March i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURISTo 



597 



ken, 80 that the water does not ascend so rapidly to 

 the surface. Anothtr aud more efficient method of 

 preventing tiie escape of moisture is by mulching. This 

 not only prevents ev poration, but also acts as a fertili- 

 zer to a certain ex ent. 



When the ground is mulched the water ascends to 

 the surface and brings with it fertilizing salts from, 

 and even below, the subsoil. When the fallow ia 

 naked this water is, by the heat of the soil, converted 

 into vapor before it reaches the surface, aud the salts 

 above referred to are left lower down in the soil, not 

 infrequently below the reach of the plant-roots. 



Mulching means shading, since both produce the 

 same results. Evaporation progresses slowly where 

 there is shade. The ground is kt-pt cooler, and where 

 such is not the case the intervening shade prevents 

 evaporation. This latter is not so rapid on cloudy 

 days as on bright ones, though there may be little oi no 

 difference in the temperature of the soil. Moisture 

 accumulates under and about the stones, and we were 

 once told that the stones drew water, but the truth 

 is they prevent evaporation, or in other words, they 

 mulch the ground. 



The foliage of the trees in woods shades the ground, 

 thus retarding evaporation, but the fallen leaves mulch 

 tlie ground and retain the moisture ; in such places 

 the roots are found nearer the surface, and yet the 

 foliage shows less effects of drought than the foliage of 

 trees out in the open i asture, where the roots run deeper. 



There are many crops grown which cannot be con- 

 sidered as mulching the ground, although they cover 

 it, simply because they carry off more water by the 

 way of their roots and leaves than would be evapor- 

 ated from a naked fallow. Of such crops we may 

 mention clover, grass and the cereals. On the other 

 hand, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, squashes and the like 

 act as mulches, because they shade the ground in the 

 vicinity of their place of growth. 



When corn first comes up it is cultivated and hoed 

 to break the capillary tubes in the earth, so that 

 evaporation may be checked, and the growing crop have 

 the benefit of the moisture. When the corn has grown 

 to a certain height, it then shades the ground, aud 

 in this way checks evaporation, preserving the mois- 

 ture, to a certain extent, for its own growth. The 

 same is true of potatoes and tomatoes, while squashes 

 shade the ground more than any crop grown. They 

 are perfect mulches. The roots of all the.-se plants run 

 out into the ground so shaded to obtain that moisture 

 which their foliage retains for their use. 



Great benefit is found from the practice of mulching 

 in young orchards. The first season after setting out 

 young trees is generally severe upon them. The young 

 rootlets, not having secured good hold upon the soil, 

 require the adoption of some means for retaining mois- 

 ture in the soil. If not secured in some way, or applied 

 by artificifll means, many of the young trees are likely 

 to die. The easiest way to effect this is to retain the 

 moi.'sture by mulching with matted hay, straw leaves 

 or tan bark. These mulches will keep the ground moist 

 and mellow. In the Fall they should be forked into 

 the soil to prevent mice from harboring in them. 



Continuous mulching is a great benefit to peach trees, 

 resulting in finer and larger fruit than can be secured 

 in any other way. Mulching currants tends to increase 

 their size, while raspberries aud blackberries should 

 always be mulched. This latter process not only tends 

 to supply moisture, but also assists iu keeping down 

 weeds. Through mulching, strawberries may be grown 

 on much drier land than they would otherwise suc- 

 ceed in. In addition to keeping down the weeds, the 

 fruit is kept clean and clear of grit, which latter is 

 often thrown upon the fruit by rains. 



