Vol. IVIII No. 44-5. 



THE AGRICrETTirAX WEWS. 



J 49 



Resides the means of hauling already mentioned, other 

 Improvements ''n the old carts and oxen, such as four wheel 

 wagons* drawn by both oxen and mules : portable tracks laid 

 down at intervals in the cane tields, over which small cars 

 are drawn by animals ; and tour wheel trailers to be drawn by 

 the tractors, have been inlroductd with success. 



A further stej), still rather in the experiment stage, al- 

 though practical and very advantageous results have been 

 secured with the one machine of this nature which has been 

 introduced, has been taken through the invention of a tractor 

 ■with which a number of demountable beds are employed. 

 'I'he tractor is made in such a way thit the power required 

 lor its movement from place to place can be thrown out of 

 Pear with the rear wheels, ami thrown into gear with a set 

 ■of winches which control and uperate a cable, which, when 

 fastened to the demountable bed after the same is loaded with 

 cane, raises and drags it upon the body of the tractor. Trials 

 made with this machine at ' Manati ' last 3'ear deaionstrated 

 that as many as 10 loads per aay could be made with a 2.i- 

 Irilometer haul, at a cost per 100 arrobas of caue of about 25c,, 

 hnt we understand that the same machine this year has shown 

 a cost of 21c., these figures comparing with costs by oxen 

 varying from .~siOO to as high .^ii)!) per 100 arrobas. That 

 thi.9 machine has a great future if present indications regani- 

 IDg its advantages prove true, there can be no doubt. 



The harvesting practice as observed here is the .same as 

 in all i>ther cane-producing countries wherein th« cane is still 

 cut bv labourers, each employing a cane knife varying in shape 

 and character with each country, but usually consisting of a 

 heavy blade fro;n 16 inches to 2 feet in length, usually with 

 a slight crook in the blade, designed to enable the cutter more 

 easily to cut the .stalks low or at the surface of the ground, 

 this being es.sential to the continuous production, for a number 

 ■of years, of good ra'oon crops. Attempts have been made to 

 perfect a machine that will cut cane, but the great variety o1' 

 conditions under which cane is produced, of the character of 

 landupon which it is grown, and, consequently, of the condition 

 of the cane at the time of cutting, has rendered this a task 

 ■which no one has yet been able to accomplish. A machine 

 has been made by which straight growing canes can he handled 

 *ith reasonable satisfaction, but when the caue, on account 

 of heavy growth, falls down and extends itself along the 

 grouml forming practically a tropical jungle, as is the case in 

 the fertile lands of Cuba, it has been found impossible to handle 

 it this wav. Work has beeu coutinued on the improve- 

 ment of these machines, and the increasing .scarcity of labour- 

 ers to handle the ever increasing areas planted will at some 

 date bring about the desired result, as necessity will prove in 

 this case as in others the 'mother of invention'. 



We thus observe from what has been written that there 

 has never been a timo when Cuba s sugar mills and her planters 

 Jiavehad at their disposal the means for the economical pro- 

 duction and advantageous grinding of her cane that exist 

 to-day. and, therefore, with the probabilities of increasing 

 improvement, especially in the field of production, they can 

 look forward with hope to the future. That the present 

 abnormal prices of sugar will continue cannot of course be 

 believed, but with almost the same security it can be taken for 

 granted that the cost of production will gradually be lower, 

 probably the fall in price and the lowering cost of production 

 keeping pace with each other in such x manner as to provide 

 for equivalent profits under the new prices that will prevail. 

 ■Of eour.se, this is conjecture, but it seems reasonable that with 

 the more economical devices at the control of the planter, he 

 •will be ab'e to lower his production cost. There is no dnubt 

 that the majority of Cuba's sugar mills are now in a po.sition 

 to produce sugar at much lower cost than formerly, but they 



aro also in a position to grind very much heavier harvests^ 

 Where irrigation is possible, it will be given a promi- 

 nent part in this work, as with the decrease in tha 

 forest area there has come a decrease in the total annual 

 rainfall, and a much le.ss even distribution than formerly, 

 resulting in comparatively dry weather during late July 

 and August, the two months of heaviest growth of the 

 cane Under proper conditions. The prediction has beeo 

 made that the present crop will amount to 4,000,000 tons^ 

 and it is believed that sufficient cane is in the fields to 

 enable not only this quantity of sugar to be made, but 

 considerably more. 



AGRICULTURE IN BARBADOS. 



The topic everywhere is the continuance of the drought 

 — one of the severest on record. 



In a few of the hilly districts there were about half 

 a dozen days of light showers during April, but elsewhere the 

 record has been practically nil. The extreme north and 

 east of St. Lucy and the sea-boards of St. Philip and Christ 

 Church are suliering intensely. With the opening of Maj, 

 however, there have been indioation.s of more favourable 

 weather. 



At this time we have generally had the pleasure of 

 recording the healthy start made by the fodder, corn, and 

 early yam crops, but it goes without saying that this seasoa 

 it has been as yet impossible to do planting of any kiud» 

 Here and there small areas have been forked, and cane holes 

 opened, so that the first .showers may not be lost, but 

 almost everywhere the earth is too hard for tillage. 



The fall potatoes planted in November and December 

 have had a trying lime, ani.l will not yield the return which 

 had been hoped for. In some instances the vines are leafleaa, 

 and no progress has been made at all. In addition to this 

 there is the fact that no supplying was possible with .some 

 fields. Not only has there been, therefore, a stunt, but 

 there is the presence of a large number of dead holes. There 

 will be great shortage of local provisions after the present 

 mature tields have been disposed of. Cereals are the qaickest 

 crops, and these .should be freely pkuted as soon as weather 

 conditions make this possible. 



The hardihood of the cane plants is being thoroughly 

 tested. Everywhere the wonder is expressed that the young 

 canes have been able to live on. With the prolongation of 

 the drought there are, however, signs that the subsoil is 

 becoming too dry to maintain life. Fields, green up to a 

 fortnight ago, have developed yellow leaves, and there has 

 been an increasing number of dead holes among the supplies. 



We have reached a point in our agricultural history 

 where we .should seriously consider the fertilization of our 

 cane tields from home-grown products and home-made man- 

 ures, and reduce the popularity of commercial fertilizers. To 

 do this we tuust pay much more attention to the collection of 

 material for manurial purposes, and enrich our pastures so 

 that they may produce twice as much or even three times the 

 amount of vegetable matter which we now obtain from them_ 



Steady progress is being made with the reaping of tlie 

 cane crop. It is well that there should be no delay, for the 

 tale of rotten canes is growing apace, and the K. G450 is 

 rapidly developing a dry heart because of the very dry seasoa 

 We have had. — (The Barbados Agricultural Ref>oi-t-'r. .May 3, 

 1919.) 



