A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



LIBRAi 



(VEW V( 



eOTANK 



QARDB 



Vol. XI. No. 2V2. 



BARBADOS, SEPTEMRER 28, 1912. 



Fbioe Id. 



CONTENTS 



Animals, Source of Food 

 for 



Antigua at the Caiiailian 

 National Exhibition 



Apterite, Trial of 



Bamboo, the Male 



British Guiana and the 

 International Rubber 

 Exhiljition ... ,.. 



Cotton Notes : — 



Cotton Exports from 



the West Indies ... 



Progress in Cotton- 



Growins; in Uganda, 



1911-12^ 



The British Cotton- 

 Growing Association 

 West Indian Cotton.. - 



Department News 



Forests and Rainfall ... 



Fruit-Selling Viy M-;asure 

 in Jamaica 



Fungus Notes : — 



Crown Gall of Plants 

 and Its Relation to 

 Animal Cancer 



Gleanings 



Grenada Botanic Station, 

 New Plants at 



Hawaii, Hibiscus in ... 



Paos. Page. 



Imperial Department of 

 313 Ai;riculture, Publica- 

 tions of 312 



Insect Notes : — 



Entomology in Trinidad 314 

 The Brown Hardback 314 

 Limi^ Skins, Feeding and 



Manurial Values of... 308 



Mangrove Bark 309 



Market Reports 320 



Nitrogen Fi.xation, Con- 

 siderations Re- 

 garding 307 



Notes and Comments ... 312 



314 



317 

 311 



315 



311 



310 



310 

 310 

 307 

 305 



313 



318 

 316 



313 

 313 



Oranne Cultivation in 



Dutch Guiana 308 



St. Kilts Agricultural and 



Commercial Society 30fi 



Students'. Corner 317 



Sugar Industry: — 



Some West Indian Sugar- 

 canes in India 306 



Tobacco, Preparation by 



Electricity 307 



Trade and Agriculture of 



Cuba, I9I0-II 315 



Tuberculosis among Stock, 



Lecture on 313 



West Indian Products ... 319 



Forests and Rainfall. 



■HE question of the possible direct effect of 

 J forests on climate and rainfall has received 

 ^imich consideration, and in order that some 

 definite information regarding the matter may be 

 obtained, a large number of observations are being 

 made in different parts of the world. In a wider sense, 

 it is recognized that the existence or planting of forests 

 is not concerned merely with the problem of timber- 



supply, but that each possesses a large importance 

 arising from the employment of forests as an aid in 

 water conservation, and for the purpose of protecting cer- 

 tain localities, such as catchment areas for water-supply, 

 from pollution or other harm. The relation of forests 

 to water conservation gains an additional interest when 

 it is viewed in the aspect of the suggestion, supported 

 by some, that their presence increases precipitation. 



A useful summar}* of this part of the subject that 

 has appeared recently, commences by drawing attention 

 to the amount of investigation of the question of the 

 influence of forests on rainfall that has been made in 

 France, Germany and Austria, in the United States, 

 and more recently in India, and points out that the 

 literature of the subject is somewhat bewildering, both 

 on account of its extent and of the divergent views of 

 the different authorities. One manner of attacking 

 the problem is the historical method. In this the state 

 of an area of country as regards its forest cover is 

 compared with the amount of rainfall over a period for 

 which statistics are available, the latter being often, 

 in the absence of reliable rainfall records, supplied 

 by accounts of the condition over a long time of 

 a stream or river which may be considered to be 

 influenced by the forest in or near its basin. Among the 

 objections to this method is the ignoring of effects due 

 to secular climatic changes, and it is also open to the 

 criticism that forests are known to assist in increasing 

 the amount of water, available for streams, in ways 

 other than that which supposes an increase in the 

 rainfall. 



Observations in India f have been considered to 

 show that the presence of wooded areas has a beneficial 



*N<iture, August 29, 1912, p. 662. 

 1:Afjricultnrid Neus, Vol. VIII, p. 24. 



