Vol. X. No. 251. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



387 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



SU&AR-OANE EXPERIMENTS IN 

 ST. KITTS. 



At a meeting of the St. Kitts Agricultural and Com- 

 mercial Society, held on the 3rd ultimo, Mr. H. A. 

 Tempany, B.Sc, Superintendent of Agriculture for the 

 Leeward Lslands, gave an address presenting a short resume 

 of the results obtained in the recently concluded experiments 

 with varieties of sugar-cane in St. Kitts. A report of the 

 address has been received from Mr. Tempany, and this 

 has been used for making the following abstract. 



Mr. Tempany commenced by calling attention to the 

 fact of the general acceptance of the necessity for continued 

 experimentation, if agricultural results of utility are to be ob- 

 tained. Selection e.^periments were among the mo.st important 

 of these, and in illustration Mr. Tempany quoted figures show- 

 ing how in Germany the richness in sugar of the sugar 

 beet had been increased by systematic selection of seed for 

 sowing. In regard to seedling canes ihe matter was not as 

 simple, on account of the large number of varieties from 

 which a choice has to be effected, but assistance was available 

 in the form of local variety experiments which were intended 

 to indicate the kinds of cane that are best suited to the 

 districts in which such experiments are made. 



The raising of cane seedlings presented peculiar diffi- 

 culty, particularly from the fact that suitable weather is 

 essential if it is to be conducted successfully. It was for this 

 reason that sugar planters in the Northern Islands are 

 dependent to a large extent on introduced varieties as 

 a means of improving the yields. In view of the fact 

 that large numbers of valuable seedling canes had been 

 produced in Demerara and Barbados, it was perhaps only 

 natural that enquiry should be made as to the necessity for 

 making trials of seedling canes in St. Kitts. The answer to 

 this enquiry was that it had been proved that, although 

 a given cane may show productivity in one locality, it does 

 not follow that this quality persists in another place. 

 The matter was not merely one connected with cane- 

 growing in different islands, but it had its importance 

 in regard to the behaviour of sugar canes in the various 

 cane-growing localities in any given island. There was 

 the further circumstance that it is believed that the 

 characteristics of some varieties are modified, in differing 

 degrees, on their introduction into fresh localities, where the 

 conditions of growth are no longer those to which they have 

 become haliituated. Finally, from the planter's point of view, 

 the very fact of the existence of a large number of varieties 

 of seedling canes made it very difficult for him to effect 

 a useful choice, without assistance in the form of experiments 

 carried out under the conditions actually experienced by him. 



After giving attention to these introductory considera- 

 tions, Mr. Tempany proceeded to outline the main results 

 obtained in the experiments with plant and ratoon cines 

 during the past season, pointing out, firstly, that the trials 

 were conducted on six stations for plants, and on five for 

 ratoons. The actual system was to cultivate the main collec- 

 tion' of fort}--two varieties at two stations. La Guerite and 

 Molineux, as plant cane?, and at the latter station as first 

 ratoons; while at the remaining stations a selection of fifteen 

 of the most promising canes was grown, both as plant and 

 first ratoon canes. The weather experienced during the grow 

 ing season was somewhat unfavourable during the period April 



to July, especially in the cane-growing districts near Basse- 

 terre, while it was generally favourable during the latter part 

 of the year. This circumstance had affected the returns in 

 the experiments, to some extent. 



Mr. Tempany here referred to tables showing the yields 

 that had been given by the canes, both plants and ratoons, 

 during the season under review. He pointed out that in the 

 former case the lead was taken by B 208 —a cane which in 

 the past had demonstrated its suitability to conditions in 

 St. Kitts. D.62.") and Sealy Seedling came second and third, 

 and it was pointed out that, as neither of these canes had previ- 

 ously shown any particular promise in St. Kitts, their present 

 position was probably due to variation in season. The suc- 

 ceedbg canes were D.109, B.4596, D 116, and B 254; while 

 B.1753, which had held the premier position last year, had 

 fallen to the eighth place— as a result, probably, of variation 

 in season, and partly to error of experiment; for in the western 

 districts of the island, this cane had given satisfactory returns 

 and was regarded favourably by planters. Among the ratoons 

 for last season, the first was D.625, followed in succession 

 by B.1753, B.4596 and D.109. 



Other tables presenting the results for the whole period 

 of experimentation, namely eleven years, showed that the 

 first four canes were successively B.208, D.116, D.109 and 

 B.1753, among [)lant canes. With ratoons the leading 

 canes were, similarly, B.1753, B 208, B 4596 and White 

 Transparent. 



The usual method of reviewing the results, namely by 

 ascertaining which canes occupy the upper third of the table 

 at the different experiment stations was adopted, as it 

 affords a means of judging which varieties are suited to 

 a wide range of conditions. The facts adduced in this way 

 were as follows, for plant canes : — 



B.208 had come within the first 5 varieties on 6 stations. 



B.1596 „ „ „ „ „ 4 „ 



13625 „ „ „ „ „ 4 „ 

 Sealy \ 



SceJlingj" " " " " ^ " 



D.109 „ „ „ „ „ 3 „ 



Diie » „ „ „ „ „ 3 „ 



B.254 „ „ „ „ „ 2 „ 



B1753 „ „ „ „ „ 2 „ 



The similar facts for ratoon canes were : — 



B.1753 had come within the first 5 varieties on 5 stations. 

 D.G25 „ „ „ „ „ 4 „ .. 



B.4596 „ „ „ „ „ 4 „ 



D.109 „ ,. „ „ „ 4 „ 



B-208 „ „ „ „ „ 2 „ 



It was stated that, during the past ye.ir, the work of oane 

 experimentation had been extended to Nevis, on Pinneys 

 estate, and that it was hoped that the work in this direction 

 would be increased in scope 



In conclusion, Mr. Tempany called attention to a table 

 showing the annual exports of sugar from St. Kitts-Nevis lor 

 a number of recent years. During the past five years a reduc- 

 tion of some 1,500 acres had taken place in the area cultivated 

 for sugar-cane; nevertheless the average exports of sugar from 

 the Presidency during that time had been slightly in excess of 

 the average exports for the ten years previous to that. This 

 pointed to an appreciable increase in the average sugar 

 production per acre, during the past five year.s, and this was 

 notwithstanding the fact that on many estates an inter- 

 mediate crop of cotton was grown with sugarcane. He 

 finally gave the opinion that tliis increased productiveness 

 could in some measure be fairly attributed to the introduc- 

 tion of improved varieties of cane. 



