A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



LIBRAR 



NEW YOI 

 BOTANIC/ 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. ^I^oS 



Vol. XI. No. 2-58. 



BARBADOS, MARCH 16. 1912. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Pack. 



Page 



Agricultural Conference, 

 1912, III 



Agricultural Ttaehing and 

 Hygiene in Grenada 

 Eloinentary Schools ... 



Agriculture, Early, in the 

 Bahamas 



Bacteriological Work in 

 Jamaica 



Calcium Carbcniate, Forma- 

 tion in Soil 



Camphor in German East 

 Africa 



Cotton Notes : — 



P.iitish Cotton Grnwing 



Association 



Insurance iif West Indian 



Cotton 



We.st Indian Cotton ... 



Depait mental Reijcrts ... 



Fungus Notes : — 



Bud Rot of the Cocua- 

 nut Palm, Part I ... 



81 



89 



8.5 



.. 9.5 



83 



93 



91 



Gleanings 



Ground Nut, New So-called 



Hor.ses, .Sore Shins in ... 



Information Reganling tlie 

 Blango 



Insect Notes : — 



The Sugai-cane Beetle in 

 Mauritius 



.lafi'a OraUL,'es, Packing of 



Kola Trees and Kola Nuts 



Market Reports 



Notes and Comments ... 



Noxii lus Weeds in Grenad.i, 

 Lei;islation against ... 



RainfaH of Dominica, 1911 



Rubber Seeds, Para, Vital- 

 ity of ... 



Rubber-Yielding Plants 

 from Peru 



St. Vincent Anowroot 

 GroHers' and Export- 

 ers' .Assnciatinn 



Students' Corner 



92 

 89 



87 



88 



90 



84 

 84 

 96 



88 



89 

 88 



ni 



89 

 9.'i 



The West Indian Agricultural Conference, 

 1912. 



III. 



■HE present; article forms the third, and last. 

 'of a series dealing editoriall}- with ihe chief 

 , matters that received att(iition in discussion 

 at the recent Agiicultm-al Conference in Trinidad. The 

 subjects of broad import that remain for treatment are 



concerned with cotton-growing, agricultural education 

 and rubber production. 



Great attention was paid to the various characters 

 of the lint that are particularly demanded by spinners 

 of Sea Island cotton. Those who have to deal with this 

 lint can form a fair judgment of its value to them, by 

 ordinary examination: the best test of it, however, is 

 its behaviour in the spinning machines. Among the 

 properties most required in such lint is that of strength 

 — one of the special characteristics of Vt'est Indian Sea 

 Island cotton. The possession of strength is a matter 

 of much impurtance to those who have to use the cotton 

 as the raw material for their manufacture?, but the fixcb 

 that this cotton is very likely to show irregularities 

 often lessens the advantage uf the special possession of 

 strength by the lint. The existence of such irregiilu'Ities 

 has its effect in causing great wastage in spinning, and 

 a consequent reduction of economy in working up the 

 material. In connexion with this irregnlarit}', a char- 

 acter specially shown by cotton from the West Indies 

 is the presence of ' nep', or small clusters of weak cotton 

 among the lint, varying in size. 



There was much debate as to the reason why 

 this feature is noticed so frequently in West Indian 

 cotton, and it was decided that its production is r'ne. 

 not to bad ginning of the seed-colton, but tu uniovard 

 or varying conditions suirouriding the plants during ihe 

 period of growth. It was concluded that the best mtaiis 

 to be em]iloyed for the reduction of the percentage of 

 weak fibres in cotton is rigid selection, having particular 

 regard to lliis 25i'ope'"'y in the product of the plants 

 raised for the purpose, and evidence Was adduced froiKi 

 practical experience, showing that such reduction had 

 been attained as the lesult of experimentatiof;. 



