Vol. VIII. No. 187. 



THE AGRICULTURAL XKWS. 



195 



following are the yields in question :- 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Varieties of Sugar-cane in British Guiana. 



At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture of 

 British Guiana held in May last, Professor Harrison 

 brought forward particulars of the acreages under 

 cultivation with different crops in the colony. The 

 total area planted with economic crops for the season 

 1908-9 was 69,619 acres, as against 56,327 acres in 

 1907-S. Sugar-cane occupied 38 972 acres on January 1 

 of the present year. The following table shows the 

 number of estates on which the chief kinds of cane 

 were planted, and , the acreage occupied in every 

 case : — 



In addition to the above, which form the chief kinds of 

 cane grown in Briti.sh Guiana, there were in 1908-9 about 

 Hfty-six other varieties planted over areas of from 400 acres 

 downwards. 



A second return brought forward showed the 

 averao'e crop yield given in the past season on a number 

 of estates by the canes mentioned above, together with 

 some others also planted fairly extensively. This 

 return is as follows : — 



In connexion v^ith. this table, Professor Harrison pointed 

 out that when the yields given by the Bourbon cane were 

 considered for a number of years back, it was found that 

 these yields were almost always about IJ tons per acre, 

 although they might vary somewhat more or less. 



A third return laid before the meeting showed 

 the average yields given by a number of canes 

 cultivated on estates over areas of not less than 40 

 acres. In making an estimate on this basis, the very 

 high or very low results often obtained with small plot 

 ■experiments are not taken into consideration. The 



Sugar Industry in the Hawaiian Islands. 



Some statistical particulars relating to the 

 condition and progress of the Hawaiian sugar industry 

 are included in the report of the Commissioners of 

 Agriculture and Forestry for the Territorj-, for the 

 year ended December 31, 1908. 



From the data given it is seen that the output of sugar 

 from the four islands increased from 282,807 .short tons in 

 1899, to 521,123 short tons in 1908. At pre.sent, therefore, 

 the Hawaiian sugar crop is rather more than twice as great 

 as that of the British West Indies and British Ouiana. 

 There has been a contiiuious advance throughout the period 

 mentioned, but the record increase made in any one year 

 was that which took place in the year 1907-8. In 1907 the 

 crop return was 440,017 short ton.s, so that the 1908 output' 

 showed an advance of over 80,000 tons upon this. 



The total area of the Hawaiian Islands is 4,127,360' 

 acres. Of this amount, 200,000 acres are under cultivation 

 in sugar, of ^^•hich about 105,000 acres are irrigated, and 

 95,000 acres unirrigated. 



The average yield of sugar for all the plantations in 

 1906 "was as high as 8,945 Bx per acre, or about 41 .short 

 ton.s. The average return from the irrigated plantations 

 was 11,526 lb., or 5 J short tons, and the average of the 

 unirrigated plantations was 6,140 lb., or a trifle over 3 .short 

 tons per acre. 



It must be borne in mind that in the Hawaiian Islands 

 a period of from eighteen to thirty months elapses between, 

 planting the sugar-canes and reaping the crop. As a result of 

 this, it will be noted that the number of acres cultivated for 

 the crop of any particular year does not represent the total 

 area planted. In 1906, for instance, 96,228 acres were- 

 cultivated and produced 430,368 tons. 



A little over •'i;2,000,000 is expended every year for 

 manures for the cane crop. This represents an average of 

 about •'i?4'65 for each ton of sugar produced, and §22'20 per 

 acre for the crop. 



On the irrigated plantations about 10,000 gallons of 

 water are applied jjer day to every acre of land. A vast 

 amount of money has been spent on irrigation works in the 

 Hawaiian Islands, the cost of the irrigation systems of the- 

 several plantations having reached ijll, 069,804 up to- 

 December 1906. 



A Recent Number of the Louisiana Planter and 

 iSniiar Manufdcturcr contains a note to the effect that a large 

 sugar factory is about to be erected in Florida. The canes for 

 this factory will be grown on land brought in cultivation for 

 this purpose — a further extension of the cane-growing area in 

 the United States. 



