134 



fertilizing the female flowers ; and these placed on the windward side 

 of the nutmeg walk so that the pollen may be blown among the fe- 

 male irees. Old useless m Je trees may be cut down and the resultant 

 shoots budded upon. 



DISINFECTING COTTON SEED. 



In Barbados * 



With the view of preventing, as far as possible, the introduction of 

 any cotton diseases wit i the selected seed to hs distributed by the Im- 

 perial Department of Agriculture, it is proposed to have this seed 

 carefully disinfected beforehand. 



This disinfection will be carried on with a solution of corrosive sub- 

 limate in the proportion of 1 in I.OOO : that is 1 lb. of corrosive subli- 

 mae dissolve 1 in 100 gallons of water. 



It has already been ascertained that this solution will have no inju- 

 rious effect upon the germination of the seed, while it is confidently 

 believed that it will effectually dispose of any germs of disease that 

 may be attached to the seed. 



The following is a brief summ .ry of the results of experiments car- 

 ried on at the Mycological Lab ratory of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture in dete; mining the effect of steepi ig selected cotton seed 

 in corrosive sublimate for one hour and then sowing immediately. 



It will bd seen that steeping cotton seeds in solutions of corrosive 

 sublimate up to a strength of 1 in 250 has no effect on the total num- 

 ber of seeds germinated. The 1 : 250 solution, however, appears to 

 have a slight letarding influence on the speed of germination. 



A second series of experiments has been started, carried out exactly 

 as above. In this series, in addition, one st of seeds has been steeped 

 in a 1 : 100 solution of corrosive sublimate. 



A third series, to test the effect of steeping the seeds, drying them, 

 and then planting them at different times after drying, has also been 

 started. 



Ilf 



It is mentioned above that a second series of experiments had been 

 sarted. This was a duplicate of the first series, but in addition, the 



* Agricultural News, Vol. Ill, p. 117. 

 t Agricultural News, Vol. Ill, p. 149. 