There are some exceptions to the beneficial practice of 

 mulching. Thus grape vines are considered better for 

 not being mulched. The grape vine delights in a 

 warm soil and the roots are generally very near the 

 surface. While orchardists and raisprs of small fruits 

 are all agreed upon the value of mulching, yet, growers 

 of grapes, as a rule, are equally certain that grapes do 

 better if not mulched. ■ 



The question of mulching is an important one to 

 (ftrmers and of immense practical value. However, 



the science of evaporation, which embraces hte retention 

 of moisture in the ground as well as the evaporation, 

 of water through the foliage of plants, is one of the 

 most interesting studies connected with the art of 

 agriculture, and one which should be exprimented upon 

 by every cultivator of the soil. — American Cultivator. 



THE CULTIVATION AND MANUPACTUEE OF 

 STJGAK IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



BY MR. B. HOWELL JONES. 



The cultivation and manufacture of sugar occupied 

 the attention of the early Dutch settlers in British 

 Guiana, but the present system of cultivation of the 

 low lands lying near the sea does not appear to have 

 been adopted until the settlers found that the land in 

 the interior was not so productive as the alluvial de- 

 posits on the sea border, as iu the year 1766 the 

 entry in the records of the Colony mentions that 

 '• the settlers, not finding the upper lands of the 

 rivers so productive, are returning to the coast." It 

 was, perhaps, as well for the Colony that the Dutch 

 were the first settlers, as from the experience .lerived 

 from the cultivation of the low-lying lands of Holland 

 they were singularly adapted for establishing a similar 

 system of drainage and navigation in a land of which a 

 large portion lies some 3 feet below sea level ; aiid the re- 

 mains of old brick sluices and kokers tell us of the in- 

 domitable perseverance, courage, and knowledge they 

 bad in handling such difficult operations; and 

 that they were right I think has been amply proved 

 by the system having been carried on uninterruptedly 

 since they established it. The cultivation of sugar did 

 not absorb the whole attention of the population, as 

 it does at present, until after the abolition of slavery, 

 when the price of wages rose so considerably that it 

 was found impossible to continue to cultivate cotton 

 and coffee ; these estates were consequently abandoned, 

 whilst the sugar crop was reduced to one-half, and 

 nearly all the estates changed hands. It was not 

 until 25 years afterwards, with an importation of 

 45,000 immigrants from India, China, and Maderia, 

 at an enormous cost to the planters, that the Colony 

 once more regained its position as a sugar-producing 

 country of any importance. The sugar estates are 

 situated along the alluvial deposits bordering on the 

 sea, and run in parallelograms at right angles, either 

 from the sea or rivers, and extend four or five miles 

 into the savanna which forms, in most instances, their 

 other boundary. A line of dams is thrown up along 

 the sea front, to protect it from incursions of the 

 sea, and aback a line of damsi to prevent inundation 

 from the savanna, which in wet seasons gets flooded 

 with rain water. 



The estates are generally laid out with two centre- 

 trenches, with a dam between them, known as the 

 middle walk and middle-walk trenches, from which 

 at right angles extend the cro.ss canals which separate 

 the fields from each other, and are used, as well as 

 the middle-walk trenches, for the transportation of 

 canes. At each side of the estate the side-line tren- 

 ches, or main-drainage trenches are dug, and extend 

 the full length of cultivation, and into these tren- 

 ches the small open arterial drains, or small drains 

 as they are generally called, discharge themselves. 

 The main-drainage trenches either drain through 

 sluices at low tide direct into the sea, when natural 

 drainage is obtainable, or are united into one main 

 trench, and artificial drainage by means of powertul 

 pumps, is a,dopted. It is not the least important 

 part of a planter's duties to see that both series of 

 trenches, with their sluices, pumps, &c., are kept in 

 thorough order, the importance of good drainage in 

 a low-lying country such as British Guiana being a 

 sine quA non. 



Keeping in mind the description, as just • read, of 

 how an estate is laid out, 1 will now describe the 

 method adopted for planting and reaping a crop of 

 canes. The cane plants, as a rule, are planted iu rows 

 running from cross canal to cross canal, and at right 

 angles to the small or arterial drains of the field. 

 I say as a rule, as in some instances, becoming 

 rarer as time goes on, they are planted from middle- 



