A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THB 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



NEW Y 



BOTAN 



QAROI 



Vol. X. No. 232. 



BARBADOS, MARCH 18, 1911. 



Pkice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



while there is a constantly greater understanding 

 the need and importance of green dressings. 



of 



Page. 



Page. 



Abnoniial Rainfall in 



St. Lucia 



Agricultural Journals, Rc- 

 ■'- duction in Number ... 



Argentine Corn 



Cotton Notes : — 



Brazil a.s a Cotton-Grow- 

 ing Country 



The British Cotton Grow- 

 ing Association 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Department News 



Fungus Notes : — 



Recent Work witli Fun- 

 gus Parasite.s of Scale 



Insects 



Gleanings 



Humus, The Value of 

 Insect Notes : — 



The Entomological Re- 

 search Conniiittee ... 

 Jamaica and the Canadian 



Exhibitions 



Kola Nuts, Varieties of ... 



LiKifalior W'sietable Sponge 84 

 Machine f..r Picking Cotton 89 

 Manure, A New Giecn ... 91 



Market Reports 90 



Mexican Riibljer Industry 91 

 Notes and Comments ... 88 

 Oil from Para RubV)er Seed 89 



Paddy Seedlings, Hints tor 

 Transporting 89 



Rubber Latex, A New 



Method of Coagulating 9.5 



Sago and the Sago Palm ... 85 



Science Teaching at the 

 St. Vincent (Trannuar 

 School ... 89 



Stock and Scion, Interaction 

 of 89 



Students' Corner 9;:i 



Sugar Industry ; — 

 Sugar from Shredded Cane 83 

 The Cost of Sugar Produc- 

 tion i n Ja\a 83 



West Indian Products ... 95 



The Value of Hnaius. 



'N tho.se islands of the West Indies where 

 sugar-cane cultivation is carried on more 



I particidarly, the agricultural procedure, which 

 is often the outcome of the experience of several gene- 

 rations of planters, shows that the importance of an 

 adequate supply of humus in the soil is generally 

 recognized. Every effort is made to keep the soil in 

 good condition by the use of farmyard manure, and as 

 little waste as possible is permitted of such plant 

 remains as are available for application to the field; 



It is generally understood, by now, that the term 

 humus means to the agriculturist the dark-coloured 

 material, formed of j)lant remains, that gives the soil 

 its characteristic ditt'erent colour from that of the sub- 

 soil. The researches of recent years have shown that 

 this material is formed, from vegetable waste, by the 

 action of bacteria in a partial or total absence of air. 

 The circumstances under which it is produced cause 

 more of it to be found in land that has not been tilled 

 for some time than in that which has been turned over 

 reg-ularly; this condition is met with more frequently 

 in temperate climates than in the trojiics. It is a matter 

 of common nbservation, however, in this part of the 

 world, that the humus uotiteut of clay soils is higher 

 than that of sandy soils, because the access of air to 

 the interior of the soil is not as great in the case of the 

 former as in the latter: so that almost ideal conditions 

 for the production of humus are afforded by clay soils. 



In dealing with humns more gerneally, it will 

 be well to treat, in turn, of its importance, firstly in 

 relation to the soil, and secondly with reference to the 

 plant. It must not be forgotten, however, that all final 

 effects of humus have a direct or indirect influence on 

 the plant; for whatever affects the soil must ultimately 

 have its influence on the vegetation which it supports. 



One of the most useful effects, to the agriculturist, 

 of the possession by a soil of a good humus content is 

 the circumstance that this improves its texture, so that 

 there is ease as well as economy in tillage operations; 

 The artificial employment of this fact has its largest 

 application on heavy clay soils, in the improvement of 

 their condition by the use of vegetable matter either in 



