''^lllh^LZfW^^^'i 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XVI. No. 406. 



BARBADOS. NOVEMBER 17, 1917. 



Peice \d. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Agriculture in Barbados 35!' 

 Antigua Onion Growers' 



Association 365 



Banana Fibre for Bag 

 Making 3t;i 



Biological Studies Applied 

 to Agriculture 36(> 



Cashew Nuts 365 



Cacao, The World's ... 3(i3 



Choco, The 359 



Corn Production Bill ... 3(50 



Cotton Note.s: — 



British Cotton Growing 

 Association .358 



Sea Island Cotton ... 358 

 Department News . 357 

 Education, Stimulation 



of Interest in 35:'> 



Gleanings 364 



Grasses of the West Indies 365 

 Horse Beans, Recipes for 

 Cooking 367 



Page. 



Insect Notes: — 



The Pink Boll Worm 



Items of Local Interest ... 



Lemon Industry. The 

 Sicilian 



Market Reports 



Motor Plough, A Light ... 



Notes and Comments ... 



Oil from Rubber Seeds, 

 E.xperimental Produc- 

 tion of 



Oils, Essential, Prices of 361 



Red Pepper Trade of 

 South India 



Rice Crop in British 

 (xuiana 



Sugar Industry: — 



Review of the Work of 

 Two West Indian 

 Sugar Factories, 1017 

 The Sugar Market 



Trinidad, Government 

 Experimental Estate in 355 



West Indian Products 367 



362 

 358 



363 

 368 

 357 

 360 



36(1 



361 

 360 



356 

 357 



Stimulation of Interest in Education. 



^HE appointment by the Administrator ot 

 St Lucia of a Commission, to enquire into 



^ and report on the Educational System of 



the colony, and to make recommendations for its im- 

 provement, is calculated to initiate a move of much 

 importance, the effects of which may extend far beyond 

 the colony in which it originates. It is evident that 

 A full and untrammelled examination of the situation 

 is desired, for, in his covering letter addressed to the 

 Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Lobb writes: 

 ' I desire that the recommendations of the Commission 

 shall be framed solely with a view to the needs of 

 popular education, and not to the probable ability or 



otherwise of the Public Treasury to meet the increased 

 expenditure which must inevitably accompany any real 

 improvement in the present system. It will then be 

 the business of the Government to consider how far the 

 financial resources of the colony can be made available 

 for that purpose.' This indicates a wide outlook, and 

 the intention to consider carefully and critically the 

 report of the Commission before action is taken in regard 

 to it. It seems evident, therefore, that the report of 

 the Commission is to be regarded as only the first stage 

 in this movement. 



The terms of reference of the Commission are 

 exceedingly wide, embracing consideration of the various 

 aspects of primary and secondary education, the remun- 

 eration and qualification of teachers, the health of the 

 pupils, the subjects taught, and man}' other matters. 



Naturally, special reference is made to teaching in 

 regard to agriculture, the Commissioners being directed 

 to advise concerning the teaching of ' the elementary 

 principles and practice of agriculture, which is the basis 

 of the colony's prosperity.' 



With so important a Commission in operation, it 

 will be useful to draw attention to some of the efforts 

 that have been made by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture to assist and encourage the teaching of 

 agriculture, throughout the West Indies. 



Reference to the pages of the published volumes 

 of the West Indian Bulletin and of the Agricultural 

 News will serve to show the very considerable amount 

 of attention that has been devoted to this ques- 

 tion of agricultural education during the period in 

 which the Imperial Department of Agriculture has 

 been in existence. The reader is referred especially 





