280 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



Septejibee 8, 1917. 



EDITORIAL ^ 

 Head Office 



NOTICES. 



- 7^^ — Barbados. 



r 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 -specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 iBarbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 "News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 •Ewidressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents, and the subscription 

 and advertisement rates, will be found on page 3 of 

 iihe cover. 



Imperial Commissioner of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



Agriculture for the West Indies D.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant an-i 

 Assistant Editor 



Aitomologists 



-Mycologist 



( W. R. Dunlop.* 



■(.Rev. C. H. Biancli, B.A. 



(H. A. Ballou, M.Sc.t 



tJ. C. Hutson. B.A., Ph.D. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



<Chief Clerk 



• Clerical Assistants 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. G. HoweU. 

 fL. A. Corbin. 



P. Taylor.* 

 Ik. R. C. Foster. 

 '■Typist Miss B. Robinson. 



Assistant Typist Miss W. Ellis. 



■Assistant for Publications A. B. Price, Fell. Joum. Inst. 



*Second(d for Militanj ?e7iiice. 

 ■^ Sec(^nded for Diity in Egypt. 



^Iqriculiural ITmufj 



ToL. XVI. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1917. No. 401. 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Oontents of Present Issue. 



The editorial deals with the value of scientific 

 research work as the basis of practical improvement 

 in agriculture and manufacture. 



( )n page 27U a short article draws attention 

 to the success attending the first ) ear's working of the 

 St. Lucia Agricultural Credit Societies. 



A review of a lately published book on Farming 

 by Motor will be founri on page 28-5. 



Inscc; Notes, on page 2.S2, deal with some insect 

 pests in .Jamaica. On page 2S6, under Plant Diseases, 

 attention is drawn to a new cane disease appearing in 

 Pcjrto Rico. 



Progress of Science in Japan. 



In 191(j, an Act was passed in the Imperial Diet of 

 Japan, to grant subsidies to the amount of 2,000,000 

 yens (yen = 2s. 01 rf. ) spread over a period of ten years to 

 the establishment of a scientific laboratory in Tokio, 

 and the Imperial Household has also decided to donate 

 1,000,000 yens to the undertaking. The laboratory 

 will be completed in ten yeais time, and it is intended, 

 as is stated in Tin' Board of Trade J(<u7-?7«/,Vol.XCVII, 

 p. 669, that researches in connexion with elec.rical and 

 electro-chemical industries, chemical and other products, 

 industries, and processes will be carried on. At the 

 request of the public or individual clients special 

 research on particular questions will be made. 



Honey in War Time. 



In an article on bees in relation to agriculture 

 which appeared in the issue of this Journal of 

 July 14, 1917, it was stated that, besides being 

 a fascinating study, apiculture might be of consider- 

 able profit to those engaged in the industry. Recent 

 market advice?, -is is announced in Glcanivg^s in Bee 

 Culture oi'.Juuu 1917, show that honey has already 

 reached a high level in price. When war was declared 

 in August 1914, the price of honey in the United 

 States sank to a very low figure — 3 or 4 cents a pound; 

 and now some of the same hone}' is being delivered 

 in New Yoik at 12 cents. While it is true that the 

 general rise in the price of all food products, including 

 sugar, has inflated th.; price of extracted honey, there 

 are other factors to be considered. 



Recent inquiries in New York show that there 

 is an unusual demand for extracted honey for export. 

 From reliable information it is clear that immense 

 quantities are being used in Europe to preserve cakes 

 and bread, for it is a well-known fact that honey will 

 keep baked articles soft and moist as almost nothing 

 else will. 



Another important factor is the scarcity of sugar 

 and of syrups in Europe, and American honey is 

 employed to fill, in a measure, this deficiency in supply. 



Honey, too, is taking the place of glvcerine 

 in pharmaceutical prescriptions. Glycerine which was. 

 formerly used largely by apotheciries has become prohib- 

 itive in price on account of the European governments 

 commandeering it for the manufacture ot explosives. 

 Honey in many prescriptions is of great value, for it 

 blends, as readily as glycerine, with alcohol: and a new 

 dressing which is placed with remarkable results over 

 scalds, burns, and general wounds is almost two-thirds 

 honey. 



The Iodine Content of Foods 



Among the several mineral elements in foods in 

 minute quantities, especial interest attaches lo iodine 

 on account of its important function in animal 

 metabolism. As far as is now known, the function of 

 the thyroid gland is metabolization of iodine. 



At certain periods of life when the activities, 

 of the organism are increased, and consequently 



