Vol. XVI. No. 391. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



llo 



SERIOUS SUGAR SITUATION IN CUBA. 



The following editorial I■ema^k^• are made in the Louisi- 

 ana Planter for ilan-h 24. con •erning the Cuban insur- 

 rection: — 



(Jnr latest advict'S ironi (_ iiii:i indicate conditions that 

 we believe are not appreciated b\ tlic sugir trade generally. 

 The enormous development in the sugar industry during 

 recent jears has (jccurrcd in the eastern part of the island, 

 say generally beyond Nuevitas. With the railway.s suspended, 

 with indefinite reports as to the thousands of acres of cane 

 fields that have been burned by the insurrectos, thought by 

 some to reach hundreds of thousands of acres, the lack of 

 communication a'd the indisposition to circulate any depress- 

 ing or evil news, and especially any such news as would 

 cause American intervention, have all combined to keep the 

 outside world considerably in the dark as to the true situation 

 in the great .sugar production sections in Eastern Cuba. It 

 will have been noted that very little damage has been done 

 to any of the sugar factories. The insurrectos have api)ar- 

 ently concentrated their attention on the burning of the 

 cane fields. This burning would destroy but one cro]), and 

 in that one crop but little money would be invested and 

 hence the damage not very great in actual dollars of expen- 

 diture. Such damage would of course diminish the profits 

 of the great central factories which would be and will be 

 without supplies of sugar-cane, and the material cutting 

 down of the sugar crop would, of course, i-jili uice the value 

 of sugars throughout the world. 



We are without actual knowledge wiili which to express 

 any satisfactory opinion, but it will be noted that the Cuban 

 statisticians who are naturally disposed to exaggerate the 

 Cuban crop, have already reduced their estimates to less than 

 3 millions of tons against their former expectation of 3^ 

 millions of tons. While an actual determination of the size 

 of the crop can only be had when the crop shall have been 

 finished, yet we have learned from authority i[uite conversant 

 throughout the island, that the enormous injury done 

 to the cane crop in the eastern end of the island not 

 only may, but probably will, cut the coming Cuban crop 

 down to i\ millions of tons, if not down to 2 millions of tons. 

 When we reflect that the climatic conditions in the United 

 States will cut our corn crop down from 20 to 30 per cent, 

 all over the country*, and that in Louisiana climatic conditions 

 will sometimes cut our sugar production down one-third, we 

 can readily see that the pre.sent conditions prevailing in 

 Eastern Cuba, combining as they do the maturity of the 

 sugar-cane, its arrowing and sequential deterioration, 

 the approach of the summer rainy season, the insur- 

 rectionary feeling generally prevailing and the many 

 thousands, and as we have indicated possible, the 

 many hundreds of thousand-^ of acres of sugar-cane that 

 have already been burned in the fields, lead us to think 

 seriously of the possibility, if not the probability, that the 

 coming Cuban sugar crop will fall to nearly as low as 

 2 millions of long tons of ultimate sugar production. 



It is not generally known in the temperate zone that in 

 the tropics where sugar-cane is cultivated, it is usual to leave 

 ' on the ground, or to place there, immense quantities of cane 

 I trash, the leaves of the preceding cane crop, in order to 

 i retain in the ground the necessary moisture, and in order to 

 I prevent the growth of weeds and thus to avoid the cost of 

 I cultivation, such as we effect in Louisiana to suppress weeds. 

 I This immense body of cane trash on the ground, once fired 

 (and that done intolerably dry weather, the extent of the 

 I conflagration is so serious as to actually destroy the cane. 

 tSometimes in Loui.siana with certain varieties of cane 



difficult to cut, we have burned off the cane trash in order to 

 reduce the cost of cutting in. In Cuba such a burning 

 becomes a serious matter, owing to the possible spread of 

 the fires and the destruction of the cane itself. There is very 

 little news extant concerning these conditions, but of their 

 gravity there can be no doubt. 



CONVERTING PASTURE TO ARABLE 

 CULTIVATION. 



The Board of .4i.griculiure of England and Wales is urging 

 farmers, in so far as it does not seriouslj- interfere with 

 the maintenance of live stock, to plough up their pastures in 

 order that more food crops ma}' be grown. It is possible 

 that similar proposals may be suggested in the West Indies 

 should the supply of foodstuffs become very critical, th 'Ugh 

 it has to be remembered that the relative area under pasture 

 in the West Indies is very small and occupies land which is 

 generally the poorest rather than the best, as is not the case 

 of England. 



Converting pasture to arable cultivation presents diffi- 

 culties. The means of overcoming some of the difficulties 

 are explained in the Jonrnnl of the Hoard of Aqriadture or 

 En<iland and Wides for February 1917. The three prin- 

 cipal difliculties are: (1) that of making the freshly broken 

 turf consolidate upon, and establish intimate contact with, 

 the subsoil; (2) the insect pests which may be present in 

 the turf, and which may attack and destroy the crop; 

 (3) the manuring of the land. 



The consolidation of freshly broken turf is brought about 

 by careful plouyhing and subsequently pressing the furrows 

 bj' means of the wheels of a heavy cart or similar appliance 

 driven immediately behind the plough. In plou;'hing it is 

 not merely sufficient to turn the furrows half over; they must 

 if possible be completely inverted so as to bury all the grass 

 This is best brought about by emulating the work of the 

 Kentish plough and ploughman by using not the ordinary 

 iron plough but a type of long-breisted plough. 



Regarding insect pests, little can be done other than to 

 delay planting until a good tilth has been secured so that the 

 young plants may readily 'grow away from' the attack of any 

 pest that may be present. 



In connexion with the quick growth of the crop in its 

 early stages to enable it to resist insect pests, manuring 

 is of the utmost value. It is recommended ihat for 

 corn crops, sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate (the 

 latter to stimulate root development) should be applied. 

 Although not mentioned in the article under notice, it is 

 likely that a dressint; of lime would tend to improve the 

 texture of the soil, increase bacterial activity, and to some 

 extent exert an insecticidiil effect — all of which would tend 

 to benefit the crops it is desired to grow. 



Sugar-cane in Uganda. -—Sugar cane is receiving 

 more attention and many now varieties have been intniduced 

 from various parts of the world for experimental purposes. 

 At present it is chiefiy grown in small patches by natives 

 for consumption in the areen state. It is mentioned that on 

 two estates the crop is cultivated for making into unrefined 

 sugar for local .sale, a little c>oly being exported. Cunditiona 

 are favourable for a considerable extension of sugar cane 

 cultivation. (Annual IJeport of the Departm»nt of Agricul- 

 ture, LTganda, IQl'i-lG ) 



