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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November i, 1884. 



nl bones and marine shells, produce a very good cheap 

 soil. The rich warp lands along the Humber are artificial 

 alluvial soils, and although they contaiu but a small pro- 

 Inn lion of humus, are highly fertile after their first de- 

 position ; but it is observed that they gradually become 

 more tenacious and difficult of culture as this humus is 

 carried off by the crops, and that it is soon necessary to 

 add animal and vegetable manures to supply the deficiency. 

 Lands possessing alluvial soils may be protected from 

 Hooding by embanking and draining; and low lands of a 

 sterile nature lying in the neighbourhood of the sea, and 

 0! muddy rivers may be rendered more or less fertile by 

 a system of periodical irrigation, called " warping." "Warp, 

 or sea ooze, abounds at the mouths of friths, estuaries, or 

 arms of the sea. It is of a most enriching nature, and 

 adds to the staple of the soil. It is used as a top dressing 

 in spring for crops both of grain and grass, more especially 

 for the latter. It is an excellent material for composts, 

 particularly for their soils. It promotes the improvement 

 of garden soils in a manner hardly to be credited; and 

 wheat or oats manured with sea ooze are little subject to 

 rust, mildew, or any other disorder. 



It takes some time before any corn will grow on the 

 new warp. At first it looks like barren mud; but it soon 

 dries to a better texture, and ultimately produces very 

 extraordinary crops. If its fertility decrease, and its surface 

 is still below the level of high water, a slight warping, 

 like the inundations of the Nile, immediately restores the 

 fertility. What is curious, is the almost total absence of 

 organic matter in the warp soils, or rather, its intimate 

 combination with the earths, so that it cannot be readily 

 separated from th-'in. It is like neither clay nor sand, 

 but something between the two, soft to the touch, but not 

 hardening juto lumps when dry; neither very porous nor 

 very retentive of moisture. The principal earth is silica 

 in a very fine state. It generally contains a portion of 

 calcareous matter, probably from shells. It produces beans, 

 oats, potatoes and wheat in abundance, without any manure. 

 It is admirably adapted to the growth of flax, especially 

 when the warp is of good depth. 



The fertility of warped land naturally leads to the con- 

 clusion that silica, in a very comminuted state, becomes 

 best adapted for the roots of plants to shoot in, and to 

 supply them regularly with the moisture necessary to their 

 vegetation, that then" chief nourishment is derived from 

 the atmosphere, since very little organic matter can be 

 detected in warp, and few mineral substances besides earths. 

 Undertakings of this nature are generally of considerable 

 magnitude, and require large capital. The laud to be warped 

 must be banked round against the river. The banks are 

 made of the earth taken on the spot from the land: they 

 must slope 6 feet, that is, 3 feet on each side of the top 

 or crown of the bank, for every foot perpendicular of rise; 

 their top or crown is broader or narrower, according to 

 the impetuosity of the tide and the weight and quantity 

 of water; and it extends from 2 to 12 feet: their height 

 is regulated by the height to which the spring tides flow, 

 so as to exclude or let them in at pleasure. In these banks 

 there are more or fewer openings, according to the size 

 of the ground to be warped, and to the choice of the 

 occupier; but in general they have only two sluices, one 

 called the flood gate, to admit; the other called the clough, 

 to let oil' the water gently; these are enough for 10 or 

 15 acres. When the spring tide begins to ebb, the flood 

 gate is opened to admit the tide, the clough having been 

 previously shut by the weight of the water brought up 

 the river by the flow of the tide. As the tide ebbs down 

 the river, the weight or pressure of water being taken 

 from the outside of the clough next the river, the tide 

 water that lias been previously admitted by the Hood gate 

 opens the elough again, and discharges itself slowly but 

 completely through it. The doughs are walled on each 

 side, and so constructed as to let the water run off between 

 the ebb of the tide admitted and the flow of the next; 

 and to this point particular attention is paid. The flood 

 gates air placed so high as only to let in the springtides 

 when opened. They are placed above the level of the 

 common tides. 



