Vol. XV. No. 376. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



313 



The production of copra, the principal item of 

 •export, is steadily increasing. Coco-nut plantations 

 that were established some eight years ago are 

 in bearing, the average crop being up to the most 

 sanguine expectations. A falling otf of the praduce from 

 native trees has resulted from the M\ in price of copra, 

 ■as the natives, not understanding the cause of the 

 ■drop in price, were reluctant to sell, and preferred to 

 let the nuts rot on the ground rather than accept the 

 lower price offered by traders. 



As regards ivory nuts, another important item of 

 •export, it is stated that the closing of the market for 

 this item has been a serious blow to the Protectorate. 

 Ivory nuts are grown extensively throughout the 

 .:group, and the export provided a profitable living for 

 -a number of small traders. Prior to the outbreak of 

 war the price paid was £11 per ton. At the present 

 time there must be many hundreds of tons going to 

 waste: even at the reduced price of .£6 to £7 the industry 

 ■would find employment for many, and quite £20,000 in 

 value would be realized annually. The loss of this 

 item of trade has not been made good by any other 

 litem. 



Another item of export is bananas. The prices 

 (realized on the fruit shipped have been very encourag- 

 ing, and that fact, it is submitted, should induce other 

 ;persons, besides the few growers in the eastern part of 

 the group, to take up the cultivation of this highly 

 iremunerative product. 



The cultivation of cotton has been abandoned, 

 'mainly owing to the scarcity of suitable cheap labour 

 to gather the crops. 



The Protectorate has been found to be well suited 

 ■for raising cattle, and many plantations have herds 

 grazing among the coco-nuts, thus saving a great num- 

 ("ber of labourers in the clearing of undergrowth. 



Science and Practice in American Farming. 

 An editorial of a very enlightening character 

 appearsin the Experiment Station Record (Vol. XXXIV, 

 No. 2) on the subject of extension work, that is, the 

 educational movement to disseminate the results of 

 experiment station work and put them into actual 

 practice. When the extension legislation was being 

 considered in the United States, confident predictions 

 were made as to its great value, and it was even sug- 

 gested that a point has been reached when experiment 

 station workers could afford to pause in their labours 

 in acquiring exact information, and devote more time 

 to disseminating it and 'helping the public to catch up.' 

 The right course is to continue both; it is as well, 

 however, to recognize this fact, that experimental work 

 may tend to run ahead and leave those it is intended to 

 help along, in the back ground. One pauses to think 

 of this, more especially as the idea emanates from the 



United States, where the obligation of the work of 

 the experiment stations in promoting agricultural 

 advancement and improving farm practice has from 

 the very first loomed large on the horizon ofthe station 

 workers. If in the United States the danger is recog- 

 nized, there is probably good cause for expecting it to 

 exist in other countries. 



We may think of science as the relation of cause 

 and effect. It is this knowledge of cause and effect 

 which enables us to construct and construct with con- 

 fidence. Practice is only effect; it seldom takes cause 

 into account. We can never be certain that practical 

 operations will produce the same effect because we do 

 not fully understand the forces operating to produce 

 the effect. This is where practical experience breaks 

 down, and especially so in agriculture. The great 

 value of extension work lies in explaining the inner 

 meanings of practical experience, thereby enabling us 

 to conduct practical work with greater confidence in 

 regard to achieving the desired results. 



Campaign Against Food Plants of tlie Cotton 



Stainer. 



In the Gleaning's page of this issue reference is 

 made to the Ordinance passed on July 2.5 in St. Vincent 

 to make provision lor the eradication of the pest 

 known as the cotton stainer by means of cutting 

 down the native food plants of the pest which 

 are chiefly the silk cotton tree and 'John Bull' 

 (Thespesia populnia). This work was commenced 

 the day following that on \A^ich the Ordinance 

 was assented to and a report has been received 

 from the Agricultural Superintendent, Mr. W. N. 

 Sands, on the progress made during the period July 26 

 to August 31. The magnitude of the work, which is 

 very considerable, will be appreciated by referring to 

 the details published on page .319 of this issue. It will 

 be noticed that while the Government is meeting the 

 necessary expenses, chiefly connected with labour, 

 the planters themselves are actively co-operating 

 with the Agricultural Department in order that; 

 these trees which harbour a pest that is a menace to 

 the cotton industry may be entirely eradicated. For 

 the information of those readers who have not followed 

 the history of the cotton stainer problem in St. Vincent 

 it may be briefly explained that the stainer is responsi- 

 ble for infecting unopened bolls with a fungoid disease 

 and that while the«'e is a strict close season for cotton 

 growing in St. Vincent the stainers have been observed 

 to carry over only too successfully on certain wild plants 

 notably the trees mentioned above, namely, the silk 

 cotton tree and John Bull. The preseiit campaign is 

 an interesting example ofthe practical value of scienti- 

 fic observation and reasoning supported by strong Gov- 

 ernment action in saving a staple crop from destructiou 

 by disease. 



