THE AGlUCULTlltAL NEWS. 



April 25, 1902. 



EXPERIMENTAL CANE CULTIVATION 

 AT BRITISH GUIANA. 



The t'olluwing is a brief progress report ])n')iar('<l 

 hy Prolessor J. B. Harrison, C.M.G., on the expeii- 

 mental sugar-cane cultivation carried on at Bi'itish 

 (iuiana from July to December lOOl, in connection 

 with the Imperial department of Agiiculture : — 



The area at the Botanic Gardens usefi for exj)eri- 

 meiits with sugai'-cane is thirty-one acres, while a 

 subsidiary area of five acres is being gradually brought 

 under experimental cultivation at Onderneeming School 

 nearSuddie, Essequibo. The fields in use at the Botanic 

 Gardens compinse two at the back of the estate known 

 as the Old or South tield, and the New or Northfirld 

 and a small one of between three and foui' aci\'s in 

 extent in front of the Gai-dens proper but in close 

 proximity to the nursery tenned the Brickdani tield. 

 The fields at the back of the Gardens have been 

 enclosed with a barbed wire fencing, a draining engine, 

 and a sugar-cane mill havc^ been ])laced there, while the 

 necessary offices, laboratory ami manure sheds have 

 been erected there, the C(jst of floing which has been 

 borne b}' the local Govemment. These are all now in 

 good order and are supplied with the ap]iaratus. ttc, 

 necessary for efficient working. 



During the period under j-eview tho fields ha\i' 

 been utilized as follows: — 



The South Field. — This contains an area of tnur- 

 teen acres. The manurial expeiiments initiated in 1890 

 have been cfintinued. Owing to the late period in 

 which the work was taken in hand the canes weie not 

 sufficiently matuicd fi>r reajiing during the Octobn-and 

 No\eiid)ei" crop season but will be rea])e(l (huing tho 

 IMarch and A]iril se.ison. The western side of the field 

 has bei'n occupied by beds of canes of the older known 

 varieties and of the earlier obtained seedlings. As on 

 this ))art of the field the soil has becom<', mainly fiom 

 the defective drainage-conditions existent in prexioiis 

 years, in a state of tcmjiorary agricultural exhaustion, 

 I directed its temporary abandomuent tor cane culti- 

 vation when the canes vvi^re taken off it at the riid df 

 the year. In the same field were large jjlots ot silcctrd 

 seedling varieties. The.se h;id not suffered lioni the 

 drought, etc., to anything like the extent the mainiiial 

 ixp( limeiils had done. I.i;irge crops were obtained on 

 these, and after weighing, etc., the <'anes weri' distiih- 

 uted tDwai'ils the I'lid of (lie \'eai' in very lai'ge miuilicrs 

 to thr estates which had applied for them. A lai'ge 

 ai'ea <pf the field is occupied by the small plots on which 

 the picliminary trials of selected .seedlings ai'e caiiied 

 on and fortunately this was not so adversely affected as 

 .some other ]iarts were and interesting and \alunlili> 

 results were obtained when they weri' ri'ajied towai'ds 

 the end of the year. Tlw field is now in a satisflHtcny 

 condition, v(>ry diffenmt, mviing to Mr. Wai-d's untiring 

 t'*T['orts and stnct supervision, to that in which it was at 

 the connnencement of th(! half-yeai' under review. 



The Xoiili Field. — 'I'he area of the field is about 

 foiirti'en acres. It has been cleaiecl \'r the dense 



bush wdiich covered it, and the greater part of the large 

 trees gi-owing upon it have been cut down and removed. 

 As a commencement of this could not be made until 

 after the jtieliminary steps had been taken towards the 

 extension of the work undertaken since the Grant-in- 

 Aid became available in October 18!)!), a portion of it 

 has been in use since early in 1!)00 fijr the purpose of 

 gi-owung selected Ciine seedlings. A larger portion was 

 gradually cleared, drained and biought into cultivable 

 condition and in July a considerable area wa-s laid 

 out for an extension of the manurial experiment.s. 

 This consists of a .series of experiments arranged to test 

 the varying requirements of the more promising varie- 

 ties of seedling canes for nitrogenous manures. Twelve 

 varieties are under observation for this pui-pose and 

 \\A\'Q made active and vigonjus growth. It is intended 

 to I'eap them in October or September next. 



The Jirlchhim Field. — This field is jirincipally 

 occupied at present by a series of plots on which about 

 thirty of the most promising kinds of .seedlings are 

 being grown as jjlant canes, 1st, 2nd, and :3rd ratoons. 

 It is a field of marked fertility, and the results obtained 

 u])on it in the croj) of 1!)00 and ]!)()] have been of 

 much interest. As it is situated at the top of the 

 Brickdam and the electric tram cars pass by it every 

 (juarter of an hour in the day, thus jilacing it within 

 easy access from all jjarts of the city, this field is well 

 suited for the imjxirtant ])urpose which it serves as a 

 <lemonstration field on which the modes of gi'ow-th etc. 

 of the most jtromising varieties of canes can be studied 

 by visitors. In addition to the plots c<jntaining varie- 

 ti(is of canes there is a considerable area occujjied with 

 exj)ei-iments laid down on the lines succes.sfully f(jllo\v- 

 ed in Java with the object of obtaining cross fertiliza- 

 tion of certain kinds of canes. In an-,inging this I had 

 the advantage of the assistance and adxice of Di-. Wt-nt 

 formerly of Java, the well known niithcirity en all 

 questions of sugar-cane cultivation. 



During the latter months of the yeai- a lai-ge 

 mnuber of seedlings wen^ raised from the seed of twenty 

 selected varieties of cant's. Two hundred and fourteen 

 thovisand seeds germinatetl and tiom these about 

 twenty-eight thou.sand })lants ha\e been reserved at 

 the ( lardens for further investigiition. A largo number 

 of seedlings in boxes have since been .su])plii'd to 

 Plantations Albion, Windsor Forest, \'rvheid's. Lust 

 and Hope, whert^ the manag<Ms will carefidly raise 

 them and study their imxles of giowth etc. The 

 willingness and, in many cases I may say, the anxiety of 

 the managers of the sugar estates in thi? Colony to aid 

 us in otn- work and to cjirry it on bt^j-ond the limits we 

 are necessafily bound down to is a m.)st gratifying 

 featui'c of the local work. 



In Julv about five thousand eight, hundred .seed- 

 lings raised in thi; cultivation of 1 !)()() wiTe jdanted out 

 in the fields and have since been ke]it- under eai-eful 

 obsei'vation. 



1 proposi' th.it in future years a still more rigorou.s 

 svsteni of selection shall lie used bcitli with referentre to 

 the ])arent varieties and tu the seedlings retainetl for 

 trial. J believe that better results are likely to be 

 obtained in this manner than by rai.sing and keeping 



