392 



THE AGEICULTUEAL NEWS, 



Decejibee 2, 1916. 



EDITORIAL m:^A^^ NOTICES. 



Head Office 





Barbados. 



yi 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department" of Agriculture, 

 Bai'bados. 



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. 



Constructive Soil Ventilation. 



West Indian agriculturists should noi fail to give 

 attention to what is said editorially in this issue on the 

 subject of constructive soil ventilation. The past 

 season has been everywhere an exceptionally wet one, 

 and it would be intere.sting to consider whether any 

 detrimental effect has been produced on crops- 

 throusfh soil saturation, i.e., lack of aeration. The 

 injurious effect of the rains has been recorded in relation 

 to the washing away of soil and, in some cases, crops, 

 to landslides and damage to roads, as well as to 

 flowering and fruit- formation among crops. These are 

 the mechanical effects of the rain to a large extent: not 

 effects resulting from abnormal soil conditions. Any 

 observations that have been made, which seem to have 

 a possible bearing upon the importance of air in the 

 soil, would bo received with interest at this Office. 



Imperial Commissioner of 

 AgriadUire for the West Indies 



Francis "Watts, C.M.G., D.Sc, 

 F.I.C.F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF, 



Scieidiftc Assistant and- 

 Assistant Editor 



J'lntomologists 



Alycologist 



CLERIC AT, 



eiiief Ckrh 

 Assistant CUrh 



Clerical Assistaiits 



Typist 



Assistant Tijpisl 



A ssistant for PiMications 



W. R. Dunlop. 



JH. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



jj. C. Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 



\V. Nowell, D.I.C. . 



STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 

 M. B. Council. 

 ("L. A. Corbin. 

 j P; Taylor. 



Miss B. Robinson. 



Miss W. Ellis. 



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



^griculliiral Jleiufi 



Vol. XV. SATURDAY. DECEMBER 2, 1916. No. 381. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



'J'he editorial in this number puts forward ideas in 

 regard to soil aeration. It is suggested that air might 

 be definitely applied to the soil just as water and plant 

 food are supplied, and thereby i . certain circumstances, 

 improve the fertility. 



On page 387 three articles deal with the abnormal 

 -weather conditions experienced in the West Indies 

 during October and November. 



Information relating to sugar-cane appears on 

 pages 3.S,S and 3S!). 



Attention may be called to the article under the 

 !«eneral heading of Cotton, giving an account of the 

 '(.hanges in cotton seed during storage. 



The West Indian Exhibit at the Canadian 



National Exhibition. 



In the Canada-West India Magazine for Sep- 

 tember lOlG, a full page is devoted to a description 

 and illustrations of tlie West Indian Exhibit at the 

 Canadian National Exhibition, arranged under the 

 auspices of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, 

 and which is said to have attracted the attention of 

 many thousands of the visitors of this great annual 

 show. 



• As is seen from the illustrations, the Company's 

 booth was arranged in the ^ form of a ship's deck, and 

 the exhibits were displayed in the inside of the 'saloon'. 

 The exhibits represented Demerara, Trinidad, and Bar- 

 bados. No fewer than .50,000 booklets were distributed. 

 The attendance at the exhibition was 010,000, as com- 

 pared with 841,000 last year. 



The exhibits included the following articles among 

 others, sent chieHy by the Permanent Exhibition 

 Committee of British Guiana: limes and lime juice pro- 

 ducts, cacao, sugar, rum, coco-nut products, rice and 

 rice products, coffee, nutmegs, cassava starch and 

 meal, rubber, and timber. There were also on show — 

 hats, cigars, fruits, honey, iauis, jellies, pickles and 

 sauces. 



The booklet entitled The West Indies in Canada, 

 issued in past years by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies, for distribution at 

 the Exhibition, was this year suspended on account of 

 the necessity for measures of economy consequent on 

 the war. 



Improvement of Sponge Cultivation in the 

 Bahamas. 



This Ortice has been furnished by the Colonial 

 Office with a copy of a speech delix-ered to the Legis- 

 lature of the Bahamas by the Governor, on the occasion 

 of the closing of the session on August 1. Attention 

 is called by the Colonial Office to the information given 

 as to the sponge industry, which appears in the speech. 

 This records the opinion that the marine potentialities 



