V..I,. VII. No. 161. 



THE AGRJCULTUEAL NEWS. 



195 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Seedling Canes in British Guiana. 



At ,-i irui-tit meeting of the J-Jiitisli Guiana Board 

 •of Agi iciiltiiie, Prolossor J. B. Kani.son, C.JI.G., 

 subinitted a reluiri containing particulars of the area 

 that had been planted with seedling canes in the 

 colony for 1908-9. 



Professor Harrison stated that returns had ht-eu received 

 in reference to every estate in the colony. There were 

 thirty-eight plantations which were growing new varieties of 

 sugar-cane in British fiuiana, the areas ranging itom 2 to 

 6,320 acres on the different estates. In the whole colony 

 there were 32,698 acres of new canes under cultivation; 20,872 

 in Denierara, S,54-l: in Berbice. and 3,282 in Essequebo. At 

 the time the Boai-d started work, the area under seedling 

 canes was about 4,001) acres. In 1 906-7 this had increased 

 to 21,000 acres, and in the season 1907-8 it reached 28,000 

 acres. 



In reference to the new varieties most largely plariteil, 

 there were 9,819 acres of D. 109 under cultivation ; the 

 seedling D. 625 was planted on 9,662 acres, B. 208 on 5,258 

 acres, I). 145 on 3,282 acres, and 11. 147 on 1,652 acres. 

 Smaller areas of many other varieties were also under cultiva- 

 tion. Of the total area under .seedling canes, 25,500 acres, 

 or over 77 per cent,, were planted with varieties raised in the 

 Botanic Gardens at Bi-itish Guiana, while 7,198 acres, or 22 

 per cent, of the whole area, were planted with Barbados 

 seedlings. 



Manurial Experiments with Sugar-cane in the 

 Leeward Islands. 



Pamphlet 51 in the .series issued by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture contains the results of the 

 manurial experiments with sugar-cane earned on in 

 Antigua and St. Kitfs during 1906-7. 



In consequence of the conclusive results that have been 

 obtained in the experiments with plant canes, carried on 

 during the previous six years, these have now been discon- 

 tinued, and two series of experiments with ratoon canes, 

 known as the 'Old Series' and the 'New Se]-ies ' respectively, 

 are now in progress. 



The old series of experiments has been carried on for 

 seven years, each experiment having been repeated thirty- 

 seven times, ancl very fairly concordant i-e.'iults have been 

 obtained. In this series, dressings of manure similar to 

 those applied to the ratoons were, in the case of each plot, 

 given to the plant canes preceding the ratoons. The experi- 

 ments show fairly conclusively that nitrogen is the manurial 

 constituent of the greatest value to ratoon canes, and that 

 the requirements of the crop will be met by the use of from 

 2 to 2| cwt. of sulphate of amnifinia per acre, or of 2.1 to 

 3^- cwt. of nitrate of soda, given in one apjilicatiim. It 

 appears that potash is doubtfully remunerative, and if 

 used, the quantity need not excee<l 20 Bx of potash (40 lb. of 

 sulphate of potash) per acre. The application of phosphates 

 was not attended with economical results. 



These conclusions presuppose that when the land was 

 prepared for plant canes it was ade(piately manured with 



about 20 tons of good pen manure pei- acre, or its equivalent, 

 and are applicable to the average conditions of soil ancl 

 climate obtaining in the Leeward Islands. 



In the new series of experiments with ratoon canes,, 

 the artificial manures are applied to ratoons following 

 plant canes that received no artificial manures. For the year 

 1906-7, remunerative returns were obtained only in the case 

 of four experiments out of the thirty-three. The be.st result 

 was that given by the i)lot which received 60 tb. of nitrogen 

 as nitrate of soda (equal to about 380 R). of nitrate). The 

 experiments in this new series have only been in progress for 

 three seasons, and the results have been to a certain extent 

 interfered with by drought. Generally speaking, the applica 

 tion of the manures in this series has not proved i-emunera- 

 tive, but it will be necessary to continue the experiments 

 for a few years longer before any definite conclusions can be 

 drawn from the results. 



Sugar Industry in Java. 



The British Consid at Java reports that the year 

 1907 was a highly favourable one for the sugar industry 

 and that cane growers obtained very satisfactory returns. 



The area planted with sugai--cane in Java for the 1907 

 cripp was greater than usual, being 281,750 acres, as com- 

 pared with 200,810 acres planted for the 1906 crop. As the 

 result of congenial weather conditions and favourable rainfall, 

 however, the sugar return per acre proved to be the highest 

 yet obtained in the island. The total crop reached 1,144,383 

 tons, as against 1,046,691 tons yielded in 1906, while the 

 average return per acre was 4-06 tons, compared with 4'01 

 tons obtained in 1906. The number of nulls working in the 

 island, both in 1906 and in 1907, was 176. 



The Consul states that the chief factors whiidi, under 

 the [iropitious weather conditions, helped to bring about this 

 satisfactory state of affairs were the continuation of scientific 

 systematic cultivation, the careful selection of the cane based 

 ( >n the experience of past years, and the rational and frequent 

 aiiplication of fertilizers, together with the closest attention 

 to the prevention of root disease of the cane. 



The Experiment Stations of the island are continuing 

 to do good work in producing new varieties of cane which 

 not only give an increased yield of sugar, but are also more 

 impervious to the root disease. 



The trade returns of Java show an increase of over 

 200,000 tons in the sugar exports for 1907, as compared 

 with the shipments for 1906. The exports to the United 

 States increased from 192,178 tons in 1906 to 309,449 tons 

 in 1907, while the sugar sent to British India advanced from 

 111,527 tons in 1906'to 311,569 tons in 1907. The United 

 Kingdom took 12,261 tons of sugar from Java in 1907, as 

 compared with only 4,123 tons in 1906. (_)n the other hand, 

 shipments to Australia, and to various European cr>untries, 

 show a considerable decline. 



(.)n account of excessive rainfall during the early grow- 

 ing jieriod of the canes, it is stated that the 1908 crop 

 is expected to be later and less productive than that of 1907. 



Ari example of the assistance afforded to the fariiung 

 conununity of the United States by the Government Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is mentioned in a recent British C'nnsular 

 Rejiiirt. Less than ten years ago the Department spent 

 about £2,000 on the introduction into the country of the 

 cultivation of durum wheat. This variety of wheat is 

 especially suitable for growing in districts where the rainfall 

 is slight. At the present time the annual value of the durum' 

 wheat crop of the States is about £6,000,000. 



