149 



How "planted and how cultivated, — A full description of the 

 method of planting and cultivating has been written by Mr, 

 Vice-Consul Murison (Almeria), as follows: — 



(Describing Adra).^ — The land is first well manured and 



smoothed 



ploughed. 



a plank or board used as a sort of clod-breaker, on which the 



mule 



Stable 



manure is preferred to artificial- After the ploughing and 

 smoothing down, tracks or furrows are made with a grub-hoe, 

 ^^ azada/' These tracks are about 33 inches wide by 8 or 9 inches 

 deep. Cuttings of the cane, about 15 inches in length, already 

 in a state of germination through having been covered up for 

 some time, are then laid into them thus : — 



The long black lines represent the sides of the beds (tracks or 

 furrows), while the short lines denote the cuttings. 



Three parallel lines of cuttings being placed in a track, and 

 the cuttings are so arranged that the interstices of each row 

 come opposite the centres of the cuttings in other rows. 



These cuttings are then slightly covered with earth from the 

 sides, and as growth continues the covering up is completed till 

 the whole be quite flat as before the tracks were formed. During 

 this period the land is kept free of weeds. On the flattening and 



manure 



manuring ^renerallv takes olace from 



July imtil the 15th of August. Special care is taken before the 

 final covering up and the application of the manure that every 

 weed has been removed. Immediately after manuring (fertilis- 



successn 



every 15 or 20 days till the period for cutting commences. 



Replanting takes place every 10 or 12 years, the land, before 

 the plants are put in, undergoing a thorough trenching with the 

 grub-hoe, so as to bring new earth to the surface. (Others state 

 that replanting should take place every 7 or 8 years.) 



Fertilising, — In recent years additional attention has been 

 given to the question of chemical manures or fertilisers, accord- 

 ing to the requirements and nature of the soil. A mixture said 

 now to be much in use has the following guaranteed richness in 

 radicals : 



Ammonic and nitric nitrogen — T-8 per cent, 

 Potas, anh. — 10 per cent. 

 Phosphoric acid — 10 per cent. 



This is applied once or twice during the growth and ripening of 

 the cane in tremendous quantities, as much as 1| tons for 

 2\ acres (1500 kgs. per hectare). 

 ^Irrigation. — Irrigation should be resorted to every 15 or 20 



