A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. X7I. No. 386. 



BAKBADOS, FEBRUARY 10, 1917. 



Price Id, 



CONTENTS. 



rAGE 



Agricultural Colleges for 

 the Tropics 45 



Agi'icultural Work in Nevis 35 



Alkaloid from Leaves of 

 Pilocarpus raceniosus, 

 E.\tractions of 



Bookshelf 



Chemical Work in Auier- 

 ica. Recent, 



Chinese Bean Milk 



Cotton-seed meal as 

 Human Food 



Department Pu)>lications 



Departmental Reports 



Diego Martin Agi'icultural 

 Credit Society 



Dominica, Manure Ques- 

 tion in, 



Dyes, Vegetable, of India 45 



Fuel Economy .^9 



Fungus Notes: — 



Soil Fungi and Their 

 Activities 46 



Gleanings 44 



4.S 



41 



40 



:«) 



... 45 



47 



Page 



Ground-nut Oil as a Li^l 

 ricant 



Hams and Bacon, Home- 

 Curing 



Insect Notes: — 



The Velvet Bean Cat- 

 erpillar 



Market Reports 



Montserrat, Experiments 

 with Peas and Beans at 



Montserrat, Progress in 

 Minor Industries of. 



Notes and Comments .. 



Oil, Sweet-orange and 

 Lime, New Method for 

 the Production of. 



Philippine Shrub Perfume 3!l 



Sea Island Cotton Market 38 



Soils, Orchard, Scientific 



Management of, ... 

 Sugar Factory, Steam 



Boilers and Fuel in the. 

 Tortola, .State of Agricul- 

 ture in, 



.. 47 



4(1 



42 



48 



38 



43 

 4(1 



41 



.. 33 



>o 



47 



The Scientific Management of Orchard 

 Soils. 



iF we may judge from reports, there now 

 Ueems to be a general tendency amongst 

 'planters of cacao and coco-nuts and similar 

 crops to appreciate the great advantages that may be 

 derived from the cultivation and manuring of the 

 soils in which such crops have been established. For 

 many years it has been the popular idea to associate 

 cultivation more particularly with arable soils and 

 to imagine that in the case of orchard soils any 

 systematic treatment is difficult or even impossible. 



During the last few years this idea has changed, though 

 there are still many planters who do little or nothing to 

 improve the soil conditions on their estates, chiefly, it is 

 believed, on the score of expense And the fact has 

 to be faced that it is sometimes certainly easier to saj' 

 what should be done than to find the money to do it 

 with. For example, digging 2-foot drains through a 

 100-acre field of cacao is a very simple suggestion, but 

 to carry it out takes a very considerable amount of 

 capital, such as the owner of a small estate might find 

 inconvenient to produce. However, recognition of the 

 ultimate benefits to be gained will in most cases lead to 

 this difficult}" being overcome, for under most condi- 

 tions, thorough drainage, surface cultivation and 

 mulching result in such a marked improvement in the 

 condition and yield of the trees, as to make the remun- 

 erative character of such methods of treatment unques- 

 tionable. 



It i.s unnecessary to say a great deal in regard to 

 the subject of drainage, because if required it will be 

 forced upon the planter owing to the failure of his trees 

 to thrive without it. Therefore in planting up fresh 

 areas in cacao, limes or coco-nuts it is wise to consider 

 from the first what the soil conditions and rainfall are 

 and to act at once as circumstances dictate. On the 

 score of expense, we sometimes see on established 

 cacao estates that the pln.nters, so to speak, have only 

 gone half way; the drainage is not as deep as it should 

 be. Nor are the drains arranged with sufficient care 

 to remove the storm water adequately and safely. 



C'Onnected with the question of drainage is the 

 maintenance of shade tiees. The shade tree question 

 is not as it is generally considered to be, an 

 intercolonial controversy; it is not a question 

 of Trinidad opinion ?\s. Grenada opinion; it is 



