180 



THE AGllICULTUliAL NEWS. 



June 4, 1904. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY (continued). 



Seedling Canes in British Guiana. 



TIk' lollo\vii:g iiiteTosting iiifonnatioii in regrti'd 

 to the c.xpeiimcntal cultivation of Seedling canes at 

 DianioiMJ I^lantation is taken Ironi a letter received 

 from the ilanager, Mr. John U. Fleming, dated March 

 2-4 last :— 



For the short giiiidiiij; just coiiiiileted liere last week, 

 CO.J acres of Boiu'boii ami ioi acres of B. 208 were reaiied. 

 All of these canes suffered from a deficiency of rain in 

 January to the middle of March, when they were young, and 

 later on, from the middle of Aiiril to the middle of July, from 

 e.xces.sive wet. This made them stunted, and in the arrowing 

 .season almost every individual Bourbon cane flowered : B. 208 

 arrowed more than in the [irevious year, Imt still not nearly 

 to the same extent as Bourbon. It exhibit.s, however, 

 a marked tendency to .sprout at the eyes after the arrowing 

 period. 



The Bourlion cane yielded an average of TOl tons sugar 

 per acre : the B. 208, 3 tons per acre, or about .^7 jier cent. 

 more. This is a very much greater difference than I liave 

 hitherto observed, and i.s due to the stunted crop of Bourlion. 

 It is an interesting record, but by no means expresses the 

 comparative values of the two varieties in a year more suited 

 to the Bourbon. The quality of cane juice from each was 

 excellent, and far better than is usual in Demerara. 



The following table gives the results cf growing Bourbon 

 and seedlings, for I'JOl, 1902, and 1903 on this plantation :— 



The following is 

 a further exjjression 

 of opinion from Mr. 

 Fleming in regard to 

 cane E'20.S:— 



B. 208 is in my 

 o}iinion the best cane you 

 have given us so far. I 

 have just finished reaping 

 nearly 100 acres of it, 

 and notwithstanding the 

 fact that after they were 

 planted in January 1903, 

 they encountered a severe 

 drought and some months 

 later an exceptionally 

 heavy rainy season, and 

 were in consequence not 

 a heavy crop, they were 

 still a long way better 

 than Bourbons grown 

 under similar conditions. 

 An objectionable feature 

 of this variety is a 

 marked tendency to 

 spiout at the eyes after 

 the arrowing sef.son, or 

 when its growth has from 

 any cause been tempora- 

 rily checked. A very 

 strong iioint in its favour 

 is that in every trial I 

 liave made of it I have 

 invariably found the 

 juice of excellent quality. 



West Indian Seedling Canes in Queensland. 



Mr. Edw.-uil tirimley, Secretary of the Queensland 

 Acclimatization Society, has forwarded to Mr. J. R. 

 Bovell the following newspaper extract relating to 

 seedling canes (B. 147, B. 156, B. 170) sent him some 

 time ago. It will be seen that B. 147 ga\e particularly 

 good results, 2.'i'40 per cent, of ' po.ssibh' obtainable cane 

 sugar' (a local term signifying its marketable (jualities) 

 being recorded : — 



At tlie last meeting of our council the following 

 analyses of sugar-cane were read. The canes were grown by 

 Mr. J. 0. I'lobbin.s, Mayfield, Mowbray Ilivcr, Port Douglas. 

 They are some of the canes this society inqiorted some years 

 ago from the West Indie.s, and were at that time the best of 

 the seedlings rai.sed in Barbados and Demerara, and wliicli we 

 distributed to some forty or fifty plantations all along tlie 

 eastern coasts. At first they did not seem to do well, and I 

 am now waiting for particulars of analyses from various 

 sources. If thej- are found to do as well at other jilaces as 

 with Mr. Itobbins, a great stride has been made in the fight 

 between cane and beet. All these canes have been found 

 in the W'est Indies to give a good tonnage to the acre, 

 ranging mostly about 30 tons. 



,\N.\LYSIS OF SEEDLINGS (.JUICE). 



^ + 



p. 



Id. 



JD. 

 IB. 

 jB. 

 IB. 



!u. 



D. 



'd. 



14.^ 

 115 

 116 



147 

 156 

 147 

 115 



(P) 

 (R) 

 (R) 



(P) 



(R) 



(P) 22-7 

 11 G (R) 23-20 

 145 (R)rJ3-0 

 17G (P)'24-4 

 156 (P;:23-2 



o 



16-8 

 16-6 

 18-7 

 19-8 

 19 



25-0 



■A 



to 



1-50 

 1-06 

 1-66 

 1-62 

 1-24 

 1-20, 

 1-64 

 9-77' 

 1-18| 

 1-22; 

 1-11' 



* Description of cane : (R) Ratoon. (P) Plant. 



The first five were cut on July 1 4, and the balance on 



Octi.ber 4. 



JAMAICA TEA. 



The Jamaica (Jlcaner quotes as follows I'rom the 



The culture of tea seems destined to become an 

 important industry in the island. The experimental stage 

 was passed last year, when 5,030 lb. was the croii ; this year 

 15,000 tt). were produced and it is confidently predicted by 

 those engaged in the business that inside of five years an 

 annual production of 250,000 lb. will be attained. Each j-ear 

 in December the jilant is cut oft' about 8 inches above the 

 ground, and, as it throws out its bud and leaf-bearing shoots, 

 the buds are nipped off every two or three weeks through the 

 year and the curling, fermenting and curing processes 

 contribute to the niaking of the marketable jnoduct. That 

 it meets the recpiisite standard of quality woidd seem to 

 liave been fully demonstrated, for the expansion of facilities 

 on a large scale is in progress. 



