plants is injurious to their vitality. Only freshly 

 imported seed, therefore, may be expected to germinate 

 satisfactorily. Even the seed of the onion, which is a 

 sub-tropical plant, will not retain its vitality for more 

 than a few months. It has been actually found that 

 seed of this plant, if kept in air-tight bottles, will retain 

 its power of germination for six months, but after that 

 there is a rapid deterioration. An example of rapid 

 deterioration is recorded in connexion with some Scarlet 

 Runner seed that was known to have been of high 

 quality, but which lo.st its germinating powers under 

 tropical conditions in a few weeks. It is therefore 

 necessary to purchase only freshly imported vegetable 

 seed. 



Apart from temperate vegetable seefl, many of 

 our tropical seeds lose their vitality very quickly. A 

 notable instance is that of Para rubber seeds, which 

 when distributed have to be specially packed in damp 

 charcoal to keep them alive. Seeds of the Bay tree also 

 very quickly lose their vitality, and when raising Bay 

 seedlings the seed should be sown immediately it is 

 taken from the berries. On the other hand, there are 

 man}' plants the seeds of which are well adapted to 

 retain their vitality for enormous periods. These 

 are usually the hard-coated sc^eds, of which the tropical 

 leguininosae furnish examples. Some striking eases 

 of slow germinati<in include seeds which remain in the 

 soil for many years lieforc the outer coats decay suffi- 

 ciently to admit water and allow germination to begin. 

 In such cases the use of a file or a short immersion in 

 sulphuric acid will accelerate matters. 



