Vol. Xn. No. 300. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



349 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



NOVEMBER. 

 First Period. 

 Seasonal Notes. 



SUUAR, LIMES AND CAi'AO. 



The principal agricultural operations carried out during 

 this quarter on sugar estates will be the cultivation and 

 tnaauring of the land for the coming crop. This is done in 

 St. Kilts by the use of the heavy mould-board plough which 

 turns under all the trash left from the old cane and forms 

 a furrow in which are dug the cane holes for receiving the 

 plants. These holes also serve a useful purpose in preventing 

 soil wash during the heavy rains. About this time, green 

 dressings (usually horse beans) are planted on the centres 

 of these holes for turning in as green manure later on. 

 Supplies of cane plants will be needed, and with the central 

 factory system where the estates cannot grind, as was formerly 

 the case, the canes from which the plants are cut, some new 

 arrangement will be required .such as a nursery system, 

 lately suggested in a letter in the West India Committee 

 Circular. 



The idea that any cane is good enough for planting 

 must be entirely given up. Healthy plants of a known and 

 suitable variety should be utilized, and the cuttings must be 

 treated with Bordeaux mixture to keep out disease, to 

 stimulate germination and thereby prevent loss later on in 

 the crop in connexion with 'supplying'. 



This year the lime crop being late, there will be further 

 opportunities for observing the details of the manufacture of 

 the diflferent products. Where lime juice is shipped raw, 

 the greatest care is required in preparing a product free from 

 dirt, seeds and pulp. The limes should be washed previous 

 to milling and the juice carefully strained. Describe with 

 diagrams the new mechanical pulpers or strainers now in use. 



In preparing concentrated juice, the liquid should be 

 carefully strained and the concentration continued until the 

 hydrometer reads 1'2.50 in the Ooiliny }mce. What should 

 this give in ounces per gallon? If possible, determine the 

 amount of acid lost in the process of concentration. 



If spring shipments of fresh lime.s are desired for New 

 York, a dressing of a quick acting nitrogenous manure, 

 such as nitrate of lime will probably induce flowering. As 

 the lime fruit takes about 6ve months to mature, such 

 dressings must lie applied early. For the main crop, 

 manuring is usually carried out in .January, and orders should 

 be sent this quarter; when ordering, a guaranteed analysis of 

 each manure should be asked for. Lime planting may still 

 go on, provided the weather is favourable. If planting has 

 to be done on a large scale, a magnetic compass will be 

 found very useful in lining out. Notes should be made of 

 all fields which require drainage. The rainy weather will 

 indicate such spots. Where water lies for any length of time, 

 or where the tree* are looking yellow, or where the soil is 

 puddled, drains will prove beneficial. 



Towards the end of the quarter, the Christmas crop of 

 cacao will be ripening. In the meantime keep down all 

 suckers and remove all pods that are diseased. There are 

 two ailments of pods which should be distinguished between. 

 One is closely connected with the canker disease of the stem 



and should be carefully watched for. These diseases are 

 fungoid in origin and develop quickly in wet weather. 

 Spraying has been proved to i)e beneficial in Trinidad, and ' 

 should opportunity present itself, it would be well to 

 experiment in this direction in other places also. 



As the crop ripens, note the additional yields of fields 

 which were manured. 



Now that the hurricane season is over, attention should 

 be given to the grafting of cacao. Observation will have 

 proved the value of grafted cacao trees over seedlings, (.'are 

 must, however, be exercised in selecting the parent tree. 

 The best trees on the estate should alone be selected for 

 this purjiose. The trees must above all things be hardy, 

 capable of resisting diseases, prolific, and produce cacao of 

 good quality. 



Questions for Candidates. 



Pkeli.mi.nakv (.^>UESTI0NS. 



1. How does a chemical analysis of the soil differ frani 

 a mechanical analysis? Which is considered of greater 

 importance in practical agriculture, and why? 



2. Describe how the nitrogen in the air is made 

 available to plants (a) naturally, (b) artificially. 



Intermediate Questions. 



1. Write in the form of a diary a general but practical 

 account of the work of a lime estate for a period of twelve 

 months, taking each month separately. 



2. What advantages does the rotation of crops afford' 

 What do you consider a suitable rotation for a sugar estate? 



Final Questions. 



1. Give an account of the machinery and implements 

 on any estate you are acquainted with. What would be 

 about the total cost price of these? Does the annual outlay 

 for repairs and maintenance fall below or above the estimated 

 rate of depreciation? 



2. Write an essay (of about 500 words) on either 

 (a) the world's production of cacao or (b) the world's pro- 

 duction of cotton. 



In referring to the success which has attended AVest 

 Indian representation at the recent Canadian National 

 Exhibition, the West India Cum ii>ilteeCimdarca,\lsa,ttention 

 to the useful purpo.se served by this Department's Exhibition 

 booklet: 'The annual booklet issued by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture for distribution at these exhibitions, 

 which is entitled this year "The West Indies in Canada 1913", 

 has been revised and greatly improved in many respects, the 

 particulars now covering the whole of the West Indian 

 Colonies and also British Guiana.' 



In connexion with a note on the subject of sampling 

 cane for analysis, which appeared in the Agricultural Xews 

 for August 30, 1913, Sir Neville Lubbock writes to point 

 out that another potent factor which helps to cause a differ- 

 ence between the composition of juice in cane reaped from 

 plots and that harvested in the field in the ordinary way, is 

 that the planter or manager leaves as much of the top on the 

 cane as will be permitted by the central factory, whereas in 

 the experimental work the tops are almost entirely removed. 

 This is no doubt that the juice from the same cane with 

 a foot more top will never give the same analysis as the juica 

 from the same cane with the top foot cut off. 