"Willows are also occasionally planted on the fronts of 

 the banks to break the force of the tides and defend the 

 Kinks by raising the front of them with warp thus collected 

 and accumulated; but these willows must never be planted 



on the banks, as they would destroy them by giving the 

 winds power to shake them. Warp leaves one-eighth of 

 an inch every tide on an average; and these layers do not 

 mix in an uniform mass, but remain in distinct layers. 

 If only one sluice, then only every other tide can* be 

 used, as the water must run perfectly off , that the surface 

 may incrust ; and if the canal be not empty, the tide has 

 not the effect. 



As a new soil is created by this practice, it is of little 

 consequence what the original nature of the land may be, 

 almost all kinds being improved by it. But at the same 

 time it may be the most beneficial in such light soils as 

 are very open and porous, and such stiff ones as are 

 defective in calcareous matter, and which require substances 

 of this kind to render them less tenacious. Land, when 

 once well warped will continue for a vast length of time 

 in a good state of fertility ; but still, it is suggested by 

 some experienced warpers as a better practice, to apply 

 a small portion of warp whenever the land is in a state 

 of fallow, which will be about every five or six years, as 

 by this means the farmer will be more secure of having 

 good crops. The depth to which the lands are covered 

 by the tides must be regulated according to their levels, 

 and the height of the tides in the rivers from which they 

 proceed. It may be admitted to the height of 3 or 4 or 

 more feet ; but the deposit of sediment is in some measure 

 proportionate to the height of the water, though the same 

 effects may be obtained from such smaller quantities of 

 water by continuing the process a great number of tides. 



Example of Improvement of an Alluvial Soil. — The late 

 Lord Kames, on becoming proprietor of the estate of Blair 

 Orummond, in the county of Perth, began the improve- 

 ment of a large tract of worthless laud. In this case, a 

 good alluvial clay soil had become completely overgrown 

 with moss. Instead, therefore, of attempting to improve 

 the moss surface, it was floated off piece-meal into the 

 neighbouring sea, the supply of water required for this 

 purpose being obtained from an adjacent river. The water 

 being conveyed through the moss in channels, successive 

 layers of peat were dug, thrown in and washed away. 

 The channels were shifted as occasion required, until the 

 whole inert mass was removed. A thin stratum next the 

 clay was then burnt and the ashes used as manure. An 

 immense extent of moss was got rid of, and an extensive 

 tract of country where formerly only a few snipes and 

 muir fowl could find subsistence, was converted into a rich 

 and fertile course of alluvial soil worth from £3 to £5 

 an acre — 15 to 25 dollars. Mr. Ralphe Oreyke undertook 

 to reclaim a large area of peat moss in Yorkshire by the 

 system of warping. He resolved to warp from the river 

 Ouse some 1,600 acres. In the following season after the 

 undertaking was commenced 429 out of the 1,600 acres 

 were covered with a deposited soil to the depth of 3 

 feet. In 1823, this land was sown with oats and grain 

 seeds, and on the fourth year bore an excellent crop of 

 wheat. By this time the other two compartments, re- 

 spectively consisting of 500 and 671 acres, were completed 

 and in a state of preparation for their first crop of oats, 

 &c. In this case so great was the improvement that the 

 land, which before warping was entirely unproductive, and 

 yielded no rent whatever, in the course of four years 

 produced abundant crops and readily let for 35s. per 

 acre. — Melbouvnt Leader. 



( IANE AND BEET SUGAB. 



BY li. lirCHAX.lN. 



The sugar crop or supply of the world is estimated at 

 five millions of tons. Of this quantity one million tons 

 may lie put down to India and China. The cane is grown 

 throughout India, and a small enhancement of value in 

 the export market is snnn followed by a large accession of 

 sugar in the bazaar. The export from India is stated in 

 the Statistical Abstract to be 644,531 cwts. But of the 

 real production of the one or the other country very little 

 is known. Omitting them from the calculation, the supply 

 would be four million tons. It consists of caue and beet 

 sugar in nearly equal parts, the figures for the year 1882 

 being : — 



Cane sugar 2,060,565 tons. 



Beet sugar 1,S60,994 ,, 



This equality of production is, however, not owing to a 



