274 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



\i ..i st 28, 1915. 



Lime trees the cultivation of which is tted 



principally with Di often damaged by 



wind. When th in the soil 



by wind or blown rid judgment is 



required, otherw isi - and moi 



may be wasted m raise and prop trees 



which can never again obtain a firm hold on 

 the soil. Such trees thai are !•< ind lie 



r at an angle, should be prompt! tit back 



in uprighl position and supported by props. With 

 trees thai arc lying on the grotad, bhe planter's atti- 

 tude should be a wait in- mii, ■ The trees whose roots 

 still'have a firm hold of the soil will in the course ol 

 a few weeks send oul vigorous shoots i i he base 



of the trunk. In the course of a few months when 

 the i attained a considerable height, il will 



^e time to remove the branches of the original tree 

 which are touching the ground. Thus in a compar- 

 ativeh shorl time the tree is renovated. The fallen 

 trees with roots badlj displaced make but feeble efforts 



to grow, and these are best utilized for cord-w I, and 



their places filled with healthy Seedlings. 



Turning to a consideration of the c pit is 



worthy ofnoteinthe present connexion thai colonies con- 

 taining the largest areas under this cultivation, namely, 

 Trinidad and Grenada, do nol lie in the track of gales 

 •and hurricanes. Nevertheless cacao is very susceptible 

 even bo comparatively light winds, and where branches 

 broken bhe limbs should be carefully pruned and 

 treated with resin-petroleum or sonic other form of 

 wound-dressing. This treatment applies generally to 

 .-all arboraceous crops and not only to cacao. 



The cases of sugar-cane and cotton in regard to 

 storm damage are by nature of a different order. 

 .Sugarcane, unless the storm is very intense, seldom 



gets i e than 'laid' and will continue to grow, 



although later on its procumbent position must increase 

 the est of harvesting. Much depends upon the 

 ripeness of the crops at the time of the disturbance. 

 The later the storm the greater the damage. With 

 •cotton tl i bs are c it'ti ii more disastrous. A strong 



wind will defoliate the plants while a gale or 

 hurricane may mean complete destruction. In cases 

 where the trees gel blown ovi t at a bime when the soil 

 is in a saturated condition, it may be possible to press 

 the roots back into position by means ol the feet, but 

 with all crops where there has been a sen,, us rupture at 

 the root centre there isvery little hope of satisfactory 



ery. 



In conclusion it will be evident in a general way 



inflicted on i rops 

 by hurricanes is irreparable, though b} no means 



ely s,,. To lessen bhe financial loss caused by 

 occasio plainer will in many 



no doubl have had recourse to a scheme ol' insurance. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



CUBAN SUGAR FACTORY RESULTS. 



A ■_ i attention is given in a recent issue ,,t the 



Louisiana Planter (July 31, 1915) to progress in the Cuban 



i industry. One article compares the sugar factory 

 results in Cuba and Java, from which the following is 



acted: — 



'A study of the tal> le shows thai the various factories 

 considered by Mr. Hall, l>y their dytical work 



demonstrated that the su cent of the canes in Cuba 



for the crop of 1915 reached 13*08 per cent., as against Java 

 11-91 per cent, for 1914, and 1271 for L911. From the 

 runes (.'ill,., extracted ll"78 per cent, of sug I Java's 



10'77 and 11'52 per rent, for the two years, respectively. 



'In the third item, the careful working of the Dutch 

 sugar planters in Java shows a slight gain on their part. 

 The data given show the Cuban cane to contain the most 

 sucrose, but of the sucrose contained in the cane the Cubans 

 secured but 90 - 07 per cent., while Java secured 90'43 and 

 90'60 per cent, for the two years, respectively. 



•Another item of s,,me importance, especially from a fuel 



point of view, is the fact thai the fibre in the I luban c is is 



slightly under 1 1 per cent., or to be more exact, is lost; 

 per cent., while Java reports ll'Gl and 12 - 32 per cent. 



'The direct extraction by the mill of the contained juice 

 in Cuba is rated at 76'(il per cent, and the sugar lost in the 

 bagasse fusel upon the weight of the sugar-cane is estimated 

 at Tl'9 per cent, in Cuba and at II t and 11'.' p,i cent, in 

 Java, thus indicating the final loss of sugar in the bagasse as 

 slightly less in Java than in Cuba. On the other hand, the 



loss of sugar in the filter press cake is rated in Cuba at 

 0'08 per cent, as against tt'l-'! percent, and O'Kt percent. 

 in Java. 



'Now ,■ 'ines a striking feature as to the density of the 

 juice which in Cuba registers 19 06, against Java l"> 76 and 

 16 "01 per cent, total solids. Again, a single polarization of 



the juice stands for Cuba at 1G27 and for Java at 12*67 and 

 13'54; a very striking difference, which leads us to wonder 

 whether the Java figures of polarization for those years are 

 correct, or whether ur Dot the Cuban figures apply to 

 undiluted juices and the Java figures to juices that are 



diluted. The purity of the Cuban juices is reported at 



85*36, against Java's 80*39 and 84*57 per cent., a notable 

 difference in favour of ( !uba 



In spite of the foregoing, the Louisiana Planter 

 advocates in an editorial the need for more organized 



experiment station work in Cuba for the good ,,f th t > industry 



as a whole. 



'The Cuban Government oughl to be in a position to 



i« ml at least ■-' I a \e:n perin ent Si ition work 



in connexion with its sugar industry. There is no venture 

 that the Cuban Government could nuke thai would so 

 quickly bring ample remuneration for an\ sacrifice that the 

 ( Jovernn ;h( make 



