Vol. III. No. 63. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



291 



botli plant and ratoon canes, and to plant canes and nitoons 

 .sc'iiarately. As comparison of the figures obtained from tlie 

 t'X|ieriniental fields at the Botanic Gardens with those from 

 estates given in a former report conclusively proved that no 

 relial>le deductions can be formed from small e.\|ieriments 

 vith varielies of canes regarding their probable yields when 

 cultivated under estates' conditions and on the manufacturing 

 scale, I liave not included in the tables any record from the 

 experimental fields. The.se results will he found in the 

 Report on the ai/riciiltum! work in the Jititanic d'anfens and 

 the Government Lahoraturi/ for the year 1903-4. 



As in former years, the value of the data varies greatly, 

 the results recorded where the experiments have extended 

 over large areas and on several plantations being generally 

 more reliable than where the areas are small and the number 

 of experiments reported few. 



The following shows the mean yield of each variety, in 

 tons of commercial sugar per acre, during the years 1901-3, 

 and the means of the yields of the three crop-years: — 



The following shows the recorded yields of commercial 

 .sugar per acre by the varieties as compared with that of the 

 Bourbon taken as 100 : — 



RELATIVE VALUES OF PLANTS AND EATOONS. 



The following shows the mean returns, in tons 

 commercial sugar per acre, 

 and as ratoons : — 



of 



mean 

 the varieties of canes as 



of 

 plants 



This indicates, generally, tliat the varieties raised and 

 selected locally are as a rule good ratooning canes, and that 

 the imported Barbados varieties (White Tran.spareut, Seal}', 

 and B. 147) are not of ecjual merit with them iu this respect. 



{To he concluded.) 



The Sugar Industry in the French West Indies. 



The following letter from Guadeloupe, winch 

 appeared in the lMui><><(mi PUtater of August 6, 

 contains an interesting account of the position of the 

 sugar industry in Martinique and Guadeloupe: — ■ 



I have just returned from Martinique, where I have 

 been sojourning some twenty days. All the sugar factories 

 iu that colony have completed their harvest of the cane crop 

 and this latter has been generally very bad. The yield of 

 sugar-cane has been fro)u 25 to 30 metrical tons per hectare, 

 or from 10 to 12 long tons per English acre, in place of 40 

 metrical tons per hectare, or 16 tons per acre, that are 

 ordinarily obtained. This diminution of 25 per cent, in the 

 crop is the disastrous result of the cyclone of August 8, 1903. 



The yield of sugar has Ijeen also very bad, the factories 

 which have obtained the most getting scarcely 8 per cent., or 

 1 60 ib. of sugar per short ton of cane. The average has been 

 but 7 percent., or 140 lb. of sugar per short ton of cane. 

 The average yield in molasses has been from 3 to 4-2 per 

 cent, of the weight of the cane. 



In Guadeloupe the harvest of the cane crop has also 

 been completed, all the central factories having ceased 

 operations early in .June. The results here have been better 

 than in ^Iartini(jue. The yield of the fields in cane has been 

 about 40 to 45 metrical tons of cane i)er hectare, or 16 to 18 

 long tons of cone per Englivsh acre, and the yield in sugar has 

 been about 9 \)ex cent, of the weight of the cane, or 180 lb. 

 of sugar per short ton of cane. The yield of molasses has 

 been less than that of Martinique and is about 2i to 31- per 

 cent, of the weight of the cane. 



This colony, although it has fewer central factories than 

 Martinique, produces generally more sugar. The yield in 

 sugar in Guadeloupe has always been greater than that 

 obtained in Martinique, which is attributed to the quality of 

 the lands giving canes of higher saccharine content and with 

 juice of greater purity. 



On the other hand, the yield iu rum, or tafia, obtained 

 in Martinique, has always been greater than that obtained in 

 Guadeloui)e, which is attributed first to the quality of the 

 molasses, and secondly, to the method of manufacture. In 

 jSIartinicjue they convert into rum all of the molasses 

 produced in the manufacture of sugar in the factories and 

 a large part of the molasses made in Guadeloupe. All the 

 rum is exported to France. The rum consumed in the country 

 is produced in jdantation distilleries, which manufacture it 

 directly from the juice in the cane. The latter is taken 

 sometimes raw and sometimes concentrated by evaporation to 

 15 or 20 degrees Beaume. The rum thus obtained is much 

 finer and much more highly appreciated by the local 

 consumers. Guadeloupe produces very little rum for export, 

 only six factories distilling their molasses, the others deliver- 

 ing their molasses to the distilleries of Martiniijue. 



The sugar industry of both Martinique and Guadeloupe 

 is much behind iu the matter of the progress realized in the 

 sugar industry elsewhere during recent years. In order to 

 arrive at the best results our factories would need to be much 

 improved. 



