S-J8 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



October 



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 Agiiculture, 

 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, C.M.G., D.Sc, 



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



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant and 



Assistant Editor 

 Untomoloijist 

 Mycologist 



Chief Clerk 

 Assistant Clerk 



Clerical Assistantf 



W. R. Duulnp. 

 H. A. Ballon, M.Sc. 

 W. Nowell, D.l.C. 

 CI.KIIIUAL STAFF. 



A.G. Howell. 

 M. B. Connell. 

 fL. A. CorViin. 



- P. Taylor. 



Typist 



Assistant for Fuhlicatioiis 



Miss B. Robinson. 



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



gigriciitiural ^xm 



Vol. XV. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1916. No. 377. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this issue deals with the house-fly 

 ill relation to the pen manure heap, and suggests 

 methods for the control of this pest. 



Interestnig tacls conci'riiing the sugar industry of 

 ■Cuba will be found on pages :12:> and :>:!!. 



An account of the present agricultural conditions 

 in the Northern (Grenadines will be found on ])age HH4. 



Interesting inf'ormatii>n concerning cotton in Fiji 

 a^jpears on page '\'2{\ 



Agricultural Prospects in Montserrat. 



In an address delivered in Montserrat on Septem- 

 ber 6, the Imperial . Commissioner of Agriculture 

 referred to the importance of still giving consideration 

 to the increased production of provision crops in spite 

 of the fact that the food situation is now comparatively 

 secure compared with the position in that respect at 

 the beginning of the \\;ar. Reference in particular was 

 made to the cultivation of pigeon peas, a good trade in 

 which has been established already in St. Vincent. 



It was pointed out that the principal commodity 

 now produced in Montserrat is cotton, the value of the 

 exports of which are 50 per cent, of the total exports 

 of the Colony. While it is a speculative crop there are 

 signs that the market demand will continue good and 

 steady. At the same time every care must be taken to 

 maintain and increase the quality and uniformity of the 

 lint produced. Good prices and good crops should not 

 lead growers into a dangerous sense of security. The 

 Commissioner referred to the excellent work on seed 

 selection that was being conducted, year by year, at the 

 Experiment Station, by Mr. W. Robson. 



Since the war, increased attention has been given 

 to the local sugar industry; old works are being put 

 into order and a very fair amount of land is now under 

 cultivation in this crop. The question that most 

 urgently presses is the future price of sugar and what 

 is likely to be the demand for the low grade sugar 

 that can be made in Montserrat. The demands of 

 (Jreat Britain, it was thought, would be readily met by 

 the increased production of many countries, particu- 

 larly Cuba, South America, Java, Hawaii and the 

 Philippines. It was thought that the price of sugar 

 would be mainly determined by the cost of production 

 in Cuba and to a lesser degree in .Java, and to some 

 extent perhaps, it would be regulated by fiscal consider- 

 ations. In these circumstances the Commissioner 

 thought that after the war sugar would steadily settle 

 down to a moderate level, and this, at a very rough 

 guess, he thought might be about £2 per ton or so 

 above the former level of prices, that is to sa\-. crystal 

 sugar for refiners use might sell at somewhere ranging^ 

 around £\'2 per ton, and other grades such as musco- 

 vado as produced in Montserrat, in proportion. 



In conclusion the Connnissioner referred to the 

 importance of maintaining interest in the minor indus- 

 tries of the ( 'olony. Regarding the possible increase 

 in the production of sugar, Montserrat should follow 

 any developments that might take place in regard to 

 overhead transpoi-t, some system of which was rc(]uired 

 in Montserrat in certain inaccessible districts. Finally 

 in closing his address the Imperial ( "onnni.^sioner made 

 reference to the need of planters appreciating the 

 value of e.\peiiiuental and research work and for the 

 need of the formation of sound public opinion in the 

 comnninity in order that agricultural interests might 

 be advanced not merely for the welfare of the indi- 

 vidual but for the good of the country. 



