Dec. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 853 



The Culture of Sugar Cane in 

 New South Wales* 



[Continued from page 780.] 



A. H. HAYWOOD, Manager, Wollongbar Experiment Farm. 



The Preparation of the Land. 



Deep and thorough working of the soil is an essential preliminary to the 

 planting of sugar cane. Not alone is this necessary because the plant is of 

 deep-rooting habit, but a plant with such a strong vegetative growth and a 

 capacity for producing in a few years two or three crops, often totalling 

 over 100 tons, must in the very nature of things be provided with ample 

 soil in friable, cultivated condition, in which the roots can forage for plant- 

 food. The fii'St ploughing should therefore be not less than 8 or 10 inches 

 deep, and if the subsoil is stiff, subsoiling should be effected with a plough 

 designed for the purpose, or with a plough of ordinary construction from 

 which the mouldboard has been removed. If the land is not too well drained, 

 care must be taken not to bring sour soil to the surface. 



This initial ploughing is best done late in the autumn or early enough in 

 the winter to allow a fallow period of some four or five months before plant- 

 ing in September. The effect is twofold. It exposes the soil to atmospheric 

 action, allowing sun, frost, and rain to ameliorate the physical condition, 

 and affording the soil bacteria opportunity to elaborate plenty of plant-food 

 in readiness to maintain vigorous plant life later on. 



A second ploughing in the spring is necessary further to pulverise the 

 soil and ensure a loose friable condition, and this must be followed by 

 work with surface-working implements that will prepare a suitable seed- 

 bed. A third ploughing is preferred by some farmers, and no doubt is 

 necessary in stiffer soils. The cane plant is a particularly delicate one in 

 its early stages, and if it is to earn the maximum of profit for the farmer, it 

 must have thoroughly favourable soil conditions. No amount of after- 

 cultivation wiU overcome careless preparation of the seed-bed, and when it 

 is considered that the plant is to last for four to six years, and to carry two 

 or three heavy crops of top-growth, it is apparent that thoroughness is quite 

 worth while. It can be added with justice that for the most part the New 

 South Wales grower understands and appreciates this, and lays a good 

 foundation in this respect. 



Planting the Crop. 



The methods of planting the sugar cane crop necessarily differ with the 

 conditions. A great many growers in this State prefer to plant on the square 

 so that intercultivation can be carried out both ways, and two conditions 

 favour them in doing so— the nature of the soil and the varieties they 

 grow. On the stony ridges of the Cudgen, drill-planting is the only thing 



