29 



It has been stated on page (27) that the salt content at this pk*~e 

 would be higher if there were not a fresh water spring right near. It is 

 for this reason that the chlorine and also the total acid radicles are lower 

 here than at the next location, 10, while we would expect the opposite to 

 be the case. But even with only 0.137%of chlorine and 0.301% of total 

 acid radicles the cane would probably have suffered more, were it not for 

 the high nitrogen content of this soil, which tends to neutralize the 

 injurious effects of the salts. 



10. Here the yield was also small, about 20 tons per acre. There 

 was a considerable amount of small cane found, and it did not have a 

 normal appearance. The trouble is evidently due to the high salt content 

 (.326% total acid radicles, and .188% chlorine), and would certainly 

 have been more pronounced yet, if the soil did not, like at 1, contain a 

 large percentage of nitrogen (0.38%), and, besides, 1.5% of lime. 



2. About this station the land had been in cultivation for from 

 40 to 50 years. The crop of 1910 produced only 22.8 tons for the fifth 

 ratoon while the first crop of the same planting produced 37.1 tons. The 

 root system of the cane was in good condition, well developed with plenty 



of good root hairs, notwithstanding a large amount of root fungus 

 present, The texture of the soil at this station was loose, and consequently 



the drainage good. The soil was dark, and apparently rich in plant food. 

 There was nothing in the texture of the soil to warrant the presence of 

 so much root fungus. Probably the cane was weakened from some other 

 cause and thus allowed the fungus free play on the cane, for it seems to 

 be a fact that the root fungus on vigorous cane does little damage, while 

 on weak cane it seriously accentuates the trouble. 



The salt content in this soil was found exceptionally low, for this 

 particular place, only .142% of total acid radicles, and but .043% of 

 chlorine, when we should expect a much higher figure. But this is easily 

 explained. This soil is very porous, and the subsoil begins at a much 

 lower level than in sample 1. Otherwise the soils and subsoils of the 

 two places are very similar. This place, 2, evidently had a good rain 

 shortly before the samples were taken, as may be seen from the figures 

 for moisture in the fresh samples, 46% and 70% respectively. The 

 result naturally is that the salt which might have accumulated in the 

 soil was washed down into the subsoil Avhere it actually appears in a 

 concentration of 0.35% of chlorine, but out of reach of the bulk of the 

 roots of the cane. 



3. This section has been in cane for from 40 to 50 years. No 

 fertilizer had ever been used here. The tonnage shows a rather remark- 

 able decrease from 53.1 tons of the plant crop to 27.7 tons for the fifth 

 ratoon cut in 1910. The cane shows much root fungus together with a 

 root system in very poor condition, a large number of roots being dead. 

 The soil is a heavy clay and apparently not very rich. The chlorine 



