408 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Decembee 21, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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^jgrtcultiinil l^eiuii 



Vol. XI. SATURDAY. DECEMBER 21, 1912. No. 278. 



^JOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this issue reviews the circumstances 

 of the Courses of Reading and Examinations in Practi- 

 cal Agriculture, conducted by this Department, giving 

 special attention to the purpose of the scheme and the 

 matters that make it of practical value. 



A review of Balls's recent work on the cotton plant 

 in Egypt is given on page 40.5, under the caption Book 

 Shelf 



The Cotton Notes contain the first of articles giv- 

 ing an account of the production and prices of cotton in 

 r,he West Indies, for last season. The table of figures 

 of production cannot be given yet, as the returns from 

 the different islands are not complete. 



In the Insect Notes, on page 410, are included the 

 second of the two articles promised on ticks, and an 

 account of basic slag as an insecticide. 



Page 411 contains a review of the last report by 

 the Director of Agriculture of the Federated Malay 

 States. 



The results of the last Intermediate and Final 

 Examinations held in connexion with the Reading 

 Courses of the Department will be found on page 418. 



The Fungus Notes, on pago 414, jiresent 

 a summary of the information that has been given by 

 the Mycologist during the year, in this volume of the 

 Agricultural News. 



Agricultural Education and Hygiene in Grenada 

 Schools. 



In the Report on the Grenada Primary Schools 

 for the year 1911-12, reference is made to the apathy 

 exhibited by teachers and parents in the matter of 

 agricultural instrtiction in the primary schools. la 

 .xpito of thp fict that most of the schools are ia 

 posse.-ision of garden plots, the efforts of the Board of 

 E'lucti'in have been jiractic illy negatived: in one or 

 two ins'aiicts the teaching >.f agriculture has been 

 forl)i>iclen altogfther. It appears that the liberal spirit 

 in which the Board intends the Regulations for the 

 advancement of agricultural teaching to be adminis- 

 tered is not properly appreciated; it is distinctly laid 

 down that the employment of plots, boxes, tubs, etc., for 

 purposes of demonstration will receive due considera- 

 tion in the awarding of monetary grants. Finally it is 

 suggested that the services of an Agricultural Instruc- 

 tor might tend to invest the subject with some of the 

 dignity which at present seems to be the factor mosb 

 lacking, in the ojiinion of parents and pupils. 



In striking contrast to the apathy so generally 

 displayed in connecti<m with agriculture follows the 

 keeness exhibited in all schools towards the study of 

 hygiene, any drawback to seeming good residts being 

 the inability of pupils to express themselves in giving 

 answers, and not iuefficency as regards the teaching of 

 the subject. 



An Automatic Plough. 



The recent invention of a self-contained motor- 

 propelled plough in England receives attention in the 

 Commerci-il Motor. It is stated that the efficiency 

 of the machine has been demonstrated practically. 

 According to the article under review, it seems that 

 a 4 h,p. engine enabled a furrow nearly (i inches deep to 

 be cut at a speed of over '■^ miles per hour in a heavy clay 

 soil. The whole machine weighs (i cwt. and at the 

 above speed will plough about an acre and a half a day, 

 with a fuel consumption of o gallons, costing not more 

 than -Ss. The cost of horse ploughing in the same district 

 is from 13s. to £1 per acre, and taking into consideration 

 the heavy charges for maintenance, interest and depre- 

 ciation in the case of horse labour, it would certainly 

 appear that such rnotor-ploughing might be economical. 



A locomotive cultivator has also been desio-ned. 

 It is claimed by the inventor that the plough when 

 once started will continue ploughing on its own accord 

 'with almost human pertinacity' to the end of the 

 furrow: but the cultivator machine, working amongst 

 growing crops, has of course to be steered. 



Without doubting the validity of the above in- 

 formatiion, it must be borne in mind that the matter is 

 still in an experimental stage: and the high degiee of 

 novelty attending such an invention as a locomotive 

 plough renders extended and unprejudiced trial necess- 

 ary before its application can be seriously considered ia 

 West Indian Agriculture. 



