Vol. X^'I. No. 395. 



THE AGRICULTURAL SEWS. 



179 



MOLASSES AS A FERTILIZER FOR 

 CANE LAND. 



In the course of the manurial experiments with sugar- 

 cane in the Leeward Island.s, a considerable amount of 

 attention has been devoted to an enquiry into the possi- 

 bility of usefully employing the waste molasses obtained in 

 cane-sugar factories as a fertilizer for cane land. In the 

 Report on this work for 1916-17, it is stated that the 

 experiments had their inception as a result of similar trials 

 in Mauritius. It has been suggested that benefit would 

 accrue from applications of iii .lasses made in this way, 

 owing to the stimulation produced in the activity of 

 soil-inhabiting bacteria of the Azotobacter type (which are 

 capable of as,similating free nitrogen from the air), the presence 

 of which has now been demonstrated in soils throughout the 

 Leeward Islands Colony. 



Experiments conducted on ratoon canes between the years 

 1908 and 1913 showed that little or no beneficial action 

 resulted from such applications. In the following year, 191i, 

 further series of experiments were laid out to ascertain 

 whether such applications were likely to prove of benefit in 

 the ca.se of plant canes, since it was thought that the longer 

 interval which would elapse between the time the mola.«ses 

 ■was applied and the date the canes were reaped, would give 

 opportunity for any excess of nitrogen assimilated in this 

 way to become available to the plant. 



During the preceding season, 1914-15, series of 

 experiments on these lines were conducted in duplicate on 

 estates in Antigua and St. Kitts. During the year under 

 review they have again been repeated at Brighton and 

 Buckleys in St. Kitts, and at Parham New Work in Antigua. 



The experiments form an adjunct to the main series of 

 manurial trials with plant canes, and comprise the following, 

 each in duplicate: — 



A. 200 gallons of molasses per acre 



B. 400 gallons of molasses per acre 



together with the no-manure plots of the series which con- 

 stitute the control. 



The molasses was applied to the plots in St. Kitts on 

 December 13, 1915, and to those in Antigua on March 2, 

 1916. The results obtained are given in taljular form below. 

 Duplicate plots of each experiment were reaped at Brighton 

 and Buckleys but only single plots at I'arham New Work: — 



Tons of Difference 



Number. cane on No 



per acre. Molasses. 



I. No molasses 



Mean of 12 plots 2 7 '9 



II. 200 gallons of molasses > 



Mean of 5 plots 31 '5 +3-6 



III. 400 gallons of molasses 



Mean of 4 plots 32'5 +4-6 



It will be seen that on the pre.sent occasion the appli- 

 cation of 200 gallons of molasses has increased the yield by 

 3'6 tons of cane per acre while 400 gallons of molasses have 

 increased the yield by 4 '6 tons of cane per acre. 



The means for both seasons follow, — 



Tons of Difference 



Number. cane on No 



per acre. Molasses. 



I. No molasses 



Mean of 2 plots 21-8 



200 gallons of molasses per acre 



Mean of 1 plot 24-8 4-3-0 



400 gallons of molasses per acre 



Mean of I plot 25-5 +37 



As the means of two seasons' work we find that appli- 

 cations of 200 gallons of molasses per acre have given an 

 increased yield of 3 tons of cane per acre, while applications 

 of 400 gallons of molasses per acre have given an increased 

 yield of 3'7 tons per acre. 



The results so far as they go, would appear to indicate 

 that larger increases of yield may tend to follow the applica- 

 tion of molasses to plant canes, thereby bearing out the idea 

 with which these experiments were initiated. 



It is however to be observed that, save in very excep- 

 tional circumstances, the employment of molasses in this 

 way can hardly be regarded as economical, since it would 

 appear far sounder business policy to utilize the irrecoverable 

 residues of sugar for the production of alcohol. 



At this present juncture when increased attention is 

 becoming devoted to the utilization of alcohol as a source 

 of heat, light, and power in internal combustion engines, it 

 seems not improbable that a time may not be far distant 

 when the complete utilization of such waste products in this 

 way may receive the attention which it deserves in the 

 Leeward Islands Colony. 



IL 



III. 



SOLID- AND LIQUID-CAMPHOR TREES. 



In a paper on essential oils submitted by Sir Francis 

 Watts ( West Indian Bulletin, Vol. IX, p. 275) it was stated 

 that a small quantity of wood, and of leaves and twigs from 

 the camphor trees growing in the Botanic Gardens at Domin- 

 ica had been submitted for distillation and that no solid 

 camphor was obtained nor could any be obtained by cooling 

 in oil. In this connexion, the British Consul, in a report on 

 the trade of Foochow, wrote in 1906: — 



'It is said of the existing trees that a considerable 

 number do not produce camphor. Some theorists as,sert that 

 like the coco-nut palm, Cinnamomum Camphora grows tO' 

 perfection only close to the sea. Others, that camphor trees 

 are male and female, and that crystals of the desired quality 

 are found in the male only. The theory is, however, scientifi- 

 cally inexact, since the tiower of Cinnamomum is polygam- 

 ous.' 



In 1916, further experiments were made at the Govern- 

 ment Laboratory, Antigua, when camphor wood from the 

 Dominica Station, and leaves and twias of a tree, nearl}' 100 

 years old, from St. Vincent were distilled. The results on 

 this occasion confirmed those of the previous distillation, for 

 no solid camphor was found. 



As camphor trees grow well in Mauritius, and it was desir- 

 able to investigate the yield of camphor and camphor oils of the 

 existing old trees before reafforestation of the island with 

 camphor was undertaken, investigations into the matter were 

 made by the Agricultural Department, and the re-sults showed 

 that the camphor trees of Mauritius >ield no solid camphor, 

 and only small quantities of 'light' camphor oils. 



Experience tends to show that the production of 

 camphor or oil only is related to definite varietal differences, 

 and it is interesting to learn that the Japanese can recognize 

 at sight th(> camphor producing or oil producing trees. 



According to the results obtained at the Imperial 

 Institute in 1913, samples of camphor oil from the Federated 

 Malay States were found to differ from ordinary camphor oil 

 as now placed on the market, in that the camphor has not 

 been separated and that they contained no safrole, which is 

 the characteristic and valuable constituent of the Japanese- 

 camphor oil of commerce. 



