Vol. XIV. No. 343. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 





g ive aboul 3,400 lb. i nci 'I with 



4,990 It', of sucrose per acn foi I! 1 596 as a plant i 



Another satisfactory ratoon cane in intagua, as shown bj 

 1: -t year's figures, is B. 1 528. 



I ' i ■ ents in S Kitts it will !»■ seen 



that during tin- season urn [em thi leading c ine was 



I >. 109; i! ■_■ i ve an a vet - 80 E>. ol 



40"7 tons of cane pei acre. During successivi this 



variety has gradually come to the front, and appears worth} 

 of careful and extended trial, as well suited ti> St. Kitts 



conditions. I . >nd cai tli list is 1 1. 11<> which 



may al eminently suited for St. Kitts, 



whilst it i- of interest to record thai the third cane on the 



i is the locallj raised seedling A. 2. Other varieties which 



ntinue to show pr ise are [3.316, and B.254. It is 



i bserved thai B. 1753 bas shown a gradual decline from the 

 high position which ii occupied a few years ago. 



In regard to ratoon canes it St.Kitts, 1>. 109 again 



t kes the lead, yielding 6,510 lb. ol sucrose and 29 - 3 tuns of 



m pei ici Second on the list is A. % and B 254, Seal} 



Seedling and B' 376 are third, fourth and fifth, respectively. 



While considering the subject ol cane varieties it will be 



i mvenient to make reference here to the section .it the end of 



the report on the ana under cultivation in different varieties. 



i in* n ting table shows that in Antigua since 1907 there 



been a gradual increase from 21"4,to 64 - l in the per- 



■ ntage of total ana under varieties Other than White 



Transparent and Bourbon. Nevertheless White Transparent 



I is not been easily displaced, and as a matter of fact occupies 



m a at the present time in Antigua. In St. Kitts 



this variety is also extensively cultivated, but the area under 



it is slight!} exceeded by that planted in 1!. 147. In 



Antigua, Scaly Seedling e es next to White Transparent, 



while noteworthy increases in area in this island have 

 occurred in the case of Ii. 1596, B, 6450 and B. 3412. In 

 St. Kitts considerable increase Las occurred in the case of 

 I). 109, though the largest increase is put down to 'Mixed 

 Varieties'. It is unfortunate that such an indefinite form 

 of nomenclature is necessary. Decreases of some magnitude 

 are seen in St. Kitts in the caseoi B. 1 7~>3, 1). 116, and B. 109. 



MANURIAL EXPERIMENTS. 



The mammal experiments during the season under 

 review contain a feature of fresh interest, namely, manurial 

 experiments with plant canes. Readers who have followed 

 sugar cane experiments in the Leeward Islands during past 

 years will know that the manurial experiments with plant canes 

 were discontinued in 1907, when it was held to have been 

 adequately demonstrated for the Leeward Islands that a proper 

 supply of pen manure is sufficient for the needs of 

 plant canes and that the additional application of artificial 

 fertilizers is not remunerative. The reason for restarting 



the experiments rests in the circumstance that an adequate 



supply of pen manure is not always available and it is there 

 e desirable to find out what coi bination of fertilizers is 

 Lest calculate, I to avert the losses in fertility in cases where 

 this happens. The result ol the first year's trials are decid 

 edly interesting and instructive, but it will require to be 

 supplemented by the results oi subsequent years before 

 permanent conclusions i n irrived at. Subject to this 



i irvation, the results up to the present indicate that in the 

 absence of a dressing of pen manure, applications of artificial 

 manures are of benefit, and that such applications should 



contain ad imountsof nitn tashand phosphates. 



To -li"\\ the extei ''t; 1 benefit bi expected, we niaj give 



the result obtained in : : experiments Nos 5, 11 and 20. 



"I pel Hire at the 1 



produced an increa -•■ in \ i Id of 7 3 i re; in 



LVos. 5, 1 I ami l'ii the application of <'><»ll>. of nitrogen as sul 



ol ami , ' i n it a 101b. oi phosphoric 



icid lag mil 601b. of potash as sulphate has pro 



duced ,,n ;i verage tm i if >, ield am- iunf ing t>, 7-0 • 



re, and pi iunt mil 1 , to 2 I s. OJrf. when - 



are valued at LOs. I0t/. per ton, and 58s. §\d when canes are 



valued at 15«. lOd pei I m. This ca learlj shows that it 



is possible to substitute profitably artificial manures foi pei 



e; but at thesame time it must be remembered that 

 a supply of humus is always nei ad that if pen manure 



cannot l,e obtained in fair quantities, resort must he ha I o 

 green dressings or other forms "f organic matter. 



Section 2 of Pari II in this report deals with the old 

 series of manurial experiments with ratoon canes. A genera] 

 survey of the results shows that nitrogenous manures have 

 in all cases led to increased yields. Although the addition 

 of potash ami phosphate induces a greater return, the 

 increases experienced are nol as remunerative as when 

 nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia are used alone, (in 



the whole, the results indicate again that, in the ca ol 



ratoon canes, the most satisfactory uiaiiurial application is 

 in the form of single doses of quick acting nitrogenous 

 manure conveying nitrogen at the rate of 4( 1 lb. per acre,, 

 and applied at an early itage in the growth of the cane. 

 In relatibn.to theirecently introduced nitrogenous manures, 

 nitrolim and nitrate of lime, it has been shown that nitrolim 

 is ineffective as a manure when applied to ratoon canes, but 

 that nitrate of lime possesses a value nearly equal to that 

 of sulphate of ammonia. The effect of small dressings of 

 lime has been negative, but when larger dressings of mail 

 have been given, benefit has been derived, especially in the 

 case of heavy non-calcareous soils. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., Imperial Commissions 

 of Agriculture for the West Indies, returned to Barba- 

 dos by the S.S. 'Guiana' on June 9 after having 

 made a lengthy tour occupying nearly five weeks in 

 the Northern Islands. The object of the visits to the 

 different islands was to discuss with the Governments 

 and local planters various agricultural topics, parti- 

 cularly in regard to the central factory question and 

 tin- cultivation of corn and other food crops. The 

 longesl visit was paid to Dominica where the Commis- 

 sioner spent eleven days visiting the Botanic < Sardens 

 and various estates. In St. Kitts and in Nevis nine 

 days were spent, while in passing- down the islands 

 a short visit was made to the French island of Guade- 

 loupe. Two visits were made to Antigua occupying 

 altogether five days, and on the return to Barbados 

 a shorl time was spent at St. Lucia. The Commissioner 

 returned with Mr. W. Nowell, Mycologist to the Depart- 

 ment who has spent several weeks in the interior of 



I loinimea invest igat ing the red root disease of I s 



the cause and extent of which have h □ itisfactorilj 

 determin id 



