360 



THE AGEICULTUrAL NEWS. 



XOVEMBER 17, 1917. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter lor publication, as well as all 

 rspecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 ■Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

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



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 page 4 of she 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. 



■ S.ietitific Assisfaiit and 

 Assistant Editor 



Biitomulogist s 



■Mycologist 



i \V. R. Dunlop.* 



[Rex. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



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



\J. C. Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 



W. NoweU, D.I.C. 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



■Chief Clerh 

 ■Clerical Assistants 



A. G. Howell. 

 (L. A. Corbin. 



,P. Taylor.* 

 Ik. R. C. Foster. 

 Typist Miss B. Robinson. 



Assistant Typist Miss W. Ellis. 



Aisistant for Publications A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



*Second(d for Military Strvice. 

 fSecciided for Ditty in Eyijpf. 



Jiijjnculturat llinuf} 



ToL. XVI. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1917. No. 406. 



NOTES AND COMIVIENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial of this number refers to a question 

 of great importance at the present time, the stimulation 

 of interest in education. 



On page -'iSG there is a review of the work of two 

 sugar factories in the Leeward Islantls for the season 

 just ended, which will be found interesting and valuable 

 fur its statistical comparisons. 



Insect Notes on page 8(32 describe the pink boll 

 worm of cotton, fortunatelj' not yet introduced into the 

 West Indies. 



The Corn Production Bill. 



The Corn Production Bill has b'-en one of the most 

 important pieces of business to which the British 

 Parliament has put its hand this session. The follow- 

 ing are the chief provisions of the Bill to which the 

 Royal assent was given on August 21; — 



(1) Minimum prices for wheat and oats are fixed 

 for six years. 



(2) Agricultural workmen are guaranteed a mini- 

 mum wage of 2.5;?. a week. 



(3) Rents are not to be raised in consequence of 

 the passing of the Act. 



(4) The Board of Agriculture are given the power 

 to enforce proper cultivation. 



As might have been expected, some of the provi- 

 sions of the Bill were strongly contested, but the 

 Government carried their point on every occasion. 

 Not only does this seem to be the most important 

 business carried through Parliament in this session, 

 but it is of such far-reaching influence that it may be 

 considered one of the most important Bills ever passed 

 by the Parliament of the L'^nited Kingdom. 



^ 



Rice Crop in British Guiana. 



The yield of the rice crop this year is most disap- 

 pointing, says the Demerara Daily Argosy for October 

 27, 1917. Instead of an average of 20 bags to the acre 

 on the coast lands, the return in many instances is no 

 more than half of this. From the West Coast, Berbice, 

 it is reported that in some instances the farmers are 

 getting only 6 bags to the acre. It is anticipated that 

 on account of the poor returns the rice crop will be 

 very considerably below what was expected. One cause 

 suggested is attacks on the soft grain of the rice before 

 maturity by a destructive fly, thus, although the culti- 

 vation may have a healthy appearance, there is little 

 or no grain in the ripe ears. 



In view of the fact that most of the smaller 

 West Indian islands depend on Demerara for a large 

 proportion of their supply of rice, this report is not 

 encouraging. 



1^ I ^ 



Experimental Production of Oil from Rubber 

 Seeds. 



The Board of Trade Journal. August 2, 1917, 

 has a note on the above subject which we quote below! 

 If succe.ssful, a new source of oil supply will be foundj 

 and an increase in the profits from rubber plantations 

 will doubtless accrue. 



•According to a communication received from the 

 Malay States Information Agency in London, a prelim- 

 inary enquiry into the possibility of the commercial 

 utilization of the seed of the rubber tree for oil produc- 

 tion has been undertaken by the agricultural author- 

 ities in the Federated Malay States. From time to 

 time suggestions have been made for the utilization for 

 this purpose of the seeds of the cultivated Para rubber 

 tree, as large quantities of the seed go to waste on the 

 rubber plantations of the Middle East. Experiments 

 have proved that not only is the oil extracted from the 

 seeds suitable for various purposes, but that the residue 

 can be utilized for cattle food, or as manure. 



