238 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



tions of various fertilizers were iiitrogeu 111.75, pliospliorns 109.66, potash 

 114.11, uitrogeu and pliospliorus IIS.IS, nitrogen and potasli 119.38, pliospliorus 

 and potasli 113.29, and nitrogen, pliosphorus, and potash 113.63. It appears that 

 when h^nds have rested for some years tlie rattoons need more fertilizers than 

 the plant cane and that for these a complete fertilizer is best. 



Plats planted at various distances and limed at a cost of $1.28 per acre pro- 

 duced an increased yield valued at $7.15 per acre, but the limed plats pro- 

 duced lower yields of rattoons than those not limed. It is recommended that 

 heavy clay lands be given an application of burnt lime followed by an annual 

 application of a complete fertilizer with nitrogen as the principal element. In 

 another experment the check plat yielded 44 tons per acre; plats limed at the 

 rate of 500 lbs. i)er acre with and without fertilizer produced yields of 57 

 and 50 tons, respectively; and those limed at the rate of 3,000 lbs. per acre 

 with and without fertilizer yielded at the rates of 62 and 69 tons, resi^ec- 

 tively. Wet swamp land, tile drained and i)lanted at distances of 10 ft. apart 

 each way, produced yields of 56.1 tons and 39.8 tons per acre, respectively, when 

 limed with 5 gal. per hill of burnt lime and the same amount of unburnt lime. 

 The unlimed cane yielded 24.9 tons per acre. The lime used in this experi- 

 ment was a Porto Rico soft coral limestone. 



Porto Rico caves contain large deposits of very rich bat guano, some of 

 which contains over 20 per cent of i)hosphoric acid. This material was tested 

 in comparison with lime, each being used in the cpiantity of 1 shovelful per hill 

 on plats on which the hills were 5 ft. apart each way. The guano plat gave 

 4O3 lbs. of cane per hill, while the lime and check plats each gave 33 lbs. per 

 hill. In another experiment an application of i liter of guano and h liter of 

 burnt lime per hill was followed by a yield of 42.7 tons per acre ; of 1 liter of 

 guano, by 47.6 tons; of 1 liter of lime, by 43.6 tons; and from the check plat 

 of 36 tons. 



Tests of 4 complete fertilizers at the station indicate that nitrogen is the 

 element most needed by the soils of that section. The results with potash and 

 phosphorus were lower than with no fertilizer. Tests of lime and of 5 complete 

 fertilizers at Hormigueros indicate that the soils in that vicinity are not in 

 proper physical condition to give good returns from an application of fertilizers, 

 but that these soils should be heavily limed to improve their physical condition. 

 Negative and variable results were also obtained at Santa Rita, Central Ingenio, 

 and Central Merceditas, as the soils were not in a condition to respond to heavy 

 applications of fertilizei'S. Five experiments conducted at Guanica Centrale 

 indicated that tankage was a more effective source of nitrogen than sulphate of 

 ammonia or nitrate of scda, and the 2 experiments in which calcium cyanamid 

 was used indicated that this fertilizer was more effective than any of the others. 

 At Mayaguez, nitrogen produced a greater profit with plant canes thaii with 

 rattoons, but the reverse was true of phosphorus and of potash. 



The loss of weight in shipping was found to vary from 5.8 to 8 per cent. 

 Purity percentages show a rapid deterioration in the value of canes after cut- 

 ting. The average loss arising from delays of from 12 hours to 6 days is esti- 

 mated at 10 cts. per ton. 



Beport on wheat growing in Verrieres in 1909, P. de Vilmorin (Bui. Soc. 

 Agr. France, 1910, Afn-. 1, Sup., ;>/>. ,'/2--J.S). — The yields per acre of straw and 

 grain, the quality of straw, tillering power, resistance to lodging and diseases, 

 the form of the ear, and the earliness of 38 varieties of fall wheat and 11 

 varieties of spring wheat are given in this article. 



A quantitative method for the determination of hardness in wheat, H. F. 

 Roberts (Kansas 8ta. Bui. 167, pp. 371-390, figs. 9). — Hardness in wheat is con- 

 sidered indicative of superior milling quality, and this bulletin descx'ibes an 



