ToL. VII. No. 163. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



227 



When Mr. H. A. Teiiipany, B.Sc , was in St. Kitt's 

 -during April and May last, in connexion with the reaping 

 -of the sugar-cane experiments there, an effort was made to 

 •organize a plan for obtaining the desired information. 

 A circular wasissued by Mr. Shepherd, Agricultural Superin- 

 tendent of St. Kitt's, acting in con j action with Mr. Tempany, 

 inviting the co-operation of planters in this project. In the 

 ■circular the de.sired object was stated, and directions were 

 given for taking average samples of juice for analy.sis. 



In all some eight estates responded to the invitation 

 A\ui\ sent .samples of juice to the laboratory for analysis; 

 these samples were representative of the average composition 

 of the juice passing into the works during one week. 



The juices were analysed and a memorandum of the 

 results was forwarded by Mr. Tempany to the senders. In 

 this memorandum were given the composition of the juice, the 

 number of gallons that would be reijuired to make 1 ton of 

 muscovado sugar, and the total weight of sugar that should 

 have been made during the week, under satisfactory working 

 •conditions, together with any other points worthy of note. 



It was found that the sucrose content of the various 

 juices examined, ranged from r58 to 1-91 ft. per gallon, the 

 purities from 8fi to 89, and the glucose ratios from 1'6 to 

 6'-j. On the whole, the juices showed a tendency towards 

 unrijjenes.?, a result, in all probability, attrilmtable to the 

 Tiusttitable weather conditions experienced during the preced- 

 ing growing season. 



Molasses as a Fertilizer for Sugar-cane Lauds. 



The i'ollowing paper on the value of molasses as 

 a fertilizer for sugar-cane lands has been sent to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture by Mr. W. P. 

 Ebbels, of Mapore, Mauritius, and is, of special inter- 

 est in connexion with the article 'The Nitrogen C3'cle 

 and Soil Organisms ' whicji appeared in the West 

 Indian Ballcfiv, Vol. VIII, p. 94. The molasses 

 which has been utilized in this way is that resulting 

 from the vacuum-pan process of sugar making in 

 central factories, and not muscovado molasses : — • 



^lolasses has for a long time been Jooked uiion as 

 a valuable fertilizer for sugar-cane lands in Mauritius. On 

 the basis of live analyses, the residt* of. which are given in 

 the Annudt. lieport of the Station Agronomiqite, for 1897, 

 it would appear that Mauritius molasses contains from 6'27 

 to 9-37 tt). of nitrogen, from 23-1I to 26'62 lb. of potash, 

 and from 0-79 to 0'88 lb. of phosphoric acid per 100 gallons. 

 The report further states : ' All the planters who use 

 molasses as manure are satisfied with the results obtained, 

 and it is astonishing that the practice is not more general.' 



The method of applying molasses varies. In some cases 

 about a litre is poured into each cane hole where the cuttings 

 are to be planted two or three months later. A .second 

 method is to apply it on the surface between the cane rows, 

 ■which are about 5 feet apart. \ third method is to make 

 a mixture composed of scum cake from the filter presses, 

 ashes from the megass furnaces, and molasses ; about half 

 a kilo, is put into each cane hole at the time of planting, 

 or in some cases, it is applied direct around the cane stool 

 instead of farmyard or chemical manure. 



It always seemed, however, that the results claimed foi- 

 the use of molasses as a fertilizer exceeded what could 

 -reasonably be expected from the plant food shown by analysis 



to be present in it, and on reading a paper ' The Nitrogen 

 Cycle and Soil Organisms ' by ilr. S. F. Ashby, H.Sc, which 

 appeared in the Wiift Indian Bulletin, Vol. VIII, No. 1, it 

 occurred to me that if the soil organism Ar:ot<i/iiifffr 

 cJiroocitccui/i, described in the course of this paper, existe<l in 

 the .soil here, it might, through the energy derived from the 

 oxidation of the sugar contained in the molasses, be enabled 

 to fix a much larger amount of atmospheric nitrogen in the 

 .soil than it would do under natural conditions. This would 

 account for the excellent results said to have been obtained. 

 I therefore got our chemist, JI. L. Fauque to go into the 

 matter, and the result of our investigations seems to point tf» 

 this being the case. 



The first thing was to ascertain if the particular organism 

 existed in the soil here. Proceeding in the manner indicated 

 we found an organism which appeared to answer the descrip- 

 tion, except that it did not take up the iodine stain well, 

 although it took up aniline blue with great intensity. How- 

 ever, as nitrogen was found to have been fixed in a fairly 

 pure culture of this bacterium, it was clear that if we had not 

 got the organism described, we had an allied variety po.ssess- 

 ing the same powers for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. 



In 1903, having a large quantity of molasses which we 

 were unable to dispose of in any other way, some of it was 

 mixed with the waste water from the factory and run on 

 a part of a field then under beans. This field was planted 

 with cane the following year and the jjart which received -the 

 molasses has always given a better yield than the rest of the 

 field which received none. Last month samples of the .soil 

 from both parts of the field were taken for analysis, and the 

 sample from the part to which molasses had beenapiilied four 

 and a half years before was found to contain ■5'72 parts of nitro- 

 gen per 1,000 of dry .soil, while that from the part whirhhad 

 not received molasses contained only 3'3() per 1,000. Cultures 

 started with these soils showed the presence '>f the 

 Azotobacter organism in large number.s, and as the field has 

 received the same treatment from end to end, thei'e is no 

 reason to suppose that the larger amount of nitrogen in the 

 portion of the field treated with molasses is due to anytliing 

 but the molasses and the work of this organism. 



With the object of establishing the connexion between 

 the organism and the sugar of the molasses, a i|uantity of 

 soil in ivhich the organism existed, ^^•as taken, and after 

 thorough mixing, tw'o .samples of 500 grammes each were 

 weighed out for experimental purjioses. Into one of these 

 a solution containing 10 grammes of sugar was introduced and 

 thoroughly mixed with it. Sufficient distilled water, free 

 from ammonia, was mixed with the other sample to bring 

 them both to about the same degree of moisture, an<l the two 

 sanqjles were ke|it under exactly similar conditions, in 

 shallow di.shes lightly covered with sheets of jiapei- so as to 

 exclude the light. Both samples were analysed fourteen 

 days later, when the sanqile into wluch the sugar had been 

 intioduced was found to contain -1:'07 parts of nitrogen per 

 1,000 of dry soil, and the other 3'91. Twenty-five days 

 later they were again analysed when the sample wliidi had 

 received the sugar showed 4 'uo parts of nitrogen pii- 1,000 

 of dry .soil, and the other 3'92 parts of nitrogen. 



It would be very interesting if these results I'ou Id l>r .lirrk- 

 ed, as they seem to indicate tliat mola.sses is a \fry valuable 

 fertilizer for soils which contain the Aioto/ntrfr/' r/ir<ini<icciiin, 

 but it is only by properly conducted experimental work that 

 the proper (]uantity to u.se and the best method of ap[>lyiTig 

 it can be determined. It would appear, however, to be 

 necessary to spread the molasses over as large an ai'ea as 

 possible and to work it into the upper layer of soil. 



