Vol. XL No. 276. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



371 



tonnage or sugar content by very wide rows and suggests the 

 propriety nf narrowing them to a distance that will permit 

 of the best cultivation. It may be added that the narrow 

 rows, by the increased amount of foliage, were, we believe, 

 better protected from cold. They were necessarily culti- 

 vated very little.' 



These experiments were repeated for several years and 

 finally in 1894 Dr. Stubbs says: 'So strong have been the 

 teachings of these experiments, that the station has begun 

 the practice of narrowing all the rows of cane, and is giving 

 the minimum width which will permit of easy culture with 

 two-horse cultivators and ploughs. This width has been 

 found to be about 5 feet.' 



Boname says that the width between rows in Guade- 

 loupe varies from 4^, to 5 feet (see lieiista Iiidustrml i/ Agri- 

 cola de Tucuman, July 1911, p. 73). 



At the Porto Rico Experiment Station of the I'nited 

 States Government, at Mayaguez, Dr. May reports in Bulletin 

 No. 9 the results of experiments in distance planting. 



The conclusion arrived at from the experiments was: 

 'that in every instance the narrow planting gave the largest 

 yield not only for the plant cane, but for the ra toons.' 



In Cuba it is well known that cane is planted at much 

 greater distance than in Porto Rico, and some years ago wide 

 planting was advocated and adopted by many. In 1 904 the 

 Cuban Station began some experiments to determine this 

 question. The experiments were made on poor land and the 

 results in favour of close planting were undoubtedly more 

 pronounced than would have been the case had the soil been 

 rich. The results are summed up in the Seijundo Informe in 

 1909 as follows: 'The experiments heretofore described have 

 proved that in the soils of this Station wide distance planting 

 is not remunerative. In fact from personal observations of 

 the writer he is persuaded that in general cane is planted too 

 wide in Cuba. In the case of virgin or very rich soils where 

 cane will ratoon many years it is possible that there would be 

 little difference in the final results whether one planted close 

 or wide, since in a few years the cane would fill up the spaces 

 between the rows, but in those fields where the cane is 

 planted every few years the distance between rows should be 

 short in order to obtain a large number of canes the first year. 

 The reason why a field of wide planting does not yield so 

 large a crop the first year as one of close planting, is that 

 the former does not yield a sufficient number of canes the 

 first year. This is apart from the fact that Ijoth cultivation 

 and conservation of moisture demand close planting in poor 

 .soils.' 



SUGAR IN FORMOSA, 1911. 



The following information regarding sugar (which 

 is the chief product of the island) in Formosa is taken 

 from Diplomatic and Consular Reports, Xo. 4996 

 Annual Series, issued in September last: — 



The quantity of .sugar manufactured in the season 1911, 

 that is, from November 1910 to October 1911, was close 

 on 269,048 tons, or considerably in excess of the estimated 

 production of 244,048 tons to 255,9-52 tons. The weights 

 of the various kinds were as follows: centrifugal,.192,501 tons; 

 brown, 76,273 tons; black, 214 tons. 



While centrifugal sugar was well up to the estimate of 

 184,524 to 196,429 tons, the production of brown greatly 

 exceeded the estimate of only 59,524 tons; of the total pro- 



duction of centrifugal, 98,153 tons were used for refining in 

 Japan, leaving a balance of 94,347 tons for local consump- 

 tion and export. 



The total quantity exported during the year 1911 

 (January to December) to Japan and abroad was 242,800 tons, 

 an increase of over 50,000 tons on the export of 1910. 



The present estimate of the Sugar Bureau for 1912 of 

 the Formosan Government is: centrifugal, 150,300 tons; 

 brown 24,950 tons. 



This estimate may be taken as representing fairly 

 correctly the actual output, as the crushing must now have 

 been completed. 



About 8,929 tons of browns will remain in France for 

 direct consumption. 



Some 15,800 tons have been exported, including ship- 

 ments lo Vancouver, Liverpool, Calcutta and Bombay. 



At the close of the year 1911 there were seventeen compan- 

 ies owning thirty-two modern style mills with a total crushing 

 capacity of 24,450 tons of cane per day. Of these mills, 

 eleven with a total crushing power of 7,200 tons commenced 

 working in the 1912 season. The total paid-up capital of 

 these companies was £4,083,000 with power to increase 

 it to £8,575,000. 



WEST INDIAN SUGAR-CANES 

 QUEENSLAND. 



IN 



Near the commencement of the Annual Report of the 

 Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, Queensland, 1911, work 

 is described in a first ratoon experiment with six Queensland 

 canes. Mauritius Malagache and B.147; it is stated in this 

 that B.147 gave the best results in the series: it proved to be 

 a promising variety, and remained healthy. 



Tables follow, giving analyses of the juice and of the 

 canes at different periods of their growth; in the final exami- 

 nation, after the canes had been growing twelve months B.147 

 gave: sucrose in juice 20 01, glucose in juice 041, purity 93'5. 

 The best crop results were shown by this cane which gave 

 46'2 tons of canes per acre, for the crop of 1911. In the 

 crops 1910-11 this cane was only inferior, among those tried, 

 to Mauritius Malagache, giving in the plant crop 51 tons 

 of cane per acre, and in the first ratoon crop 46 2 tons, mak- 

 ing a total of 97'2 tons per acre for the two crops. The 

 similar figures for the Mauritius Malagache were 69'2, 42-0 

 and 111-2. 



A succeeding portion of the report deals with experi- 

 ments with miscellaneous canes, stating that B.208 had been 

 reintroduced for trial. A plot of D.1135 was planted as 

 a control, and the treatment of this will be brought into line 

 with that of the other canes. A preliminary analysis of the 

 miscellaneous canes, conducted in August 1911, showed that 

 15.208 occupied the first position, after seventeen months' 

 growth, with the following: sucrose in juice 30'53, glucose in 

 juice 031, and purity 97'2. 



In a list of canes introduced at the Mackay Sugar 

 Experiment Station since its inception, T.60 is mentioned as 

 having been retained for experiment, while T.83, T.202 and 

 T.20o have been discarded . Further, B.208 was discarded, 

 but has been reintroduced from Herbert River and is again 

 under examination, as has been indicated. When a cane is 

 discarded it means that it has been ploughed out because 

 of disease, or because of its worthlessness under the condi- 

 tions as a cane or sugar producer. 



Finally, a table giving a list of canes at present under 

 examination includes B.147, B.208 and D.1135 — matters that 

 may have been concluded from what has been said above. 



