Vol. XIV. No. :;il. 



THE ACKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



1 63 



RESULTS l\ COXNEXIOS [ill nit SUGAR-CANE FROM Till VARIETY PLOTS, W'IKKEL SPRUI1 flARVESTED 



in \o\ EMBEK L915. 



record 



•Areas too small to gii e accurate results as regards j ield 



t Apparently Barbados seedling X". L5 obtained through Antigua though no redord can be found that 

 this cane was experimented with either in Antigua or Barbados. It maj refer to A. 15, though this 

 varietj was not obtained until L909- apparently some years after the ram- was introduced into Natal. 

 I third possibilitj is that D.115 is referred to a well-known variety twelve years) ago. — Ed. A. N. 



11, 12 ami 13. The Java varieties (from Egypt).— 

 Produced very poor results, judging by the yields from the 

 small anas tested. With the exception of the variety 

 Cheribon, the yield of juice -was disappointing and the per- 

 centage of sucrose was also very low. It is, however, 

 necessary t state that the land in which they were planted 

 was very unsatisfactry in texture, and as a result of this only 

 about 30 per cent, of the plant cane germinated. All the 

 varieties are healthy in appearence, stout, and possess 

 long internodes. They ratoon well and are remarkably free 

 from adventitious roots and incipient shoots. 



14. Agaul (from Sultanpur).-- This is the only varietj 

 of the Indian cane- that showed any promise at all, but both 

 in yield ami milling qualities it lias hitherto proved to be 

 much inferior to the Demerara vari 



Manurial Experiments with I'm CaNE 



The- following abstract has been prepared from the 

 information given in the article on this subject: — 



These experiments, which have now been in progress for 

 nine years on ratoons, indicate in regard to the relative effect 

 of the different constituents, the disastrous effect of li 

 out phosphates without which the yield was little better than 



without manure at all. Without nitrogen there was even a 

 slightly greater gain than with it. The average yield from 

 a dressing of superphosphate and potash was about 2| tons 

 per acre more than that from superphosphate alor.e. These 

 conclusions are drawn from the following table: — 



GAIN OF CROP PER \' I: I. FROM MEDIUM DRESSINGS OF 



COMPLETE ANO INioMI-I.ETK MANURES (AVERAGE 



OF THE FIVE CUTTINGS). 



Complete Phosphate Nitrogen Nitrogen Phosphate 

 manure, it potash & potash & phos- only, 



only. only. phate. 



Tons It.. Tons ft). Tons lb. Tons ft). Tons ft). 



Series A. 



Series B. 



5 1.685 

 4 1,352 



.-515 

 786 



1,354 



1 569 



1 1,423 

 4 217 



3 52 

 3 583 



Average 5 518 5 1,550 1,961 2 1,820 3 317 



The relative ineffectiveness of the nitrogen is 

 remarkable in the light of West Indian experiments, 

 and can only be explained on the assumption that the- 

 soil was sufficiently supplied with this constituent 

 beforehand. 



The Supplement to the Jamaica Government Ga tte, 

 I lary 18, 1915, consists of i iort of the Agricultural 



E i y's Board c :erning Agricul n il Credit. In tie 



eral remark one of the weak points 



nexion with thi '■ 



i eping. Efforts have been made t bring about impro-i 

 miformity, but much | i « ill I"- i : 



. in ct. 



In Messrs. Lewis and Peat's Annual Report on the 

 Indigo market for 191 I, it is pointed out that the synth 

 product is entirely a matter of the percentage of indigotin, 

 while vegetable indigo contains important by products such 

 as indirubin, indigo brown, etc., most valuable i the 



dyeing and wear of cloth. The indigotin test in vegetable 

 indigo is ah indication as to the quality, but it is not an all 

 impoi t m lit feature. Man; ol i he best mai l- do not alw 

 give a relativelj high test, but practical dyers know well 

 i the intrin Lc j Indigo a prepared 



to ] po rati for it. 



