Vol. V. No. 120. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



371 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Seedling Canes in Queensland. 



In the Forty-third Annual Report of the Queens- 

 land Acclimatization Society, it is stated that the 

 Overseer of the society's gardens paid a visit to the 

 north in August last for the purpose of obtaining 

 sugar-cane seed. The following extracts from his 

 report are of interest : — 



Every assistance was given to facilitate my object in 

 procuring seed of the best varieties of cane, which, we hope, 

 will lead to a much greater improvement in sugar-cane than 

 Las hitherto been achieved. Unfortunately, my time was so 

 limited this year that I could not carry out experiments with 

 the crossing of cane.s. Nevertheless, selecting the seeds from 

 the best varieties, and afterwards carefully selecting the 

 plants, may lead to excellent results, although I believe the 

 crossing to be the most expedient system in attaining the 

 object desired by the society. 



From the seed selected last year (190-5) 150 plants are 

 added to our already large collection of seedlings, and for the 

 first time we have planted seedlings in the field in the same 

 year as raised from seed. All our seedlings this year, as on 

 the previous occasion.s, are selected from the leading varieties, 

 including two of the West Indian seedlings, B. 208 and 

 B. 306. The crosses effected by hybridization in 1904 are 

 making vigorous growth. However, as yet, nothing definite 

 can be said concerning them, except that they are erect, 

 nice-looking canes, similar in appearance to one another, but 

 resembling neither of the parents, viz., B. 208 on Striped 

 Singapore. 



The number of seedling canes under test, and raised by 

 the society, growing at Lawnton this year, is 567. Every 

 cane is being tested as a field cane — first as 'plant,' then as 

 ' ratoon,' and observed as to colour, mode of growth, length 

 of joint, number of canes to stool, average weight per acre, 

 time in maturing, general appearance of foliage, etc. Seed- 

 lings giving a good average in the above tests are sent on to 

 the Chemist for analysis. 



Demerara Seedlings and Gulf Storms. 



Discus.sing the effect of storms on growing canes, the 

 writer of a.n article in the Lmnsinna Planter (October 6, 

 1906) states that ' in most of the cane-growing countries the 

 pro.stration of the canes before harvesting is probably the 

 rule and the harvesting of erect cane fields the exception.' 

 Tropical cane growers can wait for the maturing of their 

 blown-down canes, while the planter in Louisiana is compelled 

 to harvest them, green or ripe, to save them from winter frosts. 

 When the common red or striped canes of Louisiana are blown 

 down, a new growth of roots starts from every joint, thus 

 causing a delay in ripening. For example, in 1877, 

 a September storm was followed by a severe November 

 freeze, with the result that about half the crop was lost. 



'The D. 71 cane, though not blown down in the storm 

 of last September, was bent over, and in the exposed places 

 the tops of the stalks were broken off. In a more severe 

 storm this would cause a greater loss than if the canes were 

 prostrated like the Louisiana varieties. 



Demerara seedling No. 95, on the other hand, was bent 

 over but did not break ; it went through the severe and 

 protracted ordeal in the most satisfactory manner. 



AGRICULTURAL EFFORTS AT DOMINICA, 



In an article on ' Lime Growing in Dominica,' 

 contributed by Mr. W. J. Davis to the Demerara 

 Argosy, of November 3, the following extract deals 

 with the work of the Agricultural Department in that 

 island : — 



Dominica has to thank the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture for the change in its prospects, and it would be 

 difficult to find any place which owes so much to ihat 

 Department as the island does, for the Botanic Station 

 established by the Department has been, and is, the nursery 

 of the lime industry. Fifteen years ago an abandoned 

 cane-piece, situated partly at the base of, and partly on, 

 a steep mountain side behind the town, flanking the Roseau 

 valley, was taken over by the Department for the establish- 

 ment of a Botanic Station, while, later, another piece of 

 land, higher still, was taken over for the purpose of establish- 

 ing what promises to be a highly successful agricultural 

 school, and its care was given into the hands of Mr. J. 

 .Jones, a gentleman who received his training at Kew. Under 

 the scheme framed for the control of the garden, it was 

 arranged that the local authorities should gradually take 

 over the cost of maintenance. At the present time the 

 Imperial grant-in-aid of the Botanic Station amounts to 

 £590 annually, while a further annual grant of £500 is 

 made for the upkeep of the Agricultural Schoc!, the local 

 contribution towards the maintenance of the botanical labour 

 amounting to £500. The station is really the child of 

 Mr. Jones. Under his care the various experiments have 

 been conducted, and he is personally accjuainted with every 

 step forward which has been made. Lender his supervision 

 the station has developed into an institution, the usefulness 

 of which to the island cannot be over-rated, and can be 

 estimated only to a certain extent by the fact that, although 

 the list of applications for plants opens in January and is 

 closed in February, over 100,000 plants are distributed in the 

 course of the year. Of course, the plants sold or distributed 

 principally consist of young lime trees, but many other useful 

 experiments are being carried out by Mr. Jones. At the time 

 of the writer's visit he was engaged in an important grafting 

 experiment with cacao, which, if successful, should be of the 

 greatest value to those islands where cacao is the staple 

 product, as it will, by taking grafts of the strongest and most 

 prolific tree.s, enable a greater uniformity in the crop to be 

 obtained, and the value will consequently be increased. 

 Rubber is also being experimented with, but, as it is with the 

 cacao experiment, greater benefit will in all probability accrue 

 from them to other communities than to Dominica, the land 

 suitable for cacao, for instance, only occurring in small 

 patches in the existing cultivated area of the island. Appli- 

 cations for rubber plants and seeds have been received from 

 other islands, and Mr. Jones has now a thousand plants for 

 distribution. It is also through this gentleman's efforts that 

 it seems likely that another branch of the lime industry will 

 be established in the island : the manufacture of citrate of 

 lime. In carrying out this particular experiment, Mr. Jones 

 has proceeded on the rule of the camp, and utilized the tools 

 he has at hand. An old cacao drier has been turned into 

 a lime drier, while motive power for the fan which draws 

 the heated air through the various compartments is provided 

 by a small Merryweather steam fire engine. The results 

 so far have been excellent, and will doubtless lead to 

 suitable plants being erected on the estates, and by the 

 direct manufacture of citrate of lime the cost of the 

 condensation of citric acid for export will, to a large extent, 

 be saved. 



