Vol. IX. \o. 209. 



THK AUKIOULTUIIAL XKVVS. 



131 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



SESULING SUGAR-CANES 

 LOUISIANA. 



IN 



The fulli>\viii|T particulars of ihe wnrk of olitaiiiino 

 foe<llin<; canes tliar, had lieen iloiie in Louisiana, up to 

 the eml of l!j08, are taken from an acc-ount. given by 

 the Director of ilie Kxj)erinient Stations of the Louisi- 

 ana State University, in Vol. V of the report.s issued 

 by the American Breeders' Association : — 



Shortly after the Louisiana sugar station was established, 

 Harrison and Hovell succeeded in germinating cane seeds in 

 the West India Islands. Reports of their work have been 

 given before this a.ssociation. C'uttingswere obtained from all 

 the promising variations secured by these two botanists, and 

 plantings were made at the Louisiana sugar station at \ew 

 C)rleans. Two of the seedlings will be referied to hiter. 



The success attained in germinating the seeds encouraged 

 Dr. Stubbs to try to germinate cane seed, with tlie liope that 

 a seedling would be obtained that would be very fully acclim- 

 atized to Louisiana conditions. These efforts were unifornilv 

 unsuccessful. After a number of failures in an effort to 

 germinate seed, I»r. Stubbs concluded that possibly the seeds 

 were too old, or liad been damaged by conditions under which 

 they were transported from the point of origin to Louisiana. 

 So he began trying to |)roduce a mature cane tiiat wt.uld 

 tassel and make seed, by protecting the canes during the 

 winter — thus giving them an extended period of growth. 



With the co-operation of the Audubon i'ark C'ommis.-ion, 

 a considerable quantity of cane was grown in the horticultural 

 hall and protected from the fluctuations of the season, and 

 thereby kept growing continuously. These canes grew for 

 several yciirs, and became so tall that they had to be artific- 

 ially propped up, but they never came intn flower. 



To return to the production of seedlings, the Loui.-<iana 

 station took up the subject again in 1907, ami secured the 

 germination of a few seeds. 



In the meanwhile, however, attention had been turned 

 to the arrows or tassels of the cane stalk, and about lt<!<7 

 Harrison and Hovell, in Demerara, succee<led in growing 

 plants from the seed of the cane which had been hitherto 

 thought unfertile. This was the beginning of a great work, 

 that has since meant much to the industry. In these seedlings 

 there is an e.xtrenie variation in size, colour, s jgar cfiiitent 

 and general habits of growth. Out of a thousand seedlings, 

 there will lie only a few that will show properties su|>erior to 

 the mother cane. Among the first canes, propagated in 

 this manner, which obtained prominence were the Demerara 7-t 

 and Demerara 95 of Messrs. Harrison and Bovell. The-'^e 

 canes are grown extensively in Demerara, and have proved, 

 on introduction to Louisiana, to be especially fitted for the 

 short growing season, where an early maturing cane is neces- 

 sary. The acreage of the D. 7-4, particularlj-, is being 

 extensively increased, and the cane is thought of very highly 

 by most of the planters of the State. Some planters have 

 observed that the fact of having a large acreage in thi> cane 

 has meant, in certain adverse season.s, the difference of 

 a profit or loss on the crop. 



It was not until 1907 that we were able to germinate 

 cane seed. Tliis was the first time that cane plants were 

 produced from seed without the tropics. 



In the first year the growth is always dwarfed and the 

 sugar content low, and the plants present no indication 

 whatever as to what they will ultimately do. These are 

 harvested, and the entire length of the stalk is j)lanted, as 



is ordinarily ])ractisiil in the indu.-try. From these, full sized 

 canes are produced, and it i.- interesting to no'.e the wide 

 variation in colour, size, sucrose content and manner of 

 growth. 



There is enough of each cane the second year for analysis, 

 and some idea can he got as to which are the more desirable 

 of the seedlings. The third year's results must be awaited, 

 however, for conclusive evidence and data as to tonnage. 



In 1907, the first year of .seedling propagation in 

 Louisiana, eighty-five [ilanis were produced. These came fr<mi 

 the seed of the following varieties ; — 



4 from Demerara Xo. 1,1.32 14 from Demerara No. 117 

 2 „ White Mexican 1 ,, Lahaina 



31 ,, Hawaii Xo. 2S 2 ,, Kokea 



29 „ Hawaii Xo. f<:i 



These seedlings are given arbitrary numbers and will be 

 termed, Louisiana Xo. 1, Louisiana Xo. 2, etc, for con- 

 venience in identification. All the stalks were planted in 

 the fall of 1907. and nearly all produced vigorous growing 

 canes for the crop of 1908. The.se results, from the general 

 appearance of the cane and the analyses of the individual 

 stalks, are such as to be extremely encouraging for 

 a continuance of this work, and each of the newly 

 produced varieties has been |)lanted in sufficient quantity 

 so that full data can be obtained this coming crop. 

 It is not safe to say, at this time, if any of these 

 canes are superior to those at present grown on the 

 plantations, but in respect to one or two, viz : L.92 and 

 L.lOO, indications are to that effect. L.92 gave over 

 1 per cent, more .sucrose than canes of the standard varieties 

 grown on the same plot. L 100 promises to be a cane of 

 average sucrose content and extremely heavy tonnage. 

 Individual stalks of this cane weighed 7 or 8 Bo. (the weight 

 of an average stalk of cane is 2 J, to 3 lb.). 



We were more successful in 1908, and succeeded in 

 growing about .000 seedlings. These were from seed of the 

 following varieties :-- 



Demeiara 9.5 Trinidad 70 Barbados 208 Hawaii 9 



74 „ 83 „ 3,390 „ 66 



10.5 „ 3,39G „ 70 



171 „ 3,747 „ 139 



1S9 „ 3,819 „ 140 



„ 204 „ 0,048 „ 13 



„ 7,627 



It will be interesting to get results from the D. 74 

 seedlings, as that cane has reached such prominence under 

 Louisiana conditions. These seedlings were planted in the 

 open field, earlier than the crop of the previous year, and as 

 a result, gave hardier stalks with a higher sucrose content. 

 Hiiwever, as stated above, cane seedlings are always 

 duarfed and imperfect. At the present time, the third crop 

 of seedling canes is being germinated, and gives promise of 

 greater success than previous ones; a large a.ssortment of 

 seed has been obtained from Trinidad, Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Hawaii, Porto llico, Antigua and other places. 



The West India, Committee Circular for March 29, gives 

 an account of experiments that have been conducted at the 

 Koyal Agricultural College, Cirencester, for the purpose of 

 testing Molascuit with regard to its value as a milk producer 

 in cows, ground oats being used for the purpose of compari- 

 son. The trials showed that the yield of milk, the production 

 of butter-fat and the fiavour of the butter were affected little 

 by the kind of food given, and that ilolascuit gave as good, 

 result.s, in the matter of fat production, as ground oats, at 

 a smaller cost. 



