Vol. III. No. 65. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



.323 



Sugar-cane Varieties in Mauritius. 



In an article in the Intfrnatioiial SiKjur Journnl 

 on the sugar industry of Mauritius, Mr. Noel Deerr 

 makes the following observations on varieties of canes 

 and seedlings : — 



A very large nuiuber of varieties of canes are grown : 

 formerly the Lonzier, a cane very .similar to, if not identical 

 with, the West Indian Bourbon, was the great sugar 

 producer, but its iiroclivity towards disease has led to its 

 gradual abandonment. The canes most in favour now are 

 the White and Striped Tanna. The latter is the Cheribon 

 cane of Java, a purple and yellow striiied cane of great girth 

 and length, fungus-resistant, but inclined to form short 

 joints: the White Tanna is a bud sjiort from the Striped and 

 is now held in great favour; it reproduces the best points of 

 the parent cane, at the same time not being so inclined to 

 form short joints ; from clinical field observation the writer 

 does not think it is so fungus-resistant as the Striped. The 

 Black Tanna, also a bud sport and much resembling the 

 parent cane in habit, is not extensively grown. All the.se 

 three varieties are gross feeders and do best when grown on 

 rich soils,* or when liberally manured and watered ; they 

 give the best comjiarative results as plant canes, their 

 superiority over the Louzier being less i>ronounced in the 

 ratoon crops ; over a four-crop rotation the writer has no 

 hesitation in putting their superiority over the Louzier at 

 25 per cent, at least. 



Other canes extensively grown are the Port Macka}-, 

 a claret cane with inconspicuous, but well-defined, bronze- 

 green stripe, and of average height and girth ; this cane is 

 characterized by frequently forming variegated or quite white 

 leaves ; the Iscambine, a red cane, and the Striped Iscambine, 

 a yellow and green cane, are also frecjuently seen ; both of 

 these are non-resistant to fungus. The classical Home cane 

 is also sometimes seen on the estate scale. 



The history of seedlings in Mauritius is ver^' peculiar ; 

 shortly after the discovery by Soltwedel in Java, and by 

 Harrison and Bovell in Barbados, of the fertility of cane 

 seed, seedlings were successfully raised in ilauritius by 

 Mr. George Perromat : a large lunnber of these were 

 distributed to estates and raised to separate varieties, but the 

 careful .systematic work which has characterized the West 

 Indian development of the subject has been entirely absent 

 from Mauritius ; each estate which received seedlings 

 numbered them as it thought proper, and as estate 

 managers frequently started seedling nurseries, chaos soou 

 resulted : to cap all a seedling mania arose, and whole fields 

 were put under seedlings, of the properties of which nothing 

 was known ; provided a new seedling was well advertised, 

 its fortunate proprietor could sell cuttings at fancy prices, to 

 his own great benefit, and frequently to the detriment of the 

 purchaser. Out of chaos something like order has at last 

 resulted as the outcome of the survival of the fittest, and the 

 following Mauritius seedlings may be mentioned as recog- 

 nized sugar producers : — 



No. 33 : a green cane of recumbent habit often forming 

 peculiar abortive joints. 



Nos. 53 and 65; both purplish canes of average girth 

 and height. 



No. 131 ; a dee}) purple cane of slender habit but extra- 

 ordinarily prolific in the number of canes in a stool. 



No. 13-1: ; a brown (ane at maturity of rather less than 

 average girth. 



ft 



* ' Tanna ' is the native Javanese term for ' rich earth,' 



GROUND NUTS IN GAMBIA. 

 The principal article of export from Gambia is 

 ground nuts. In 1903, the value exported was 

 £275,3!)4, or over 80 per cent, of the total value of the 

 colony's exports for the year. This is the largest 

 output ever known. As this is the principal industry 

 in the colony, the following note, from the Annual 

 Repiirt, on its cultivation, is of interest: — 



The ground nut which originally came from Brazil is 

 the breath and life of the Gambia. It may be of interest to 

 mention that the nuts are usually planted after the first 

 rains in June and mature in about five months. They are 

 reaiied towards the end of October or beginning of 

 November and placed in large heaps in the fields. Early in 

 January the nuts are ' beaten,' as it is termed, in order to 

 separate them from the vines, and from the soil which has 

 clung to them. The clouds of dust raised from this beating 

 can be .seen for miles distant. The nuts are then collected and 

 brought to the factories from whence they are shipped direct 

 to Marseilles, where they are crushed in mills and the oil 

 extracted. The oil of the ground nut, which is said to be 

 as much as 40 to 50 per cent, of the weight of the shelled 

 nut, is pleasant to taste and smell, and very closely resembles 

 the best oli\e oil, for which it is largely sold. The lower 

 grades of oil are used for lubricating purposes and also in 

 the manufacture of soap. After the oil is extracted the 

 refuse is converted into cake or meal for feeding cattle, etc. 

 The best or picked nuts, which conunand about double the 

 price of the ordinary nuts, are usually shipi)ed to England 

 for confectionery iiuri)oses. 



The average yield of ground nuts i)er acre is between 

 60 and 80 bushels, for which the natives were paid this year, 

 on the average, l.s. per bushel. In the previous year the price 

 averaged between 2s. to 3.<. the bushel. In former years 

 nuts were sold by the measure, the price for which was 2s. 

 The price never altered ; but the measure, which contained 

 anything between 52 to 68 lb. of nuts, often did. With the 

 introduction of the cash trade, however, the measure has 

 gradually disappeared, the natives now selling by weight, 

 a system they much prefer. 



PRINCIPAL COMMERCIAL PLANT FIBRES. 



In an interesting article on the subject of commer- 

 cial plant fibres, in the Yeurhook of the United States 

 Dejiartinent of Agriculture, the writer classifies fibres 

 as follows : — 



"\'egetable fibres used in textile manufactures in this 

 country may be readily divided into three rather distinct 

 classes, either from the standpoint of the manufacturer, who 

 regards the kind of machinery or process of treating the fibre 

 and the character of the goods produced, or from the view- 

 point of the botanist, who regards the character of the plant 

 and the manner in which the fibre is borne. These three 

 classes are : 



(1) The cottons, with soft, lint-like fibre, i inch to 

 2 inches long, composed of single cells, borne on the seeds of 

 different species of cotton plants. 



(2) The soft fibres, or bast fibres, including flax, hemp, 

 and jute; flexible fibres of soft texture, 10 to 100 inches iu 

 length, composed of many overlapping cells, and borne in the 

 inner bark of the plants. 



(3) The hard, or leaf, fibres, including Manila, sisal, 

 Mauritius, New Zealand filire.s, and ixtle, all having rather 

 .stiff, woody fibres, 1 to 10 feet long, composed of numerous 

 cells in bundles, borne in the tissues of the leaf or leaf-stem. 



