Vol. VII. No. 171. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



355 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Sugar-cane Cultivation in Cuba. 



Professor F. S. Earle, Director of the Cuban Agri- 

 ■ciiltunil Experiment Station, in his book 'Southern 



Agriculture, ' a notice of which appears on page of 



this issue, deals .at considerable length with the fsystenis 

 of cane cultivation wb.ich are adopted in ilifferent coun- 

 tries. Id reference to Cuba it is jiointed out that 

 planters are passing through a transition peri(jd in 

 regard to the methods of cultivation practised. An 

 account is given of the system recommended by the 

 Experiment Station to cane cultivators in the island, 

 n summary of which may be of interest. 



Tliis system is an iiiiprovement upon that ^vJiich lias long 

 l)een in use by Culiau irrowors, in that it advm-ates a better 

 preparation of the land, thr growth of a legnniinons ci'op 

 before planting the canes, and the intelligent use of cDinnier- 

 ^ial fertilizers. 



The land which is to be planted v.ith cane in Oi timber 

 iir November should lie ))loughed about nine months previouslv 

 (February or March), and a. legnminousici-op, such as velvet 

 lieans, sown in Ajjril or May. .Vbout August this croj) should 

 be ploughed under, and the land l.'arrowed two or three times 

 with the disc harrow. When the canes are to be pla^teil, it is 

 recommended that deep lui-rows, at distances of ab'iut 7 feet 

 from each other, be opened iiy a double niould-ljoard plough, 

 and a complete manure of artificials (where necessary) 

 distributed at the bottom of the furrows previous to planting. 

 The cans used for planting purjioses should be selected from 

 vigorous plant canes or iirst ratoons, and the pieces .set 

 horizontally in a continuous row at the bottom of the furrows. 

 If the soil is moist they need not be covered to a dejrth of 

 more than 3 inches, but if dry, a dejith of 6 inches of soil is 

 recommended. 



Harrowing takes pfice just as the shoots are peeping 

 through the ground, the harrows being drawn in the 

 same direction as the rows run. Tlfts operation greatly 

 ■encourages early growth. Cultivating or hoeing begins when 

 the idants are well up; this is usually done in Cuba with 

 a horse cultivator, and the hand hoe is needed oidv f^r remov- 

 ing weeds and loosening the soil between the plants in the 

 rows. It is recommended that the o|icration be repeated 

 frequentl)' in the early months of the year in order to keep down 

 weeds, and to maintain a. surface mulch of loose s<iil. in 

 April, or early in May, it is advised to sow cowpcas laoadcast 

 fx'tweeu the rows of sugar cane, coveiing tliem afterwards 

 with the horse-cultivator. 



The above method f>f eultivation is specially ailaptc<l for 

 lanils which have good natural drainage, but on land tleticient 

 in this respect, the system .should be modified, and the land 

 ridged up around the canes, by means of disc cultivators. 



In Cuba, ratoon crop.s of sugar-cane are produi-ed foi' 

 .several years on the same land, and jirovision must be made 

 for maintaining the soil in good condition and keeping uji 

 the .supply of plant food. The methods devised by the 

 (ifHcials at the Cuban E.vperiment Station for this iJur|jose is 

 as follows : as soon as the cane is cut, a horse rake is drawn 



across the riws, and worked so that the trash from the first 

 ' middle' (i.e., the space between two rows of cane) is pulled 

 on to the second, and that from the third nuddle on to the 

 tourth. In this way the spaces between the rows across the 

 field are alternately bared or double-tiashed. The cleared 

 ' middles ' are now jiloughed, the .soil I)eing turned away from 

 the cane row.s, and the last furrow runs close up to the cane so 

 that artificial manui-es can be applied around the roots, 

 if necessary. The soil is then thrown back by a cultivator, 

 and is kept well tilled by regular cultivations until the 

 beginning of the rainy season, when the ratoons have growa 

 tt) a good height. At this time' the cultivated middle .spaces 

 are sown with cowpeas. 



The alternate spaces which have been double-tra.shed are 

 so thickly and heavily .covered that practically no grass or 

 weeds can come through, and these portions receive no further 

 attention dui-ing the season. 



It will be .seen that with this .system of cultivation the 

 ratoon cane crop is growing under excellent cultural condi- 

 tions, for one side of each row is thoroughly cultivated, while 

 the other is i..rotccted by a heavy nnilcli nf trash, wdiich 

 serves to retain moist.ire. In the following year, with the 

 second ratoon crop, the treatment of the middles is reversed, 

 the spaces on wdiii'h the cowiieas were cultivated in the 

 previous year being doubly trashed, and vice versa. In this 

 way the soil all over the field is thoroughly aerated and 

 pulverized once in every two years. 



Barbados Sugar Industry Agricultural Bank. 



The Auditor of the Sugar Industry Agricultural 

 Bank at B.arbados has lately published his first report 

 on the working of the institution. This report covers 

 the thirteen months ending May ol, l!)OrS. Under the 

 Agricultural Bank Act, the agricultural year is defined 

 as beginning on .June I and ending on May 31. As 

 the Bank was started on Ma}' 1, 1907, it wa.s decided 

 tor the sake of convenience that the books should not be 

 closed on April SO, but that the first ' year ' of working 

 should be extended to thirteen months. 



The accompanying particulars are taken from 

 a review of the Auditor's report, which appeared in the 

 Barbados Afjrirnlfunil Reporter of October 1(3: — 



On May 1, 1907, there was transferred, from the Com- 

 missioners umler the Plantations-in-.Md Act, to the members 

 of the Bank, the sum of £9G,360 .5.1. ^d. This included the 

 Imperial Free (irant of £80,000, with accumulated profits 

 amounting to £16,3()0 .D.v. (S(/. The total sum was made up 

 of £76,.'J20 O.t. lid. representing loans due from 1.53 j)lanta- 

 tions against the crops of the years 1903-7, and there was in 

 the Colonial Bank the sum of £19,840 ."».<. 0.'/^. l>uring the 

 [leriod under review loans to the extent of £97,692 18x. "id. 

 were made to 93 plantations. The interest ainfiunted to 

 £3,645 17.S. 8rf., and the expen.ses to £1.339 lO.i. 11a. The 

 net income for the pei'iod is therefore the sum of £'2,3O0 iSx. 9(/. 

 If this net income be added to the accumulated profits as 

 at May 1, 1907 — i.e., £16,360 5s. 8r/.--thc total accumu- 

 lated profits to May 31, 1908, stand at £is,666 12.s. M. 

 Add to this sum the amount of the Imperial Free Grant of 

 £80,000 and there appears a fund .at May 31, 1908, of 

 i;98,666 12.S-. 5</. This total amount w made up of 

 £27,948 2.S-. 11.','/. due from plantations, as loans again.st 

 <-rops ; £50,000 in the Colonial Bank at interest and 

 £20,718 9.S. 51,'/. on opoi account. 



