360 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 4, 1916. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



^tm 



mmm 



'Ha 



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 

 the 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 Assistant aitd 



Assistatit Editor W. R. Dunlop. 



Entomologist H. A. Ballon, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



■Chief Clerk 

 Assistant Clerk 



Clerical Assistants 



Typist 



.Asvstani Typist 

 Assistant for Publications 



A. G. Howell. 

 M. B. Connell. 

 (L. A. Coibin. 

 - P. Taylor. 



Miss B. RoVjinson. 



Jliss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Pell. Journ. Inst. 



^flriciiltiirul ^tm 



Vol. XV. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1916. No. 379. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



■ Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number discusses the activ- 

 ities of Experiment Station workers in America, and 

 the parallelism between the circumstances of their 

 work in the States and these islands is brought out. 



On page 3.5-5 will be found an instructive article 

 on the recent Virgin Islands hurricane. 



A valuable review of the work of the .\ntigua and 

 St. Kitts Central Factories for the year I 111 (i appears 

 on pages SoO and 3.57. 



Insect Notes constitute a contiii»iatio!i of those in 

 the last i.ssue on a scale insect pest of citrus; Plant 

 Diseases consist of an article on- the dying of citrus 

 trees, 



Alleged Depreciation of Nyasaland. Cotton. 



In his Annual Report of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, N3'asaland Protectorate, for 191.5-16, the Director 

 discusses the cjuestion of the alleged depreciation of 

 Nyasaland lint. The general opinion amongst the plan- 

 ters appears to be that there is need for a continuous 

 supply of fresh seed each year from America. The 

 Director is of opinidtt that the falling off in value of the 

 crop during the last two years is due to poor cultiva- 

 tion and the need of manuring. It is maintained that 

 the selected seed produced by the Department is 

 satisfactory. In one quarter the view has been 

 e.\pressed that humidity is responsible for the depreci- 

 ation of lint, but this is not borne out by what one 

 observes in other places. For instance, in the West 

 Indies, St. Vincent possesses the most humid climate 

 of all the cotton-growing islands and yet produces 

 the finest lint. It is probable that if there is any 

 natural deterioration in Nyasaland cotton, it is due 

 rather to the cultivation of mixed strains with 

 consequent crossing and alteration of lint char- 

 acters than to the effect of soil and climate. 

 A suggestion has been made that the American cottons 

 grown in Nyasaland having been used to periods of 

 cold weather in the Southern States deteriorate under 

 the humid uniform tropical conditions in Nyasaland. 

 The whole question. appears to require critical investi- 

 gation on the spot, and we may e.Kpect to see in the 

 next Annual Report of the Nyasaland Department 

 of Aofriculture that this has been done. 



New Council of the Imperial Institute. 



The ioruial transference of the Imperial Institute 

 to the Colonial Office and the rcconstitution of its 

 management have already been noted in this Journal. 

 In the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (Vol. XIV, 

 No. 2, April-JiHif, l!)Ui) it is stated that the Executive 

 Council provided for by the Imperial Institute 

 (Management) Act, 1!)]U, lias been appointed, and the 

 constitution ot the Council is given. There are 

 twenty-five members appointed: by the Colonial Office 

 (14), the Board of Trade (-5), the Secretary of State for 

 India (2), the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries (1), 

 the ( Jovernments of India ( 1 ). Canada (1), Australia ( 1 ), 

 South Africa (I), New Zealand (1), and New- 

 foundland ( 1 ). 



The Council is autonomous .save for the general 

 control exercised by the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies, and it is believed that the activities of the 

 Institute will be greatly increased in usefulness and 

 importance. The Council is certainly a strong and 

 representative one from the Inn)erial trade standpoint. 

 Two members only are men of science: this might be 

 considered inacieipiate representation for a scientific 

 institution if it were not for the fact that the new 

 position of the Institute has a very important political 



