232 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 22, 1911. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters und matter for jiublicatiun, as«ell as all 

 specimens for naming, should be address<'d to the 

 Commissioner, Imj)erial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Me.'-srs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

 Co,, 37, Soho Square, W. A complete list of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural Neivs : Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

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



gigrmiltural Deiufi 



Vol. X. SATURDAY. JULY 22, 1911. No. 241. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Oontents of Present Issue. 



The eilitorial deals with Wdrk that is being carried 

 out in connexion with the improvement of citrus fruits 

 by means of bud selection. Several of the methods to 

 which reference is made are capable of adoption in the 

 West Indies, and may form the basis of interesting and 

 useful investigations. 



Information concerning methods in vogue for 

 effecting the cross-pollination of the sugar-cane, parti- 

 cularly in Java, is given on page 227. 



An article on page 228 describes a method of 

 vanilla pruning. This seems worthy of trial by growers 

 of vanilla in the West Indies. 



Interesting information concerning the cotton- 

 growing industry of Pern is presented on page 230. 



The Insect Notes of this issue are in the form of 

 an illustrated article, which describes the peculiar mode 

 of pollination of an aroid plant {Philodcndron sp.). 

 They will be found on page 234. 



Page 23.') presents an interesting description nf an 

 apparatus for sampling glycerine, with the hint that it 

 might be modified for use in CDiine.xion with the testing 

 of molasses. 



The Fungus Notes, on page 23.S, liave for their 

 subject The Sereh Disease of the Sugar-cane. 



Examinations in Connexion with the Courses 

 of Reading of the Depaitment. 



It/ i.-j intended that, tlie Preluiunary written exam- 

 ination in connexion with the Courses of Reading of the 

 Imperial Depanmont of Agriculture shall be held on 

 ^louday, October 30, 1911; while the Intermediate and 

 Final written examinations will commence on Novem- 

 ber 13. 1911. 



The oral examinations having rel.-ition to these 

 will be held at dates as near to each as possible, the 

 aijtiial times being determined locally by the conve- 

 nience of the examiners and candidates at, the different 

 centres. 



Candidates are reminded that, in the preparation 

 for these examinations, help will be readily given to 

 them. 111 connexion with their reading, by the local 

 officers in the different agricultural departments, and 

 they are advised to take advantage of this as far as may 

 be expedient. In some cases, definite times of meeting 

 for the purpose will have been arranged, on behalf of 

 candidates, by these officers. 



It may be well to draw attention to the Students' 

 Corner, published regularly in the Agricultural News. 

 This ifi intended rather to give suggestions in relation 

 to problems and matters of agriculture, than merely to 

 provide direct information. The student is advised to 

 follow up the subjects that are indicated fortnight by 

 fortnight, and to make as much use as possible of the 

 questions that are appended to each article. 



Calcium Cyanamide and Nitrate of Lime. 



Several references have been made to these manures 

 in former volumes of the Agricultural News, and in 

 this volume on pp. .57 and 168, with special relation 

 to experiments in which their effect on the yield of 

 plants was compared with that of nitrate of soda and 

 sulphate of ammonia. 



The Journal of the Board of A</riculture for June 

 1911, p. 240, gives an abstract of work with these 

 manures, described in Farmers' Bulletin No. 20, of the 

 Agricultural Department of the Lancashire County 

 Council Education Committee. It is of interest that 

 the results seem to support those that have been ob- 

 tained in several other experiment stations, namely, 

 that where the different manures are applied so as to 

 supply equal quantities of nitrogen, they are almost 

 equally effective in the production of crops. 



As has been stated before, this brings it about that 

 the extension of the use of the newer manures, in com- 

 parison with that of nitrate of soda .and sulphate of 

 ammonia, will depend largely on the cost per unit of 

 liie nitrogen provided by them. 



It is mentioned that calcium cyanamide and 

 nitrate of lime suffer under the disadvantage that 

 they are less convenient in use than the other man- 

 ures, the former being easily blown about by the wind 

 and sometimes injurious to young jilants, and the 

 latter having the property of absorbing moisture 

 readily from the air and of thus becoming difficult to 

 spread on the fields. 



