Vol. XI V. No. 333. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



:> critical spirit. It ma} well be urged, howi 

 that the success that is attending some ventures 

 in this direction, and the changes thai have taken 

 place in no nt Mars, both in the knowledge that 

 has been acquired, and in the machinery thai maj 

 be employed, maj put matters in a more favourable 

 light, and render il desirable to reinvestigate the 

 position. In this connexion it may be added thai 

 the introduction of improved and efficienl machines, 

 capable of cleaning the fibre without the aid of water, 

 and the introduction of "il engines as a sourc 



power to drive them, have give w aspects to the 



question. 



As longas the products of a districl are remuner- 

 ative, the inherent conservatism of producers militates 

 against any changes being effected. But when economic 

 pressure is felt, achange isverj often necessary. Hence 

 it is well for planters at this time to look ahead. 

 Changes of a veryfai reaching character in theproducts 

 ut the Tropics may occur in the near future. There 

 are some striking remarks in this connexion in a book 

 on the coco-nut, recently reviewed in the Agricultural 

 Kcivs. First, in the introductory chapter, the author, 

 Dr. E. B. Copeland, gives his opinion that the future of 

 coco-nut raising is .safe, and that he considers that the 

 business is certain to continue for a term of decades 

 to pay large profits. And secondly, in discussing the 

 by-products of a coco-nut plantation, he remarks: 'there 

 is oo apparent reason why the Tropics should not 

 develop a business in pork, lard, etc., the importance of 

 which will be in some proportion to theease with which 

 the feed of the hogs can be raised. I am satisfied,' he 

 writes, 'that it is possible to raise hogs more cheaply in 

 the Tropics than in any temperate country, and there- 

 fore expect to see the day when such products as pork 

 as articles of commerce, shall reverse their present 

 direction of movement.' The idea of profitably rais- 

 ing supplies of meat, including beefj even for export- 

 may therefore be worth consideration in some of 

 these West Indian islands. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE BURNING OF CANE TRASH. 



The advisability of burning the trash left on the Held 

 after harvesting cane was the subject of correspondence 

 a few years ago between agricultural experts in Louisiana 

 ami the officials of the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies. As is well known, the almost universal 



custom in tlic W'e-i Indies is to lea 91 of the trash on 



the field, and to plough it in subseqi h was maintained 



bj the Imperial Departmi at that th pi tctiee was be 1 suited 

 to Wesl Indian conditions on the ground that no practical 



lessening ol insect attack was found to result from burning, 



and that this practice can ed the loss of the largi ai a\ 



humus obtainable from the buried trash, which was of the 

 gre itesl value to 1 he soil. 



From an article on the subject in the Louisiana /'/'inter, 

 December 19, 1914, by T. E. Holloway, of the Bureau 

 Entomology ol the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 it won LI appear thai the I. >uisiana cane growers are beginning 

 to doubt the wisdom ol burning the trash. The writer 

 gives, as the reason for this practice, the belief that in 



this iner the ravages of the moth borer especially, u 



largely checked. On the ild seem thai 



the parasite, which kills the eggs of the borei pa the 

 winter in the trash on the fields: thus burning the trash 

 ds to destroy this useful parasite. Experiments have been 

 conducted by the writer of the article with a view of compar- 

 ing results obtained as to freedom from borer attacks by tin- 

 two methods. The canes on the experiment plots were 

 reaped November 2 to 5, 191 t, with the result thai on 

 the plot where the trash had been burned as usual. 

 the infestation of canes by borer was nearly s I percent., 

 while where the trash had been left On the field in the 

 winter, and ploughed under in the spring, the infesta- 

 tion was only about 46 per cent. On another plantation, 

 where similar experiments had been undertaken, the 

 manager has determined to treat his whole estate in 

 this manner this year. A like resolve is expressed from 

 a plantation in Texas where the same trials had been made. 

 The writer concludes: 'We find that ploughing under the 

 cane trash in the spring has in every case reduced the number 

 of canes bored. The injury due to the borer being reduced, 

 it follows that more sugar is obtained, and more money 

 secured for the crop.' 



Perhaps the chief advantage which accrues to the West 

 Indian plantation by leaving the trash on the ground is that 

 it forms, when thickly spread over the field, a useful mulch 

 helping to retain the moisture in the soil, and to keep down 

 the growth of grass and weeds. This aspect of the question 

 would not appeal so much to the planter in Louisiana, who 

 leaves the trash on the field in winter; but the great advan- 

 tage to him of ploughing it under in the spring is the 

 addition to the soil of a large amount of organic matter 

 which improves its condition. 



THE DUTCH STANDARD. 



In recent numbers of the Agricultural News (see 

 Vol. XIII, p. 407, and Vol. XIV, p. 3) reference has 

 been made to the Dutch Standard of colour as a 

 basis for fixing the rates of import duties on sugar 

 in Canada. 



The following extract from Dr. H. C. Prinsen 

 Geerligs's book, Cane Sugar, should be of interest as 

 ilitining what the Dutch Standard really is: — 



The Dutch Standard (D.S.) consists of a series of samples 

 of cane sugar, ranging from a very dark No. 7 to an almost 

 white product No. 25. They are prepared even- year by two- 

 firms in Holland under the supervision of the Netherlands 

 Trading Society in sealed sample bottles, which are sent to 

 the various merchants and Customs depdts. As these grai 

 serve as standards for the drfferenl classes of sugar on which 

 taxes are levied, it is important thai sugar mercl ould 



know exactly to which .lass the sugar belongs which they 

 want to import; and, therefore, the sets of samples comprising 

 the Dutch Standard are daily used for comparison in many 

 countries which export rain- sugar. 



