178 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Skptember 



1902 



There .are five local scholarships tenable at Harrison 

 College at Barbados with a Lecturer in Agriculture 

 provided to take boys above the fourth t'orin who wish 

 to specialize in Agricultural Science. There aie two 

 scholarships of the value of £7.5 each, also tenable at 

 Hairison College, offered fir competition in the Wind- 

 ward and Leeward Islands. In addition there is a 

 Lectiner in Agiicidture j)rovided by the Department 

 at Jamaica. 1'his othcer is engaged in giving lectures 

 to students at the Training Colleges and assisting in 

 furthering Agricultural teaching generally in the 

 island. All the scholarships at Secondary an<l High 

 schools are awarded, preferably, to boys iiom the 

 country districts, the sons of planters in moderate 

 circumstances, who intend to devote themselves to 

 agricultural pursuits. So far there has been keen 

 competition for all the scholarships offered by the 

 Department and the boys have acquitted themselves 

 creditablv. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Sugar-cane Experiments at Barbados. 



A special meeting of the Barbados Agricultural 

 Society was held on Friday the 12th. instant to hear 

 the report jiresented by Mr. J. \i. liovcll, F.L.S., F.C.S., 

 and Mr. K. Radclyffe Hall, B.A., on the results of 

 the work conducted during the past season, under 

 the direction of the Imperial l)epartment of Agri- 

 culture. The j)aper was well illustrated throughout 

 by specially ])re])ared diagrams and charts. In this 

 way the more imjiortant results were brought, in a 

 graphic and striking niainier, to the attention of the 

 planters. 



MAXrKL\L E.Xl'ERIMEXTS. 



The experiments with manures were conducted on 

 foiir estates in different parts of the island, the total 

 area of the manurial ))Iots being 17 acres. 



'I'he wt'ather in Decendier and January was dry, 

 and the young plants only became established witii 

 difficulty. February to May were, as usual, dry, windy 

 months, but from June to September the rainfall was 

 excessive, being no le.ss than two and a half times the 

 avei'age for these months, for the last fifty year.s. The 

 'wash' of the surface soil was very considerable and the 

 good residts of careful tillage were hist to a considerable 

 extent. The i-ainfall from Uctober to December 

 varied considerably in the different districts and was 

 not high anywhere. At the end of the year a drought 

 set in, and jiersisting, hastened consideiably the lipen- 

 ing of the canes. 



Taking the manuiial exiierimi'iits as a whole, 

 Mr. Bovell said the results indicated that: 



(1) Nitrogen is essential for the j)roduction of 



maximum returns and under the conditi<jns which 

 obtained on the manurial plots 50 to (50 It), per 

 acre of nitrogen as sulphate of ammonia applied half 

 in June and the balance in August is the most paying 

 amount. 



(2) Where the land has been liberally manured 

 with farmyanl manure, pliosphates are not only- 

 unnecessary but may do harm. 



(8) On the whole, even where the land has been 

 liberally manured with farmyard manure, applications 

 of potash are beneficial. The most satisfactory results 

 were obtained with alxiut .50 Iti. ]jer acre. 



(4) The time has arrived when each planter 

 shoidd ascertain for himself what manure is best suited 

 to his canes under the soil and climatic conditions 

 which obtain on his own estate. These experiments 

 if rightly carried out need not cost anything and would 

 in all probability save the jilanters many pounds. 

 Su])pose, for instance, a planter wanted to a.scert;iin 

 whether phosphates were necess.iry for his cane crops. 

 Let him choose a fairly level field of, as far as he can 

 judge, uniform character which had received uniform 

 treatment : let him divide it in half, to one half apply 

 a manure consisting only of nitrogen and potash, to 

 the other the same mixture to which jihosphates had 

 been added. When the canes arrive at maturity let 

 each half or a portion of each half be crushed separately 

 and the gallons of juice ascertained and the density by 

 the ordinary Beaume saccharometer noted. By experi- 

 ments of this sort, which are easily and inexpensively 

 carrie<l out, planters will s ion be able to decide for 

 themselves whether it is ni'Cessaiy to apply jihosphates 

 to their canes. The day will, we hope, come when the 

 planters will have a .svstem of r<)tation in which the 

 minerals will be apj)lied to the root crops in the rota- 

 tion and the canes grown with liberal applications of 

 farmyarcl manure supplementeil with sulphate of 

 ammonia or nitrate of so<la. 



SEEl)I.I\(i .\M) iiTHEIl C.\XES. 



Experiments with selected and other varieties of 

 canes were conductt'd at eleven estates in typic;xl 

 localities of the island. The weather conditions were 

 advi'rse as .already noted. 



The com]ilete list of the v.uieties cultivated is ;ts 

 follows : — 



Jamaica or Mont lilane. Koek Hall, Sealv Seed- 

 ling, White TransjiaR'nt, !!. 147, B. 1.5(i, B. 208^ B. 2.54. 

 B. 'a47, B. :57ti and 1). !I5. 



As a result of the whole series of experiment.s, 

 Mr. Bovell was able to state that Barbailos SeeiUing 

 B. 208 was, as last year, the best all-round cane, 

 taking intd account its ready germination, the yield of 

 sugar, the I'ichiiess and jiurity of its juice and the 

 satisfactory results obtained on bl.ick and red .soil.s, 

 ]tlants and ratoons. The indicated yield of muscovado 

 sugar for ])lant canes was 30 tons jier acre on black 

 soils anil 2'(i tons ])er acre on red soils. (The 'black* 

 and ' red' soils <are ciiaraeteristic of the low lands and of 

 the hills respectively). 



Mr. Piovell i-ecouuneiided 1!. 208 for an estate trial 

 on a strictly limited scale. 



The While Transjuirent maintained its reputation 



