A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THK 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST IND! 



Vol. X. No. 211. 



BARBADOS, JULY 22, 1911. 



Price Id, 



CONTENTS. 



Calcium Cyanamide and 



Nitrate df Lime 

 Calcium Silicate as Plant 



Food 



Citru.s Fruits, Improve- 

 ment of 



Cotton Notes : — 



Cntton-Orowing in Peru 



Cotton-Growing in the 



Western United States 



India .and Long-Staple 



Cotton 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Department News 



Dominica and the Inter- 

 national Rubber Ex- 

 hibition 



Examinations in Connex- 

 ion with the Courses 

 of Reading of the De- 

 partment 



Field Experiments, Value 

 of 



Fungus Notes : — 



The Sereh Disea.se of the 

 Sugar-Cane 



Page. 



232 

 233 

 225 

 230 

 230 



231 



230 



22G 



Page. 



Gleanina 



. 231 



232 

 231 



238 

 236 



(Jlycerine, An Appaiatus 

 for Sampling 



Insect Notes : — 



Insect Pollinaticm of an 

 Aroid Plant 



Manures in Forestry, Use 

 of 



Market Reports 



Nature Teacliing in Ele- 

 mentary Schools in the 

 Leeward Islands 



Northern Nigeria, Produc- 

 tion in, 1909 



Notes and Comments ... 



Prize-Holdings Scheme in 

 St. Lucia 



Protection of liirds and 

 Fish in Grenada ... 



Ruliber Culture in Tobago 



Rubber, Extraction from 

 Guayulu Plant 



Students' Corner 



Sugar Industry : — 



Cro.ss-PoUination of the 

 Sugar-Cane 



"Vanilla, Method of Prun- 

 ing 



West Indian Products ... 



235 



234 



229 

 240 



233 



23.5 

 232 



233 



233 

 233 



229 

 237 



228 

 238 



The Improvement of Citru.s 

 Fruits. 



^ ^^T is commonly observed by growers of citrus 

 ^ and other fruits that the yield from different 

 ^ trees in the samcoichard »r plantation varies 

 greatly; some plants continually produce a number of 

 fruits which is above the average, while others seldom or 

 rarely reach this average. The differences do not affect 

 the yield alone, but exist also in relation to the quality 



and size of the fruit, the uniformity of the product, and 

 the habit of growth of the trees. It is rare, however, 

 that accurate and detailed observations are made for 

 the purpose of comparing the trees in regard to these 

 matters, and it is seldom the case that a sufficient reason 

 is assigned for the existence of the variation. 



In California, the subject has been brought to the 

 notice of citrus growers with such frequency that they 

 have expressed an earnest desire that the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture should conduct an investigation into the 

 causes of the variation among citrus plants grown under 

 uniform conditions. In response to this, the work of 

 observation has been commenced, and the results of 

 the first season's efforts are presented in a preliminary 

 report*, which has just been issued by the Bureau men- 

 tioned above. It is pointed out in this report that 

 little or no selection of buds for citrus-growing has been 

 practised in that State, so far; and that even where such 

 selection has been made, it has had reference to the 

 largest and most vigorous trees, rather than to the yield 

 of fruit. In addition to this, the possibility of bud 

 variation — a subject which receives attention in the 

 present volume of the Agricultural News, jj. 4 — has 

 not been considered seriously. The importance of careful 

 selection work is indicated in an illustration given in 

 the report, in which the owner of a pumelow grove 

 obtained large yields of seedless and uniform fruit by 

 the selection of buds from two trees possessing desirable 

 characteristics. 



These matters have led up to the work of the 

 Bureau, which will consist in the study of the individ- 



*Circular No. 7t; A Study of the Improvement of Citfiu 

 FniAts through Bud Seltction. 



