Vol. IV. No. 96. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



395 



TREATMENT OF ORCHARD SOILS. 



In the editorial in the Agrlc alt aval N'eicx of 

 August 12, 1905 (Vol. IV, p. 242), the attention of 

 planters was drawn to papers by Dr. Francis Watts, 

 C.M.G., the Superintendent of Agriculture for the 

 Leeward Islands, in reference to the question of the 

 treatment of soils in cacao and lime plantations. The 

 recommendations inady by Dr. Watts in this conne.xion 

 were criticized in the Grenada Ch.ronide by Mr. W. 

 Malins Smith, who laid considerable stress on the 

 importance of forking between the trees in a cacao 

 field and deprecated the plan of allowing weeds to 

 cover the land. 



In reference to this criticism. Dr. Watts points out 

 that in his first paper on this subject (see West Imlian 

 BuUetin, Vol. II, p. 96) the question is introduced in 

 a tentative and by no means didactic manner. He 

 continues :— 



I endeavoured to reach general principles for variou.>i 

 forms and stages of orchard work. 



When, as normally happens, a cacao orchard becomes 

 so covered by the growth of the trees tliat no undergrowth 

 of weeds arises, it is obviously absurd to talk of cutting 

 down the weeds which do not exist : but where weeds do 

 grow, I hold that they may be properly used to maintain 

 the fertility and tilth of the .soil. 



To Mr. Smith's specific question ' Where is the advan- 

 tage of allowing weeds to absorb manurial ingredients from 

 the soil and so to deprive the cacao trees of plant food for 

 the purpose of returning the same ingredients later on I ' 

 I would reply that the advantage lies in the increase in the 

 amount of organic matter and the consecpient and subsequent 

 increase in the amount of humus in the soil : an additional 

 advantage lies in the fact that the weeds prevent loss of fine 

 soil from wash during heavy rains. 



It has been my intention to discuss the ipiestion of the 

 special case of the treatment of cacao orchards where the 

 overgrowth is so dense as to prevent the growth of weeds, 

 but up to the present I have been too busy to do this. 

 I may, however, remind you of the increased yield due to 

 mulching in the case of the experiments on cacao in the 

 Dominica Botanic Station. 



Practical farming cannot be reduced to a formal set of 

 I'ules ; few occupations offer greater scope for the exercise of 

 individual judgement than does farming. A practical planter 

 would examine his soil and if he found it losing tilth under 

 a, system of weeding he would modify this, doubtless, by an 

 occasional forking. 



What I want to show is that in orchard work in these 

 islands there is often a tendency to try to keep the spaces 

 between the trees (spaces as yet unoccupied by trees, as in 

 the case of young lime and orange orchards) free from weeds 

 by constant weeding with the hoe : this I believe to be 

 disastrous and that the judicious use of the natural weeds, 

 using them as a mulch, can be made to give good results, 

 tending to improve the soil. Planters were being taught 

 that their object should be to keep their fields free from 

 -weeds, even when exposed to sun and to the danger of 

 washing in heavy rains: this I believe to be wrong and 

 I wish planters to experiment with other methods. In using 

 weeds in the way I suggest, the planter will require to use 



his judgement as to the precise manner in which the work is 

 to be done, and modifications will, doubtless, arise to meet 

 the various conditions encountered. It seems quite possible 

 that the intervention of an occasional forking may prove 

 useful. 



In reference to the above, it may be of some 

 interest to mention that the matter of orchard 

 cultivation is being discussed by American fruit 

 growers along somewhat similar lines. 



The Florida Agricaltarist, of September 20, 

 190.5, devotes considerable space to what is called 

 the ' New Horticulture,' the principles of which are 

 diametrically opposed to the generally accepted system 

 of fruit culture. The ' New Horticulture ' advocates, 

 among other things, the following : — 



Non-cultivation after the trees begin to bear. Not 

 neglect, but mowing often enough to keep all growth down. 

 Until the trees begin to bear, any crop but small grain may 

 be grown between them. Where the ground is rough and 

 rocky and in sections of average rainfall, trees may be 

 planted in sod, but they will grow less rapidly. A circle of 

 about 3 feet should be hoid clean, the tree planted in 

 a small hole in the centre, the earth around it well rammed, 

 the circle well fertilized and mulched. 



MULCHING IN CACAO FIELDS. 



The value of mulches of grass and leaves in 

 increasing the productiveness of cacao fields is very 

 strikingly brought out by experiments conducted since 

 1900 at the Dominica Botanic Station, the results of 

 which are recorded by Dr. Francis Watts in the West 

 Indian Bulletin, Vol. VI, no. 3. The following 

 extract deals particularly with the plot treated in this 

 manner : — 



The plot mulched with grass and leaves, the sweepings 

 of the lawns at the Botanic Station, is a very interesting one. 

 In the first period this plot, though giving a greater yield 

 than the no-manure plot, fell far behind the plot receiving 

 dried blood ; in the second period it again exceeded the 

 no-manure plot and was practically equal in yield to, or 

 a little better than, the dried blood plot : while in the third 

 period (1905) it has far surpassed all the other plots and has 

 given a yield 66 per cent, greater than that obtained from 

 the no-manure plot. The soil of this plot is in better 

 condition than the others, the surface soil is moister and 

 darker in colour, while the trees have a better surface root 

 development. 



This method of manuring by means of mulches of grass 

 and bush is evidently the pro[)er course to adopt in Dominica, 

 where, owing to the large supplies of the required material 

 which are available, the work of manuring can be carried out 

 efficiently. 



These experiments again emphasize the desirability in 

 the tropics of following agricultural methods which lead to 

 the conservation of hunms or vegetable matter in the soil. 

 In most cases, if these methods are conscientiously adopted, 

 sufficient sujiplies of plant food will be conveyed to the soil 

 to obviate the necessity of buying artificial manures. 



It is probable that the plot mulched with grass and 

 leaves will retain its vigour and productiveness for a much 

 longer period than the others. 



Keference is nuide on p. 392 to the results obtained 

 by the application of artificial manures to plots of 

 cacao in the same series of experiments. 



