31: 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



Septembek 2S, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

 ■>he Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

 Oo„ 37, Soho Square, W. A complete list of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News : Price Id. per number' 

 jpost free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agentsi 

 28. 2d. Post free, 4s. id. 



giflrtcultiintl JltMUH 



YoL. XI. SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 28, 1912. No. 272. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In the present number, the editorial gives 

 attention to the subject of Forests and Rainfall, with 

 special reference to investigations that have been 

 undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining if forests 

 possess any influence on the rainfall in the areas near 

 them. 



A short article dealing with the behaviour of 

 certain West Indian sugar-canes in India appears on 

 page 306. 



On page 307 a summary is given of work that has 

 been undertaken for the purpose of obtaining informa- 

 tion in certain definite directions concerning the fixation 

 of nitrogen in the soil. 



An interesting article on page 308 affords details 

 concerning the feeding and manurial values of lime 

 skins. 



The recent flowering of fche male bamboo in some 

 parts of the West Indies has given rise to the account 

 of this plant, on page 311. 



Page 314 contains the Insect Notes of this issue, 

 in which are included an article reviewing recent 

 entomological work in Trinidad and a note on the 

 "brown hardback. 



The Fungus Notes, on pages 318 and 319, present 

 an account of investigations that appear to show that 

 the crown gall of plants possesses some relationship to 

 the cancer of animals. 



Publications of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The issue of the handbook Insect Pests of the 

 Lesser Antilles, by H. A. Ballou, M.Sc, Eatomologistj 

 on the Staff of the Imperial Department of Agricul- 

 ture, is now complete. 



The purpose of this pubii?.at.ion is to present, in 

 a handy form, a pipuUr illustrated account of ihe chief 

 insect pests ihat are of economic importance in the 

 Lesser Antilles. Following .in introduction, the con- 

 tents are collected and classified in a series of chapters 

 bearing, in order, the following titles: Insects and 

 Their Near Relations, Natural History of Insects 

 Orders of Insects, Insect Pests of Crops, Insects which 

 Attack Man, Insect Pests of Domestic Animals, Insects 

 of the Household and Pests of Stored Products, The 

 Control of Insects, Insects and Their Natural Enemies. 



This information is contained in 210 pages, with 

 a comprehensive index as a guide, and over 180 figures 

 have been used in illustration. 



The price oi the handbook is Is. 'id, from all 

 agents for the sale of the pi^blications of the Depart- 

 ment; post free Is. Id. 



As was announced in the last number of the 

 Agricultural News, Vol. XII, No. 4, of the West 

 Indian Bulletin, continuing the presentation of the 

 papers prepared for the recent Agricultural Conference, 

 is to be issued shortly. This is now being received 

 from the printer. It deals with the section in which 

 were included Plant Diseases and Pests, Coco-nut, 

 Lime and Fruit, and Rice Industries, thus containing 

 182 pages of matter that should appeal to many vary- 

 ing interests. The titles of the papers are as follows: — ■ 



The Use of Entomogenous Fungi on Scale Insects 

 in Barbados, Further Notes on the Fungus Para- 

 sites of Scale Insects, Report on the Prevalence of 

 some Pests and Diseases in the West Indies, for 1910 

 and 1911, Bud Rot of the Cocoa-nat Palm, Cocoa-nub 

 Palm Insects in Trinidad, Scale Insects and Their 

 Insect Parasites, Some Fruit Diseases, Experiments in 

 Lime .Juice Concentration, Investigations on the 

 Extraction of Lime Juice by Milling, Some Root 

 Diseases of Permanent Crops in the West Indies, 

 Notes on Expressed and Distilled West Indiaa 

 Lime Oils, The Lime Industry in Antigua, The 

 Acid Content of Lime Fruits, Observations on the 

 Development of the West Indian Lime Fruit,Outline of 

 Manurial Experiments on Cocoa-nuts in Trinidad and 

 Tobago, The Bay Rum and Bay Oil Industries of 

 St. Thomas and St.. Jan, The Classification of Sweet 

 Potatoes, Cassava Starch and Its Uses, The Water- 

 supply of Antigua, Does the Sereh Disease Exist in 

 the West Indies, More Especially in Trinidad? A Report 

 on Observations on Scale Insects, The Cocoa-nut 

 Industry in Antigua, Manurial Experiments with the 

 Governor Banana in Trinidad, Artificial Cross Fer- 

 tilization of the Mango, Rice Experiments in British 

 Guiana. The number is completed by the inclusion 

 of a plate to illustrate the paper entitled The Study of 

 Sugar-cane Varieties with a View to their Classifica- 

 tion, in Vol. XII, p. 378. 



