90 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Aug. 1, 1903. 
SUBSIDIARY CEOPS. 
In past years, in many of ths West Indian islands, 
the sugar-cane was the only crop of importaace that 
was cultivated, and this is still, to a sjreat extent, the 
case in some of the islands, notably in Barbados, 
Antigua and St. Kitt's. The fall in the price of sugar, 
however, consequent on the rise of the beet sugar in- 
dustry in Europe, has caused planters to realize the 
fact that a one crop policy does not pay- Tlie out- 
look for the future, moreover, is not too promising 
even with the abolition of the sugar bounties ; the 
CJnited States, at present the largest importers of 
■West Indian sugar, are developing a beet sugar in- 
dustry which hpi already assumed large pronovtinns. 
while in Cuba a promising field for tha cu! tivatioa 
of the sugar-cane is being extended. Even in England 
it is possible that a beet sugar industry may be started. 
If the sugar-cane is to be cultivated in future with 
profit, it will only be by a careful study of the best 
varieties to grow and of the best methods by which 
to grow them. Fortunately, the West Indian planter 
has, if he will only realize it, the choice of several 
crops, which can be used to replace the sugar-cane, at 
least in places where the soil or other conditions are 
not specially suited to that crop. One great advan- 
tage in possessing crops which can be substituted for 
the sugar-cane is often lost sight of and may be 
pointed out here. This is the help it gives the culti- 
vator in combating disease. Where, as in England, 
rotation is practised and the same crop is not planted 
on the same land for four years, a fungus or an insect 
has far less chance of obtaining a permanent home 
in the soil than it has in the West Indies, where 
sugar-cane crop follows sugar-oane crop with only a 
short interval. The danger of this is well shown in 
the paner on 'Root-borer of the Sugar-cane ' by the 
Kev." N. B. Watson (West Indian Bulletin, Vol. iv, p; 
37), and the point is of the greatest importance in 
dealing with the root disease of the sugar-cane caused 
by Marasamius. If a badly infested field could be 
thrown out of sugar-cane cultivation for two or three 
years and planted in some other crop which is not 
liable to the disease, our insect and fungus pests 
would give far less trouble. Fruit is now one of the 
most important sabaidiary crops of the West Indies, 
and in eooie of the islands, notably Jamaica, has 
largely replaced the sugar-cane. There is no reason 
why the industry should not be developed much further, 
if growers would only realize the necessity for care- 
ful cultivation, packing, etc. If fruit growing is to 
bs developed as an industry, West'Indiaa growers 
must remember that they have up-to-date competitors 
and that they must meet them with equally up-to- 
date methods. The best varieties only should be 
grown, the cultivation should be careful and scientific, 
the fruit should be carefully picked, handled, sorted, 
graded and packed, and the forwarding of it to 
foreign markets should be carefully looked after. 
COTTON IN THE WEST INDIES. 
Cotton, it is to be hoped, will become again one 
of the most important crops of the West Indies. In 
many of the islands the cotton industry is already 
established and in others there is every prospect of 
its becoming so. The demand for cotton is a constantly 
increasing one, the supply, to England at least, is 
steadily decreasing, and there is no doubt that good 
aotton can be grown in these islands, as is shown, 
for instance, by the report received from the British 
Cotton Growing Association on some cotton grown in 
Montserrat; Limes form the most important crop 
in Dominica and Montserrat, and we are glad to notice 
thtCt some, at least, of the planters are using up-to-date 
methods in dealing with their insect enemies. 
The ground nut industry is another that might very 
well be extended in the West Indies. At present 
ground nuts are actually imported from the United 
States for eating purposes. There is no good reason 
why this should be, and, more, why the ground nnt 
should not be used as a source of oil and oil-cake 
to replace the expensive cotton seed oil, olive oil, 
oil-cakes, etc., which are at present imported in 
large quantities. There are many other subsidiary 
crops that couid be grown profit, every planter ought 
to be able to select some, to suit his own special 
conditions. — Agricultural News. 
♦ 
PLANTIXG NOTES. 
Mh. Duthie. — We learn that this gentleman has 
retired from the post of Director of the Botanical 
Departnlent of Northern India, and Director of ths 
Botanic Garden, Saharumpore. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Peach Blisteh ha^. if wa may jtidg^ from the 
nunieious tpacirueiis that have reached u?, been 
unusually prevalent this year. It is the work of a fun- 
gus, Exoascus deformans, which causes swellings and 
deformity of the leaves. Nothing can be done at the 
time. It is one of those many cases where prevention 
is far better than cure- so called. Spraying with 
Bordeaux Mixture in spring, before the leaves expand, 
aSords the best chance of success. It must be re- 
membered that the mixture is apt to burn the young 
leaves hence it should be used before they expand. — Ibid. 
Sir Daniel Morris, kc.m.g. — Those who re- 
member Dr. Morris's strenuous work at Kevv and at 
the Royal Horticultural Society will be gratified to 
learn of the honour that has been conferred on him. 
Sir Daniel has shown such whole-hearted energy 
in the development of the agricultural resources of 
Britis'h Honduras, and more recently of the West 
Indies, that it is satisfactory to fiud the Government 
recognising in this way the efficiency of their ofl&cer. 
Sir Daniel's chief aim has been to enforce the lesson 
that the agricultural welfare of the colonies is to be 
increased mainly by the application of the resources 
of science, To that end he is leaving no means untried 
to promote the diffusion of knowledge, and to teach 
the cultivators the best means of turning their re- 
sources to account. —Ibid 
Acetylene Light as a Moth-trap. — A corre- 
spondent in France recently inquired for particulars 
relating to the use of acetylene lamps for the capture 
of cockchafers. The following extract may be sug- 
gestive : — 
Wholesale Sl.\ughteb of Moths. — The vineyards 
in the vine growing districts of^Beaujolais, France, 
have suffered greatly from the depredations of night- 
flying moths, among which the pyralid was the 
most prominent. The following method of killing 
these insects has been adopted, and The Electric 
Revieiu pronounces it a success, " Calcium carbide 
and water are combined for the generition of acete- 
lene gas, and burners giving a light of ten-candle 
power are mounted above each generator. Six ounces 
of carbide is said to be enough to keep the flame 
going for as many hours. Eight inches below the 
burner is adjusted a shallow circular dish, 20 inches 
in diameter. A little water is poured into this, 
and a thick film of kerosene is deposited on 
the surface of the ether fluid. Thus is completed 
a trap to which the moths are attracted by the flame. 
According to the authority just quoted, these genera* 
tors are set up about 550 yards apart, and are put 
in action at dusk, preferably on dark nights. On the 
first night one lamp caught 4,600 pyralids and 218 
moths of other kinds. Dnring July the lamps average 
3,200 insects a lamp a night. The expense of the 
lamps is reported to have been 2 cents a night each, 
or 24 cents a night an acre. It is said that this 
method of catching noxious insects is more efficacious 
than any method which has been tried before. " 
Special cases require special remedies, but that is no 
season why moths should ;be caught indiscriminately, 
many friends as well as enemies being thus destroyed. 
It is never safe to use moth-traps unless the " catch " 
is examined by an entomologist to determine of what 
it consists. — Ihid. 
