29C 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Septkmber 1(5, 1911. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



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 the Department. 



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 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. 



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Vol. X. SATURDAY, SKPTEMBEU 10, 1911. No. 24.5. 



l^OTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial of this issue treats of The Health of 

 Plants as Related to Insects. It reviews various ways 

 in which insects damage plants, both directly and indi- 

 rectly, and points out that the extent of the loss from 

 this damage is not ade(]uately realized. 



Page 291 contains an abstract of an interesting 

 article that has appeared recently on the composition 

 of sugar-cane seed. It also presents an article dealing 

 with molasses in connexion with milk production. 



Attention is drawn to the report, furnished in 

 England, on a consignment of limes from St. Lucia, 

 which is given on page 292. 



An account of trials with green dressings, carried 

 out in St. Kitts, appears on page 293. The reports of 

 similar experiments in other islands have been given 

 in recent numbers of the Agricidturul Neu:s. 



'I'he Insect Notes, on page 29S, present information 

 concerning an insect recently found to have been intro- 

 duced into the West Indies. 



The Influence of Leaves on the Development 

 of Fruit. 



Work canducled for the purpose of ascertaining 

 the nature and extent of the influence of leaves on the 

 dt-vcliipment of fruit is described in the Jouracd de la 

 Socieie Nat ii male d' Hortlcidture de France, for No- 

 vember 1910, in which the development of fruit on 

 branches of the pear tree deprived of their leaves was 

 compjired wiih the normal growth. Investigation was 

 also made of the constitution of the fruit obtained under 

 the different conditions. 



It was found that an effect of depriving the fruit- 

 ing shoots of leaves was to cause the fruit borne on 

 them to be lighter than ordinary fruit. In regard to 

 the constitution of the former, it was shown that these 

 contain less sugar than fruits on shoots bearing leaves. 

 In addition to^this, the juice of the fruit of the former 

 kind contained a higher percentage of acid than that 

 from normal fruit, 



The Fiuigus Notes are presented on page 302. 

 They have for their subject some of the latest work of 

 investigation that has been conducted with Bordeaux 

 mixture. This tends to show that when plants are 

 sprayed wiih this mixture, the secretions of the fungi 

 actually dissolve copper compounds, which are absoibed, 

 and cause the death of the former. 



British Imperial Council of Commerce. 



TIlc Board of Trade Journal for July G, 19II, 

 contains an account of an inaugural meeting of the 

 British Imperial Council of Commerce, which was held 

 on July 5 at Salters' Hall, St. Swithin's Lane, London, 

 E.G., under the Presidency of Mr, Charles Charleton, 

 Vice-president of the London Chamber of Commerce. 



After giving a list of the bodies which were repre- 

 sented at the meeting, the account states that the 

 following resolutions were adopted unanimously: — 



(1 ) That this meeting, representative of the Cham- 

 bers of Commerce, Boards of Trade, and similar organ- 

 izations in the British Emj)ire, and of L-iritish Chambers 

 of Commerce throughout the world, approves of the 

 formation of an organization, to be known as the 'British 

 Imperial Council of Commerce', on the lines of the 

 scheme contained in a report adopted by the Associated 

 Chambers of Commerce of the I'nited Kingdom in 

 March 1911. 



(2) That the existing Congress Organizing Com- 

 mittee, together with its ofHcers, be confirmed under 

 the new title pf the 'British Imperial Council of Com- 

 merce', and that there be added thereto (a) certain 

 members to be appointed by this meeting, and (b) 

 such further members as the said Council may here- 

 after determine to co-opt, due regard being had to the 

 a<lequate representation of the Chambers of Commerce 

 associated with the movement. 



(3) That this meeting hereby invites each British 

 Chamber within the Empire and throughout the world 

 to appoint .an additional m mber on the Council. 



(4) That this meeting requests the British Imperial 

 Council of Commerce to take such steps to complete 

 its organization as may be necessary, and to appoint 

 committees or to make regulations for its future work- 

 ing, such regulations not being inconsistent with the 

 report adopted by the Associated Chambers of Cem- 

 nierce of the United Kingdom in Mjirch, 1911. 



