136 TBINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XVIIL 3. 



SUGAB. 



SUGAR CANE EXPERIMENTS 1917-19. 



Trinidad Seedlings & Tests of Varieties. 



By Joseph de Verteuil, F.I.C, F.C.S., 



Superintendent of Field Experiments. 



The report on sugar-cane experiments may be divided into two 

 parts : — 



(1.) Raising and testing of new seedlings. 



(2.) Eesults of tests of varieties grown in plots. 



RAISING AND TESTING OF NEW SEEDLINGS. 



Seedling canes were raised in Trinidad, on a large scale for the 

 first time in 1895 by the late J. H. Hart, F.L.S, Superintendent of the 

 Koyal Botanic Gardens and continued until 1904. From then no 

 seedlings were raised by Government Officers unlil 1917 when, on the 

 initiative of His Excellency the Governor, the work was resumed by 

 the Department of Agriculture. 



In September, 1918, the question of raising the seedlings was 

 reconsidered by the Sugar '[Committee of the Board of Agriculture and 

 it was decided that centralization of the work at St. Augustine Experi- 

 ment Station was preferable so that all the work in connection with the 

 raising, growing and testing of seedling canes has now been entrusted 

 to tlie Superintendent of Field Experiments. 



In addition to raising ordinary seedlings by collecting and sowing 

 arrows from good varieties when the seed is ripe attempts will be made 

 to obtain :— 



(a.) Natural hybrids i.e. seedling canes obtained by planting some 

 of the best varieties chess-board fashion, and before the flowers open, 

 bagging the inflorescences of two different varieties together so as to 

 ensure that the seedlings obtained are either crosses of the two 

 varieties bagged or self-fertilized. In this case as far as possible, 

 varieties producing a high percentage of sucrose are crossed with 

 varieties giving a high tonnage of canes per acre. 



(6.) Self-fertilized seedlings obtained by bagging sonie of the best 

 varieties before the anthers open so as to ensure that they are not 

 cross-fertilized. 



Seedlings Raised in 1917. 



Out of the seedlings raised and potted in 1917, 1,2.37 were pUxnted 

 out in the field in June, 1918, representing 2.56 natural hybrids and 

 981 ordinary seedlings. Of these 205 or 16-5 per cent, were selected 

 from their field characters for analytical test and 49 or 3-9 per cent, 

 have been selectsd for a second trial. 



