384 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



DtCEMBER 5," 1914. 



Peat of the former kind tends to form upon the 

 surface of non-calcareoiis sands; examples of these are 

 found in parts of England, but more extensively in 

 Germany and Holland. The methods of winning these 

 peaty moors is described in some detail; it consists in 

 removing some of the peat which may have value for 

 fuel, litter, and other purposes, and in mixing by 

 cultivation the underlj'ing sand with the peat, this 

 operation being followed by liming, and the use of 

 basic phosphate and kainit. In some cases, when the 

 peat was formed on alluvial land where the ground 

 water is alkaline, treatment with lime is ncjt necessary. 



Reference is made to the recovery of sandy and 

 gi'avelly land other than peat moors, of which large 

 areas exist in England. The method employed is 

 essentially one of green dressing coupled with liming, 

 and the use of artificial manures containing phosphate 

 and potash. 



In connexion with the winning for cultivation of 

 land deficient in lime, it is sometimes advisable to 

 employ nitrogenous manures, though usually the 

 nitrogen is supplied by the breaking down of the peat 

 under the influence of lime, or by the use of leguminous 

 plants for green dressings. In this connexion the 

 difference between sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of 

 soda is to be borne in mind. Sulphate of ammonia is 

 an acid manure, and its use involves the C(jnsumption 

 of a portion of the lime in the soil, and this may take 

 place to an extent that may retard the recover^^ of the 

 soil under treatment, unless liberal applications of lime 

 ai'e employed. The Rothamsted experiments show that 

 it is capable of inducing the formation of peat on 

 pasture lands by bringing the soil into an acid condi- 

 tion. Nitrate of soda, on the other hand, may be 

 regarded as an alkaline manure, and thus preferable 

 for use in attempts to recover soils very deficient in 

 lime, though it is to be remembered that in the absence 

 of a sufficiency of lime it is capable of producing a 

 sticky, untractable condition in clay soils, as a result of 

 the destruction of the flocculent condition of the clay. 



Mr. Hall's concluding remarks are interesting: 

 'What I should like in conclusion once more to empha- 

 size is, that the reclamation of heath and peat-land of 

 which I have been speaking — reclamation that in the 

 pjist could only be imperfectly effected at a gieat and 

 possibly unremunerative expense of human labour- 

 has now become feasible through the application of 

 science — the knowledge of the functions of fertilizers, 

 industrial developments which have given us basic slag 

 and potash salts, the knowledge of the fertility that 

 •can bo gained by the gi'owth of leguminous plants. 



From beginning to end the process of reclamation of 

 moor and heath, as we see it in progress in North- 

 western Europe, is stamped as the product of science 

 and investigation.' 



Looking back over the pvocL'sses of land reclama- 

 tion, it would seem that they all find application in 

 tropical and in West Indian methods of agi-icultiu-e. 



Indeed the suggestion may perhaps be made that, 

 fi'om the intensit}" of biological activity in and upon 

 the soil in the Tropics, many of the methods of cultiva- 

 tion have to partake ,of the nature of those reviewed by 

 Mr. Hall as applicable to the work of winning soil for 

 cultivation. The rapid oxidation of vegetable matter 

 has to be met by constant renewals by pen manure and 

 green dressings: much of the area under cultivation in 

 the West Indies is extremely poor in lime, while prob- 

 lems arising from rainfall, both in excess and defect, 

 are matters of everyday consideration. All that 

 Mr. Hall has said has therefore immediate application 

 here: his remarks not onh- contain suggestions for 

 everyday application, but they point to problems as 

 yet not completely investigated, some of which have 

 direct bearing on West Indian conditions. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE DETERIORATION OF SUGARS ON 

 STORAGE. 



In view of the fact that there have been complaints of 

 the deterioration of sugars in the West Indies, the following 

 brief abstract may be of interest to readers of the Agriciiltu- 

 ral Neios. 



The present abstract is of a Rulletin of the Hawaiian 

 Sugar Planters' Association, No. 24, of the Division of 

 Agriculture and Chemistry, under the title which appears 

 above. 



The question of the deterioration of sugars on storage is 

 one that has been much studied in both the cane and beet 

 sugar industry. In order to obtain information of the causes 

 of deterioration, the authors of the Bulletin, Messrs. Noel 

 Deer and R. S. Norris, procured sugars of known origin with 

 certain information as to details of manufacture. 



These samples of sugar were analyzed on their receipt, 

 and subsequently after intervals of 60 days and 120 days. 

 The results of these analyses showed that in the case of 

 certain sugars the polarization was lower after 120 days of 

 storing, although in some of them there was no falling oflf in 

 the first 60 days of that time. 



There were fourteen samples in this lot: the average 

 moisture — on their receipt — was 1'44 per cent., the highest 

 having a moisture percentage of 2"42 and the lowest 0'80 

 per cent. 



In the case of twenty-seven other samples the polarization 

 did not diminish, but in most cases increased slightly. The 

 average moisture content for this lot of twenty-seven samples 

 was 1'02 per cent., the highest being 2-34 and the lowest 

 0'41 per cent. 



