A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



^wkai 



MS»' 



ftSTj 



Tr(H( 





Vol. XVI. No. 393. 



BARBADOS. MAY 19, 1917. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



TROPICAL crops are usually studied indi- 

 ndually, but it seems that instructive and 



^suggestive ideas may arise from considering 

 them in the form of two great groups: (1) those crops 

 of which the produce is in the nature of fruit; and 

 (2) those crops of which the produce is derived from 

 vegetative growth. As examples of class 1 we may 

 mention cotton, cacao, limes, coco-nuts and coffee: as 

 examples of the second group, sugar-cane, rubber, 

 tobacco, and many of the starch-producing crops. 



These two groups are separated from each other 

 by very definite characteristics Contrasting them 

 first from the point of view of yield, we recognize some 



very marked differences. First of all crops which 

 yield fruit produce are, on the whole, less dependable 

 than those which give vegetative produce. For instance, 

 in the West Indies every one knows that sugar-cane 

 is a more dependable crop than cotton: and again, 

 though we may hear of abnormally low yields of cacao , 

 we seldom or never hear the same in connexion with 

 rubber. 



In the case of crops of which the produce is in the 

 nature of fruit, we see that yield is associated with the 

 fourth and last period in the annual life-history of the 

 plant. In the growth of a fruit-producing crop there 

 is first the germination or establishment period; 

 secondly, the vegetative period or period of develop- 

 ment: then the flowering period: and finally the fruiting 

 period. Yield depends largely upon the extent of 

 fruiting, and the extent of fruiting is chiefly determined 

 by the effect of external conditions upon the plant 

 during the three preceding periods named. 



The most critical period is between flowering and 

 the actual gathering of the fruit. A short spell of 

 drought while the fruit is setting, or heavy rains or 

 wind at the time of flowering may lead to serious 

 reductions in yield, even though the plants themselves 

 may be in a highly vigorous state of growth. Cotton is 

 particularly fickle in thi.s respect, it being impossible 

 to say what the yield will be until the lint has 

 actually been picked and safely stored away. It is 

 scarcely correct, however, to say the plant is fickle; the 

 crop itself may always be depended on to produce 

 the most it can; if it does not succeed it is due 

 to the external factors like unfavourable weather or 

 disease that intervene and mask the good biological 

 intentions of the plant. 



In the case of crops which produce fruit therefore, 

 great caution must be exercised in measuring tha 



