Vol. IV. No. 72. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Seedling Canes in 



British Guiana. 



On p. 180 of volume 

 III of the Agricidtund 

 NeicN information was 

 published in regard to 

 the experimental culti- 

 vation of seedling canes 

 at Diamond plantation, 

 British Guiana. Through 

 the courtesy of the 

 manager, Mr. John M. 

 Fleming, we are now 

 in a position to sujiple- 

 ment this with the 

 following particulars for 

 the 1904 crop:— 



Taken with the results 

 for the three previous 

 year.s, this goes a long way 

 to prove that in the 

 propagation of cane from 

 seed lies a ready means of 

 obtaining varieties superior 

 to tlie Bourbon which is 

 the variety hitherto grown 

 in Demerara. 



As the result of 

 experiments carried on 

 for four years (1901--i 

 inclusive) it will be 

 seen that seedling 

 canesgrown on 1,537'yiS 

 acres as comjjared with 

 Bourbon canes grown 

 on 2,824-.352 acres have 

 proved better than the 

 Bourbon to the extent 

 of 2-1 per cent. The 

 average crop reaped dur- 

 ing the period under 

 review was 10,560 tons. 



Price of Sugar. 



The following extract from The Times of Decem- 

 ber 3 gives the views of one of the leading firms of 

 refiners (Messrs. Henry Tate & Sons) as to the causes 

 that have led to the present rise in the price of sugar. 

 They also express the opinion that probably in a few 

 years prices will be appreciably lower owing to the 

 increased production both of cane and beet sugars : — 



It is true that the consumption on the ' Continent 

 showed a very large increase last year, owing to the reduction 

 of the excise duties, but it nuast be remembered that 

 a considerable quantity must have gone to fill up the invisible 

 supplies which are usually kept on hand by traders, and 



which wore practically nil in October last in anticipation of 

 lower itrices. It is more tlian probable that consumption 

 abroad for the next twelve months will be apparently less. 

 If, however, the present beet-root crop had come uj) to the- 

 expectations, there would have been sufficient sugar to meet 

 all requirements. We, just as much as the confectioners and 

 jam manufacturers, are wishful to have clieaj) sugar, and we- 

 have no doubt that the Brussels Convention will be 

 eventually the greatest factor in obtaining this result. 



We go further and assert that, had there been no- 

 Convention, we should have been l)aying shillings per cwt. 

 more for sugar than at the pre.sent moment owing to the 

 fact that the cartels of Germany and Austria would have- 

 been able to demand whatever prices they pleased. As it is,, 

 we are already seeing a large increase in the production of 

 cane sugars, which, in a few years, will bring us to as low, if 

 not lower, prices than we have hitherto been accustomed to_ 



The followincr extract from a letter from Mr. C. 

 Czarnikow, the well-known sugar authority, also from 

 llie Times of December .3, discusses the point whether 

 the Brussels Convention was, in any way, concerned in 

 causing the recent rise in the price of sugar : — 



The Convention had nothing to do with the shortage 

 [in sugar]. Germany and Austria had sown larger areas 

 than last year; it is wind and weather that have produced 

 800,000 tons less sugar on almost the same acreage, but the- 

 Convention has )irocured for the world 400,000 tons more- 

 cane sugar this season, without which we should have seen 

 much higher prices. Therefore, it has distributed production, 

 more evenly over the world's surface, including our owm 

 colonies, substituting natural for unnatural conditions, and 

 has changed a curse into a blessing by emancipating us from- 

 the bondage of State subsidizing supplies, which would have- 

 led to a monopoly detrimental in the extreme to this country.. 



SEA-WEED AS MANURE. 



The following note on the use of sea-weed as 

 a manure is taken from the Gardeners' Chronicle of" 

 Decernber 3, 1904. For previous notes on this subject 

 see Agricultural A^'ews, (Vol. Ill, pp. 5 and 270): — 



In the Channel Islands sea-weed is regularly gathered ia 

 large quantities and spread over the potato fields, and the 

 farmers there tind it a most valuable manure. It is either 

 scattered on the ground fresh from the sea or burnt in kilns,, 

 and the ash used instead of the raw material. At the 

 sea-side in this country sea-weed is often brought up from the 

 beach in carts and spread over the land, with very good 

 results as regards the corn, but no effort has hitherto been 

 made to burn it in a kiln. Surely this could be done 

 without nnieh difficulty and with great advantage to the- 

 public, for in this form iodine manure could be put upon the 

 market for the use of gardeners. Of course, the object of 

 burning the sea-weed is to get rid of the smell, and, to enable 

 it to be kept in a portable form, it could be put up in barrels- 

 for wholesale use, and in tins for selling in small quantities. 

 There are many places along the coast where the industry 

 could be started —any where, in fact, where sea-weed is- 

 plentiful, and the expei>se of tinning would not be great. 

 We should thus gain an excellent fertilizer, which is, more- 

 over, said to be particularly good for roses. 



In districts near the coast it is advisable to make 

 use of sea-weed as a litter or for mulching, rather 

 than to burn it, on account of its value as a humus- 

 producing material, humus being especially likely to 

 be deficient in tropical soils. 



