"Vol. V. No. 110. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



221 



INFLUENCE OP MARL ON HEAVY 

 CLAY SOILS. 



The recently issued Report (Part II) on sugar- 

 cane experiments in the Leeward Islands contains an 

 appendix on the ' Influence of marl (carbonate of lime) 

 on heavy clay soils.' Dr. Watts makes the following 

 interesting observations : — 



In last seasons' Report, Part II, p. 11, an account was 



.-given of a series of experiments at Bendal's where the usual 

 experiments were laid out in duplicate. In one series, the 

 field had received the ordinary preparation ; in the other, an 

 addition of 40 tons per acre of marl, containing 58-8 per 

 cent, of carbonate of lime. In the experiments there recoid- 



■ed it was seen that the use of carbonate of lime increased the 

 yield of cane by 1 •? tons of cane per acre. 



The experiments with ratoon canes were carried on on 

 the same plots, no additional marl being employed. The 

 inarled area has given an increased yield of 0'9 ton of cane 

 per acre, the increase in the two crops, under very adverse 



■conditions as regards weather, being 2'6 tons of cane, worth 

 some 28s. With more favourable seasons, better results may 

 be looked for. 



With the introduction of tramways at Bendal's, the 



■application of marl is taking place on a large scale ; a consider- 

 able area being treated with some 60 tons per acre. Owing 



'to favourable situation and careful laying of the tramway", the 

 marl can be brought from the quarry to the field by gravity ; 

 no power being required for haulage, the empty trucks only 

 requiring to be hauled back. In this way the application is 

 inexpensive, the actual cost being £3 17s. 9(/. per acre. 



In this connexion, it is interesting to refer to the remarks 

 of Mr. A. D. Hall, Director of the Rothamsted Experimental 

 •Station, in his article on ' The Accumulation of Fertility by 

 Land allowed to run wild' (Journal of Agricultural Science, 

 Vol. I, Part 2, p. 241), in which he describes the condition 

 of two fields on the Ilothamsted Station, namely, Broadbalk 

 and Geescroft. The whole paper is extremely interesting, 

 but space forbids anything but a brief reference. He writes: 

 'It is difficult to account for the extraordinary differences 

 in the herbage of these two pieces of land ; the two fields are 

 not far apart, and, as the mechanical analyses given in the 

 table show, the soils are of very similar physical struc- 

 ture. . . . Despite the identity of the mechanical composition 



-of the two soils, Geescroft field, when under arable cultivation, 

 had always the reputation of being the wettest and most 

 unworkable field on the farm. During the earlier years of 

 the Piothamsted experiments, both oats and beans were grown 

 upon this field, yet it was found impossible to continue the 

 trials, so frequent were the failures to obtain a plant through 

 the intractable nature of the ground in a wet season. Where 

 nitrate of soda was used, the land became specially difficult 

 to manage, remaining persistentlj' wet, and then drying with 

 an excessively hard crust. . . . The vital difference to be 

 found in the soil of the two fields is the presence of chalk in 

 the surface soil of Broadbalk and its absence in the Geescroft 

 soil. The soil of the Rothamsted estate contains naturally 

 no carbonate of lime, but during the eighteenth century most 

 of the arable fields were heavily chalked by the simple process 

 of sinking a pit through the clay to the chalk rock below, 

 ■which was then drawn out and spread on the land. Thanks 

 to this, the Broadbalk field contains to-day about 3 per cent. 



■of chalk in its surface soil, though little or none is present in 

 the lower layers ; the Hoos field contains about 2 per cent., 

 Barn field about the same, while some parts of Agdell field 



■contain as much as 5 per cent. Now, the Geescroft field 



■ contains about the same proportion as is to be found in the 



natural uncultivated soil from the adjoining Harpenden 

 Common, a little more than yj,- per cent, of carbonate of lime, 

 so that evidently it must have escaped the chalking processes, 

 which were already dying out when Sir John Lawes came 

 into possession in 183-5. The table shows the amount of 

 calcium carbonate in the first and second 9 inches of the soils 

 in these two fields and of the uncultivated Harpenden 

 Common. 



CALCIUM C.i-EBONATE IN ROTHAIISTED SoiLS, 1904. 

 PEECENT.iGE IN SOIL DRIED AT 100°. 



Broadbalk. Geescroft. ^ ' 



Common. 



1st. depth 0-9 inches 3-32.5 0-160 0-210 



2nd. depth 10-18 „ 0-126 0-131 0-136 



'It is impossible to resist the conclusion that the 

 unworkability of Geescroft, which practically caused its 

 abandonment as an experimental field and, indeed, as arable 

 land at all, and the extraordinary differences to be .seen in the 

 natural herbage it now carries, are due to the lack of chalking 

 received bj' other Rothamsted fields.' 



The facts here brought to light have an obvious applica- 

 tion in many parts of Antigua, where there exist, on the one 

 hand, stiff clay soils destitute of carbonate of lime, and on 

 the other hand, hills of soft limestone and marl. The soils 

 of the Bendal's valley consist largely of stiff' clays, difficult to 

 work and quickly losing their tilth. It is reasonable to 

 suppose that their condition may be greatly improved by the 

 use of m8,rl, and the Rothamsted experience lends assurance 

 to this view. The work now in progress at Bendal's is 

 therefore of considerable interest and importance, as its 

 success will lead to improvement in the agricultural condition 

 of a relatively large tract of land now difficult to work. In 

 this connexion, it may be remarked that the re-introduction 

 of steam-ploughing indicates that very substantial improve- 

 ment is being attempted on sound scientific lines, the success 

 of which will be highly beneficial to the island. 



Other districts in Antigua offer somewhat similar 

 conditions, so that success at Bendal's will probably be 

 followed by a similar development of energy in other places. 



STRAW HAT INDUSTRY AT CURACOA. 



The following is extracted from the Consular 

 Report on Curaf;oa for 190-5: — 



The straw hat industry has met with ready assistance 

 from the Government and the Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture, etc. A fine quality of straw has been imported 

 and skilful hat weavers have been engaged and are paid by 

 the Government to attend classes, which are opened thrice 

 a week, to teach the people to make hats of fine quality. 

 The apprentice pays for the straw used and receives the pro- 

 ceeds of the sale of the hats by the Society for the Promotion of 

 Agriculture. Many fine hats from 2 to .5 florins [3s. 4f?. to 

 Ss. 4fZ.] apiece have already been bought by exporters and 

 shipped to America and European markets. There is every 

 reason to expect that they will .secure a market, because the 

 hats are very well made and can compete in price with the 

 Panama hats. 



The demand for ordinary Cura^oa straw hats has 

 increased considerablj', qualities exported being better than 

 in previous years. 



This industry has assumed considerable importance. 

 The exports of hats amounted in 1904 to 46,-593 dozen, 

 of the value of £II,C48, 



