312 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



Septembek 23, 1916. 



EDITORIAL 



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 



«4he cover. 



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



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



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



.Scientific AssistatU and 



Assistant Editor W. R. Dunlop. 



Jlntomoloyist H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



-Mycologist W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



Chief Clerk 

 .Assistant Clerk 



•Clerical Assistants 



Typist 



Assistant for Publications 



A. G. Howell. 

 M. B. Connell. 

 fL. A. Coibin. 

 ■ P. T.aylor. 



Miss B. Robinson. 



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



^griciilliirat |]inufi 



-Vol. XV. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1916. No. 376. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



■ Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this issue consists of an address 

 delivered before the Antigua Agricultural Society by 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture. 



On page 309 will be found a. review of the annual 

 report of the Dominica Agricultural Department for 

 1915-] (i. 



An interesting account of how a Government may 

 assist in marketing colonial produce will be found on 

 page .SI 5. 



A review of an interesting book on the chemistry 

 of plants and animals is to be found on page 817. 



Insect Notes conc(!rns the dispersion of the house- 

 fly while under Plant Diseases is an article on a rot of 

 Hevea stems, 



The Agricultural Situation in the Philippines. 



A comparison of the present agricultural situation 

 in the Philippines with the situation existing ten years 

 ago clearly shows that there has been a remarkable 

 degree of progress when one takes into account exist- 

 ing economic and social conditions. The purpose of an 

 article in the Plvilipplne Agricuiturcd Review, Yo\. IX, 

 No. 2, is to describe briefly the more important lines of 

 development in Philippine agriculture during the past 

 decade, and also to show in what measure this develop- 

 ment is being promoted by the work of the Govern- 

 ment. 



In the course of this article notes are given con- 

 cerning the development of the rice, corn, coco-nut, 

 sugar, tobacco and fibre industries The value of the 

 annual exports of sugar have increased over 100 per cent, 

 in the last ten years, while in the case of tobacco 

 the increase has been 100 per cent, in the last five 

 years. In regard to rice, much larger returns are 

 now obtained per acre, while a thoroughly organized 

 corn campaign in connexion with seed selec- 

 tion has had an even more pronounced effect in 

 regard to this industry. As pointed out in the last 

 issue of the Agricultural Neivs there has been some 

 dissatisfaction on the market side of the manila hemp 

 industry; but the introduction of the grading law has 

 now re-established this industry on a thoroughly satis- 

 factory footing. 



In regard to pests and diseases, the Philippine 

 Government has carried on several vigorous campaigns 

 against rinderpest, locusts and the coco-nut bud rot. 

 The 'public services' division has been responsible for 

 useful seed selection and distribution work, fibre inspec- 

 tion and for carrying on the food production campaign 

 immediately following the outbreak of the European 

 war. On the educational side, the Government has 

 done a large amount of work by means of co-operative 

 demonstrations and by organizing in each province and 

 municipality a co-operative agricultural society. 



During the past ten years the investments of 

 capital in Philippine agriculture have been small, and 

 Government appropriations have been limited. That 

 there has been progress, however, and a marked degree 

 of progress, is clearly demonstrated by the information 

 contained in the article under review. And it should 

 be added that the tropics as a whole owes a debt 

 of gratitude to the Philippine Government for furnish- 

 ing the necessary funds for the valuable research that 

 is being carried on by the Bureau of Education. 



Trade and Exports of the British Solomon 



Islands. 



In Colonial Reports — Annual (No. 869) for 

 1914-1.5, is presented the Report of the High Com- 

 missioner on the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, 

 for 1914-15. From this the following information, 

 which should be of interest to readers of the Agri.cul' 

 tural News, is abstracted. 



