35i 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



NOVEMBEE 9, 1912. 



Hawaii with definite solutions or with small quantities 

 of soil kept under constant conditions of temperature 

 and moisture. The conclusions reached were not to be 

 accepted as final, owing to the fact that the work was 

 carried out under circumstances so far removed from 

 those in the field; they have been expressed as follows:* 

 ^Molasses applied at intervals to growing canes which 

 have received artificial manure is likely to do harm, 

 either by destroying nitrates that have been already 

 applied or by preventing nitrates fmm being formed 

 from other compounds containing nitrogen, ii\ the 

 manure. Further, it is considered that the application 

 of molasses to fallow land, or to land in which sugar- 

 cane is to be planted after several weeks have elapsed, 

 may have a beneficial effect in stimulating the action 

 of the nitrogen- fixing organisms and thus adding to 

 the store of nitrogen for the crop that will be growing 

 after such a time has elapsed as will have allowed this 

 stimulus to have had its proper effect.' 



An accountf has appeared recently of further inves- 

 tigations in Hawaii on the influence of molasses on 

 nitrification in cane soils. These were made in 

 a manner more nearly imitating field conditions than 

 the former, being conducted with soil in galvanized iron 

 cylinders, two feet high and eight inches in diameter, 

 painted inside with asphalt paint, the bottom of each 

 teing perforated; the soil was placed on three inches 

 of sand, supported by a piece of coarse sacking. The 

 general conclusion from these experiments with soil in 

 small containers substantiates the results of the former 

 work, just expressed; and it is stated that the harmful 

 effects of molasses on artificially manured lands is due 

 entirely to the organic constituents of the molasses, 

 while dressings of calcium carbonate do not correct 

 ■ such adverse action. 



Investigation of the subject was commenced by the 

 Agricultural Department in Antigua in the season 

 1908-9, and the results obtained are recorded in the 

 annual reports on the sugar-cane experiments in the 

 Leeward Islands. In the first season, gains in tonnage 

 of sugar-cane were apparent, from the use of exhausted 

 molasses; these were repeated in the second season, but 

 ■were not as definite as in the first. Indications were 

 obtained of a residual action of the molasses. Small 

 increases followed the application of molasses in the 

 third season, but it was not considered that these 

 would be renumerative unless the value of exhausted 

 molasses was very low; this opinion is of particular 

 interest in view cf the statement by Professor 



* Agricultural News, Vol. X, p. 179. 



! Bulletin No. 39, H.awaiian Sugar Planters' A.ssoctation. 



-J. B. Harrison, at the last Agricultural Conference, to 

 the effect that it had been shown in British Guiana 

 that the application of molasses to soils, for sugar-cane 

 growing, is certainly not a commercial success.* In 

 the last report, dealing with experimentation with 

 sugar-cane in the Leeward Islands in 1911-12, whicb 

 is in the press, Mr. H. A. Tempany states that appre- 

 ciable increases i.f yield were obtained in an 

 experiment confined to an application in one season 

 only, but that no reliable inferences are to be drawn 

 from the trial; while the results bear out his opinion, 

 already expressed, that the use of exhausted molasses 

 as manure is unremunerative unless its monetary value 

 is very low. The experiments seem to show, ia 

 a broader way, that some residual action of the molasses 

 exists, but the effects are small and appear to be 

 irregular. 



There is no doubt that further investigation of 

 the matter is required, and this is being made. Con- 

 fusion of the issues must be avoided. Does the sugar 

 in molasses increase the activity of Azotobacter? Are 

 preliminary applications of molasses useful? Is there 

 any residual effect:' Is it advisable to apply molasses 

 with other manures? If so, how? And: Can the use 

 of exhausted molasses for sugar-cane growing be re- 

 garded as remunerative? 



The Preparation of Bitter Oranaies in 



Valencia. — The oranges canned in Valencia for use in the 

 manufacture of marmalade are exclusively the bitter oranges 

 grown in that district, supplemented occasionally by supplies 

 of the same variety brought from Seville. The operation of 

 canning is as follows, each of the steps being performed by 

 a different set of workers. The oranges are immersed in hot 

 water for a few moments and cleaned with a stiff brush; they 

 are cut in half perpendicularly to their axes; the interior is 

 scooped out of the skins with a chisel shaped wooden 

 implement some 8 or 10 inches long by 1 inch wide. The 

 seeds are then picked from the pulp by hand, and the latter 

 is put in cauldrons where it is boiled by itself for half an 

 hour. It is then passed through a macerating machine, when 

 it is ready to be mixed with the shredded peel and canned. 

 The skins, after the pulp has been removed from them are 

 placed in a machine which cuts tliem into long, thin shreds. 

 These shreds are boiled by themselves for forty-five minutes, 

 when they are ready to be mixed with the pulp and canned. 

 The pulp and shredded peel are canned together in their 

 original proportions — that is to say, the skin of one orange ia 

 considered in Valencia the proper amount to balance the pulp 

 of one orange in the finished product, though British 

 preserving houses frequently add extra pulp, which they 

 obtain chiefly from manufacturers of essential oils and 

 flavouring extracts, who use only peel for those purposes. 

 The cans are sealed and then boiled for ten minutes, when 

 the process is complete. (The Jounio/ of t/ie lioijid SodHu 

 o/'4rt.s, September 13, 1912.) 



* West Indian Bulletin, Vol.XIF, p. 162. 



