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urgently required, and especially of one who has made a speciality of the growth and life of the sponge." 
Sir W illiam Allardyce contemplated that the selected officer should devote his attention mainly 
to studying the growth and life of the various varieties of sponge, to advising upon the best methods 
of increasing the output of wool and velvet sponge, to investigating the rates of growth of the 
different species, to studying their natural enemies, to advising upon the restoration of old sponge 
beds and to the question whether Mediterranean varieties could advantageously be introduced. 
No other proposals of importance were received from the Colony. 
Note, —The action taken by the Committee in regard to sponge is stated in the body of the report. 
Apart from sponge, sisal or Bahamas hemp is by far the most important product of the Colony. The 
value of the exports of this commodity in 1918 was £129,000. The sisal is produced mainly by 
peasant growers upon a large number of small islands, and the industry presents the practical problem 
of finding an inexpensive type of hand decorticator which can be used near to the places where the 
sisal was grown. The machines hitherto tried have proved unsatisfactory. 
The Colony also exports tomatoes, both raw and canned, valued at £13,000 in 1918, and canned 
pine-apples, valued at £7,500. 
The Colonial Research Committee have advised the Colony to establish a permanent Agricultural 
Department, which should include a laboratory, and would deal with the sisal, tomato, pine-apple and 
other agricultural industries. 
BARBADOS. 
The Governor forwarded a report from the Director of Agriculture, Mr. John R. Bovell. 
Mr. Bovell stated that the only activities of a scientific character which were being carried on by 
the Department of Agriculture were in connection with sugar cane and cotton. As regards sugar cane, 
the principal matters of investigation were the relative values of new seedling canes, the manurial 
requirements of the principal local variety of cane, the values of various kinds of eano cuttings, the 
damage due to the attacks of the moth borer, the root borer ( Diaprepes abbreviates, Linn.), and the 
brown hard-back ( Phytalus smithi, Arrow). 
The work on cotton consisted of the improvement of the indigenous and exotic cottons by selection 
and hybridization. An improved type of Sea Island cotton hag been produced, which it is hoped will 
be able to compete with some of the best cotton of St. Vincent and St. Kitts. The improved cotton 
is being extensively cultivated in 1920. 
Mr. Bovell considers that the following are the principal matters into which research could 
advantageously be undertaken: — 
(1) (a) The storage of fodder and other crops for use in time of scarcity. 
(&) 4he preservation of fish for use in time of scarcity. 
(c) The generation of electricity by air motors for lighting and for industrial purposes. 
(d) The investigation of the apparent disinclination to work on the part of the peasant, for 
the purpose of ascertaining whether this disinclination is in any way due to want in their 
diet of any essential ingredients, such as vitamines or animal fats, or to the effects of 
hook-worm (ankylostomiasis), from which, in a test made a few years ago, over 60 per 
cent, of those examined in some districts of the island were found to be suffering. 
(2) V ith regard to the storage of fodder crops, at the present time the cost of food for the 
animals, which have been for many years imported from Canada and the United States, 
is so high that some of the dairymen are disposing of their cattle; and the supply of milk, 
which was very small in the past, is likely to be still less. For the preservation of 
succulent food for animals the following are necessary: — 
(a) Silos. 
(b) Investigation into a means applicable to the small grower, whereby seeds may 
be kept in the tropics free from insect pests. 
(3) As regards the preservation of fish for use in times of scarcity: before the War sometimes 
when there were large catches quantities of fish were sold very cheaply, and these fish 
could have been preserved if some method applicable for the preservation of fish in the 
tropics was available. 
(4) With reference to the generation of electricity for lighting and industrial purposes, Mr. Bovell 
points out that for many months of the year the trade winds blow with fair regularity, 
and that it should be possible, hv the installation of air motors and storage batteries to 
supply a great deal of electricity for lighting and industrial purposes, the baking of bread, 
and the cooking of food, etc. This would be especially valuable in Barbados, as, owing 
to the dense population, large quantities of coal and wood have to be imported for 
cooking purposes. At the present time he understands that wood for cooking purposes is 
selling retail at a penny a pound. 
The Governor remarks that the public in Barbados is so deeply interested in the production of 
cane sugar that research in any other direction makes little appeal to them. He reported that he was 
asking the House, of Assembly to make provision for the erection of an experimental silo, and that 
exploration for mineral oil was being vigorously carried on bv the British Union Oil Company with 
encouraging prospects. 
BRITISH GUIANA. 
The Governor forwarded a memorandum by Professor Harrison, the Director of Science and 
Agriculture. 
Professor Harrison draws attention to the considerable possibilities of the water power of the 
Colony, and expresses the opinion that this subject requires to be reported upon by a recognised 
authority of very high standing. The position is that a preliminary examination and report has been 
made and that the flow of water in the rivers in the neighbourhood of the principal falls is being 
ascertained by means of automatic gauges. Until the data which the gauges will afford are available 
it is not proposed to take any further action. 
