Vol. XIV. No. 332. 



THE A.GKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



BARBADOS REPORT OX THE SUGAR-CANE 

 EXPERIMENTS, 



Copies of the Report of the Barbados Department of 



olture, on Sugai - me Experiments for the season 



en 1912 and 1914, giving th results of the mamirial 



and variety experiments for that period, have been received. 



The total rainfall recorded for twelve manurial and 



experiment stations for the period under review, December 



i 112 i i May 191 I. ranges from l-".t > 86 inches, two stations 



having a total below 50, and tin above 70 inches. A 



it, which set in towards the end of December 1913, and 



: until the end of the reaping season, seriously affected 

 the returns from the experiment pints 



The results obtained from some of the manurial pints 

 ire reported to be so anomalous as to leave do doubt that a 



rbing factor has been present that has masked the true 

 results of the manuring of these plots. This disturbance is 

 ed to have been caused by the attacks of grubs of the 

 root borer (Dioprepet abbreviatus), of which insect 10,000 

 adults were caught on young sugar-canes in three adjoining 

 fields. The same insect also occurred to a greater or less 

 extent in all but three of the sixteen stations at which the 

 Variety experiments were carried on. 



In the manurial experiment- a gi aeral application was 

 i , dc.it' l'(I tons of farmyard manure to the acre, and the 

 effects of a further application of farmyard manure and of 

 • ther manures, and combinations of manures were then tested 

 in the respective plots. All tic pints which received 

 sulphate of ammonia gave an increase over those which 



ed no additional nitrogen. The most favourable 

 result from the application of nitrogen in any form was 

 obtained on the pint that received 60 lb. of nitrogen as 

 sulphate of ammonia, 15 ft. in January and 45 ft. in June. 

 Plots receiving nitrogen in the form of dried blood also 

 si '"id an increase, but this, on the whole, was not so great 

 ..- with sulphate of ammonia. The phosphate series gave 

 gative results, thus confirming previous experience with 

 i manure. The best result in the potash series followed 

 tl application of 160 ft. of sulphate of potash in January. 



Some attention was given to the important question 

 extent nf the experimental error which should be allowed 

 for in trials conducted on the plan adopted in Barbados. 

 The two middle row- of four plots of four rows each of the 

 variety B.6450 were compared for this purpose. The differ- 

 ence between the highest and the lowest amounted to 

 1,006 Hi. of saccharose per acre ( I 2 per cent. ). The differ 



between the highest and the average was <i per cent., 

 I bi tween the average and the lowest, 5 per cent. 



Coming to the section dealing with the results of the 

 variety experiments, we learn that no artificial hybrids were 

 ■ itained in 1911 and L913; but in 1912 J&ree were produced. 

 <t which one survived. So far as the trials yet extend, it 

 appear.- that none of th.- attempt- made to secure hybrids of 

 controlled parentage has resulted in producing a cane superior 

 t' the best varieties obtained in the ordinary way. 



since 1898, a total..) 63,869 '\ trietfes' have been raised 

 I seed; of this number 6,900 reached a second or third 



2,429 were undei cultivation in the season under 

 review, and 688 were reaped and analysed. 



The average yield oi plant canes ol th< varietj used as 

 a standard, the White Ti insparent, from twentj two plots in 



the black soil districts was 6,154 lb, of accl se per acre. 



The -ee. Hum B.6450 mail ins its superiority with an averagi 

 yield oi 7,776 lb. i.e. 1,622 ft. per acre better than the White 

 Tian-parent. This result i- repeated in the red soils (i b 

 plot-) with yields of 7,7 lit Hi. ami 9,703 ft., respectively, an 

 increase of 1,993 fc. A general comparison of the remaining 

 seedlings of established worth for the period under review 

 is of doubtful value, owing to the small number of plots on 



whi.-h some of them have ] n grown, but ii maj be note. I 



that the results place the well known B.l 17 (six plots), B.208 



(two plots), and l'...'!7t'i (six plots) cl to the bnti. mi ..f the 



table of eighteen varieties, and below the White Transparent. 

 In the table of -elected varieties, for the five years 1910-14 



(black soils, plant canes), the cane B.6 I "ill (eighty nine plots) 



comes first in order of yield, with 7,529 ft. of saccharose 



per acre, B.6308 (twenty four plots) second, with 7,112 lb., 

 and White Transparent fifteenth, with 5,858 ft). In the 

 corresponding table in the red soils B.6450 is first, with 

 10,083 ft. per acre, B.3922 second, with 8,553 ft., and Whit. 

 Transparent sixth, with 6,438 ft. 



The table comparing varieties on the basis of yield as 



plant canes, first ratoons, and s< ml ratoons, red soils only, 



gives the highest place to C3922 (twelve experiments), 

 with B.(i4-"iii second (twenty-two experiments.) 



The notes given in the detailed tables show extreme 

 variations even on the same estate in the prevalence of such 

 powerful factors as root disease (Marasmius), and root-borer, 

 with additional disturbances due to red rot disease, and to 

 rats. This fact, taken with the normally high experimental 

 error already mentioned, emphasizes very forcibly the danger 

 of forming conclusions except from a long series of such 

 experiments. 



An interesting feature of the report is the account 

 of an attempt made to obtain actual estate returns of 

 the results from various seedlings. Of 271 estates appeal- 

 ed to, replies were obtained from fifty-seven. Of these, 

 twenty-one were rejected for reasons not stated, leaving 

 twenty-nine from the black soil districts, and seven from 

 the red. In the first-named class, the average yield per 

 acre of plant canes, where they could be weighed, was 

 25-6 tons from B.6450 (1.079 acres), 23 tons from B.376 

 (385 acres), 23 tons from B. 147 (203 acres), and 2Q-5 tons 

 from White Transparent (68 acres). On the estates where 

 instead of weighing the canes the juice was measured, the 

 results are similar, except that B.147 (26 acres) was 

 placed below B.n76, (150 acres). The results with ratoons on 

 black soils, and for plants and ratoons on red soils are stated 

 for B.6450, B.376 and White Transparent, the order given 

 being maintained in each case. A. somewhat hazardous 

 calculation gives the increase of value, if the 30,000 acres 

 reaped annually in Barbados were planted with B.6450, ovei 

 the same area if planted with White Transparent, as 

 .£160,000. 



We note that it has been decided by the local Executive 

 that the issue of the customary pamphlet summarizing the 

 results of these experiments is t.. be discontinued. The 

 possibly related omission from the account of the manurial 

 experiment-, of the summary of results for the period since 

 these were established, robs this section of much of its 

 practical interest, while the absence of a table of contents 

 makes reference troublesome. The report, records a large 

 amount ol instructive work, and the results are worthy of 

 preset tatioi to plan'. ' most convenient anil practical 



form, 



