Vol. XIV. No. 354. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



37] 



more amenabl I ti case of tropical 



soils we know I both incr 



nitrification and nitrogen fixa n. Recently in the 

 Philippines it has inner 



;s is increased by m . le apj 



of ii tons of lime to the aci ill observers have 



called ;ii tention t i the importance of lime in the 



I ss. Thi mains th ird and fores! 



plants and even arable plants, can, in some circum 

 stances, thrive in the absi ai and it would 



be in ;now exactly to what extenl bacteria 



ar< n spoi ■ theii supplj ol nitrogen. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE 1914 JAVA SUGAR CROP. 



In the / October 191 5, 



is published an article by II. ( '. Prinsen Geerligs, 



I'll. D., on tlif .! ii' crop for 191 I. From the figures 



in this it appears thai notwithstanding the increased 



area planted n il h cane, the sugar prod Java ha 



llcr than in the pi pea r, a fact that 



is shown clearly by the quantit; ir'obtained pei acre, 



which in the year under review ed to 8,676 lb. 



re. The percentage of racted on LOO parts 



of cane was also lower than it has been in any previous year, 



only 9 - 28 per c 



In addition to the exceptional length of the dry monsoon 

 Mr. Geerbgs a other reasons for this 



low production of sugar. In the first place, the canes 

 planted now do not, he says, stand the drought us well as 

 did the formerly universally grown cane, the Black Cheribon. 

 This was the variety grown since 1850, which bus given the 

 most splendid return, and has greatly contributed to the 



3S of the Java cane sugar industry. It could grow and 

 give good returns in any part of the island. It was a success 



w and light soil, could stand drought and moisture 

 u ii ii i hi same ease, ripened within a year's time, and did not 



ittenif it was left standing over. This excellent cane was 

 attacked by the 'sereh' disease, and had to be abandoned 

 after \> irs "I efforts to save it. Its place was 



taken by several varieties grown from seedlings in special 

 nurseries. Millions of seedlings had to be raised and tested 

 in order to find only a few which were better than the 

 Gheribon cane, and fortunately, two varieties were secured 

 which in their combination not only replaced the old Cheribon 



but gave results which greatly surpassed the former 



This advantageous position conl i ued for some ten or 



years, but during the last fev on complaints have 



1. mi heard, every time with more emphasis, that the new 



varieties were degenerating: they dry up more rapidly than 



in former years, and die pi v, at a time when the sugar 



content et fully developed. In view of the symptoms of 



the canes stricken by this phenomenon that i to say, drying 



h,i alter the setting in of the dry monsoon -many plat 



blame the lack of rain for its occurrence. Mr. Geerligs thinks 



it would be a ■ thing if new varieties were in reserve to 



the two kinds oi canes being at present almost 



exclusively planted in .lava, in case these in their turn are 



attacked by some disease Or other. 



In the 3 1 

 nor did insect p i ordin iry ye us, but 



I from an 



of rats. 



In i d much 



I that til in the 



■ is still abo 

 and il i- c msidi red « n-th vhile 

 With 



the tei experii 



from everj o a train an 



the different mills w. i ed, v water 



ml the juices used I 

 giving i work d of the 



elements. It was foi i i I line- one of the 



mills do not do a i mi cl thej could bavi 

 spoiling the general e The m im ... a h 



detected steps n to remedy it. a i 



control of the extraction had at o faults 



were detecte I and remi dii i. which without that in 

 would ' , tined und I be detriment of the 



sugar extraction. 



The production ol lidified molasses i g every 



year. Tie- total production in 191-1 amounted to 96,281 

 while in 1913 the quantity, then the biggest on record, was 

 only 66,809 tons. The exhausted mola ses is boil 

 a vacuum pan till all the water has been evaporated, but the 

 mass is still liquid. Ii i then run into baskets lined with 

 palm mats, where it so to a hod block. This lie. 



is chiefly shipped to Calcutta, whence it is transported to 



Indian distilleries to he transformed into alcohol 



Taken as a whole, th ■ y iar KM I is said not to have I 

 a profitable one for the Java sugar industry, notwithstanding 

 the great care bestowed on every item of the agriculture., 

 manufacture, and the management. 



MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS IN BOXES. 



A writer in the New Zealand Journal <>! Agriculture 

 (Vol, XI, No. 2) calls attention to a useful method of making 

 manurial experiments by means of growing the plants in 

 wooden boxes. The i biel advantage of this method would 

 appear to be the greater area of soil that boxes allow in 

 comparison with pots, the results accordingly possessing some 

 considerable application to field conditions. In closing his 

 description of the method the writer concludes: — 



' Carefully carried out by intelligent observers, the box 

 method of testing the manurial requirements of soils, and of 

 the various crops grown upon them, should provi ol 

 considerable value. While it supplies the farmer with 

 a means of determining the mixture likely to give him the 

 best results, and thus ensures him against wasting money on 



unsuitable fertilizers, il also offers to school-teachers an- 

 ient method of demonstrating the science oi manuring. 

 1 teachers with some know ledge of the subject 

 i adopt this means of instruction, they could not only 



readily demonstrate to the -indents, in a practical manner, at 



.1 very small cost in time and money, th ve values of 



different fertilizers to the soil, 1, nt eventually, through the 

 number of soils they would be able to handle in the course of 

 a few years' instruction work, the schools might become 

 a sort of bureau of information as regards the different soils 



in their various neighbour!) Is. In a country so varied in 



its soil requirements as New Zealand, this would largely assist 

 the farmers in their effort- to increase the production of the. 

 land, and indirectly the revenue ol the Dominion. 1 



