A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW ^^w 



OF THB 6QTAI 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. '^^ 



Vol. XI. No. 275. 



BARBADOS, NOVEMBER 9, 1912. 



Pbioe Id. 



CONTENTS. 



AvucaiU), Biuldiiig of ... 

 Bitter Oranges, Prepaia- 



tioii (if 



Buuliii of (Suuth Africa ... 



Cacao Coiisumi)tion aiul 

 PrcKluctioii, 1911 ... 



Canadian National Kxliibi- 

 tion and West Indies 



Cotton and Tobacco in 

 Nyasaland 



Coltou-Buying in (irenada 



Cotton Notes : — 



Branching of Kgyptian 



Cotton Plants 



Cotton Experiments in 

 tlic United States, 



1911 



Cotton .Seed Meal as 



Food for Stock 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Department News 



Fungus Notes : — 



Iliau — A Cane Disease 



of Hawaii 



Gleanings 



Jajian 'Culture' Pearl In- 

 dustry 



Paor 



. :$57 



:562 



Paob. 



367 



mi 

 :{61 



.•558 



359 



;!59 

 358 

 356 



366 

 364 



361 



liinie Juice Industry of the 



Virgin Islands 365 



Madagascar, Cotton-Grow- 

 ing in 357 



Market Reports , 3(>8 



Mcgass, Fuel Value of ... Hob 

 Molasses, Influence on 



Soil Fertility Hb:'> 



Nitrogen, Direct Assimila- 

 tion by Green Plants .■{61 

 Notes and Connnents ... 300 

 Prize-Holdings Com|)eti- 



tion, Carriacou, 191:i 36".i 

 Rftdioactive Substances, 



Influence on Plants... .'$63 



Sisal, Cutting of 360 



Students' Corner 365 



Sugar in Argentina .365 



Sug.ii- Production in the 



Philippines 365 



Vanilla-Growing under 



Mango Trees 361 



Vanilla in the Seychelles, 



1911, 3ti0 



Vanilla Production and 



Consumption 356 



I Venezuela, 

 I 1911-12 



Trade of, 



360 



The Influence of Molasses on Soil 

 Fertility. 



'HE question of the possible influence on its 

 .fertility, of molasses applied to the soil, has 

 [excited some interest in the West Indies 

 since 1908, when a report of work in relation to the 

 subject was received by the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture from Mauritius. This, as well as subsequent 

 information, has been published* and the possible 



* A<iria(ltural Neus, Vols. VII, p. 227; IX, p. 339; and 

 X, p. 179. 



practical value of the problem has caused experiments^ 

 in using molasses on sugar-cane lands to be made by 

 the Department of Agriculture in Antigua. The 

 investigation ha.s also been taken up by the Hawaiian 

 Sugar Planters' Association. Before reviewing the 

 latest results of the work, it will be well to summarize 

 brietly what has appeared concerning the subject in 

 the past. 



The first work described from Mauritius was- 

 carried out at the suggestion of Mr. W. P. Ebbels. 

 It appeared to show that Azotobacter, or allied organ- 

 isms, are present in the soils of the island and that 

 there is a connexion between their presence and an 

 increased nitrification that was found to take place 

 when soils containing them are treated with sugar. 

 Later observations in the field indicated that an 

 increase of as much as five tons of cane per acre had 

 been obtained in the case of third ratoons, the molasses 

 being exhausted molasses, and having been applied 

 before the cane was planted; it is claimed that this is 

 sufficient to show that the etfects of the molasses had not 

 ceased during the three previous crops. Similar results- 

 were obtained by M. P. Boname, Director of the Station 

 Agronomique, Mauritius, who states* that the increases 

 obtained by the use of molasses are larger than those 

 which could be produced by the employment, in 

 mineral salts, of amounts of nitrogen and potash equal 

 to those added in the molasses; further, the influence of 

 the molasses continues to exhibit itself for some time, 

 after the first crop, though it is shown better with 

 plant canes than with ratoons. 



The Report on the manurial experiments with 

 sugar-cane in the Lee»vard Islands for 1909-10 draws 

 attention to work relating to the matter, conducted in 



* Station Agronomique, Mauritius; Rapport Annuel pour 

 1908, p. 22. 



