92 



(2) In the case of land that has been well manured with farm 

 yard manure, apply soon after planting the canes I cwt. of sul- 

 phate of potash per acre. 



(3) To the land that has received insufficient farmyard manure, 

 or that is known to be deficient in available phosphoric acid, 

 apply soon after planting the canes, l| cwt. superphosphate, (con- 

 taining 40 per cent, available phosphate) or 2h cwt. of good basic 

 slag. 



(4) In June, that is, at the beginning of the period of most active 

 growth, apply 2 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia. In July or August, 

 if, after heavy rains, the canes turn pale in colour, apply a further 



1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia. 



(5) To ratoons, soon after the stumps begin to spring, apply I 

 cwt. of nitrate of soda, I cwt. of sulphate of potash with or with- 

 out ih cwt. of superphosphate according to the land. In June, apply 



2 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia. A further application not later 

 than August of I cwt. of sulphate of ammonia should only be 

 made, if, after having heavy rains, the pale colour of the canes 

 renders it likely that more nitrogen would be beneficial. 



EXPERIMENTS ON TILLAGE. 



A series of duplicate experiments was carried out during the 

 season 1901-3 at Hampton plantation with a view of comparing 

 the results of ordinary hand tillage, such as is practised in Bar- 

 bados, with those of tillage with ordinary ploughs, subsoilers, 

 American disc ploughs and cultivators. The results were in 

 favour of hand tillage to the extent of about 500 lbs. sugar per 

 acre, an amount that, in Barbados, would more than cover the 

 extra cost of hand labour. 



II.— By Hon. Dr. F. Watts. 



These experiments may be classed in two periods. In 1891 ex- 

 periments were instituted in Antigua to ascertain the manurial re- 

 quirements of the sugar-cane and also to discover suitable canes for 

 cultivation in that presidency. These were carried on until 1898. 



This period covered the anxious time when cane diseases were 

 rampant, and it seemed quite possible that the sugar industry 

 would be seriously crippled or ruined. 



It was difficult to draw reliable conclusions from the results of 

 the manurial experiments of that period, for the canes on the 

 various plots were so badly attacked by disease, principally 'rind 

 fungus' {TricJiosphoeria), as to make the results uncertain or con- 

 tradictory, still by careful scrutiny we were able to arrive at some 

 general conclusions. 



These experiments, however, had a distinct value and served to 

 settle some points in the public mind. It was seen that there was 

 no relationship between the manures used and the occurrence of 

 the cane disease, that manure neither caused it, nor could cure it. 

 The canes of the plot being under close observation afforded use- 

 ful information concerning the disease in a general way. 



