62 



Physical composition. 



Nature of soil. 



Surface. 

 Subsoil - 



>1 mm. 



gravel. 



Per cent. 



7.6 



10.4 



1.0-0.5 

 mm., 

 coarse 

 sand. 



Per cen*. 

 2.49 

 2.72 



0.5-0.25 



mm., 



medium 



sand. 



Per cent. 



9.47 



10(23 



0.25-0.10 

 mm., 

 fine 

 sand. 



Per cent. 

 13.57 

 13.90 



0.10-0.05 

 mm., 



very fine 

 sand. 



Per cent. 

 15.58 

 14.62 



0.05-0.005' <0.005 

 mm., [ mm., 

 silt, i clay. 



Total. 



Per cent. 

 39.58 

 36.95 



Per cent. 

 19.26 

 21.59 



Per cent. 



99.94 



100. 01 



Taken as a whole, these may be classed among the most fertile soils 

 of Negros, being exceptionally rich in potash and having a content 

 of lime, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen somewhat above the average. 

 Individually, there is considerable variation, as might be expected in 

 a place which, unlike some of the sugar lands of the west coast, does 

 not lie close along the banks of one large river, but is broken up by 

 many small streams, valleys, and hills, yet, out of the entire series 

 of soils here analyzed, not one could really be called lacking in fertility, 

 as judged by the standards of what constitutes a good cane soil in 

 this island. 



Those soils stated by the owners to be relatively poor producers, viz, numbers 

 66, 85, 86, and 87, while not lacking in potash or lime, are decidedly lower in 

 both phosphoric acid and nitrogen than the majority of fields in this district; 

 still, soils of a similar composition are considered very productive in districts 

 such as Silay or Bago. The unproductiveness of numbers 69 and 84 is un- 

 doubtedly occasioned by the deleterious effect of sea water on the roots of the 

 cane, the increased proportion of soda to potash and of magnesia to lime in their 

 subsoils as compared with the surface being pretty good evidence that the lower 

 strata here are at high tide reached by seepage from the ocean. In number 61, 

 also, this effect is indicated, although to a somewhat less marked extent. 



On the other hand, the five soils, numbers 63, 65, 68, 70, and 71, are selected 

 as being exceptionally fertile. They are richer than the average in all the 

 chemical elements considered essential to a good cane soil, some of them being 

 especially so as regards lime. 



With the exception of the extreme cases just mentioned, differences 

 in productivity must be due to other causes, such as physical charac- 

 teristics of the soils, time under cultivation, care taken in cultivating 

 and planting, weather conditions, etc. The element of chance, also, 

 is no small factor in sugar growing on many soils. If cane is planted 

 very early, before the rains have stopped, an extra heavy period of 

 rains may ensue late in the season and literally drown out the young 

 cane, especially in heavy, undrained soil, while a late planting may 

 be followed by such excessively dry weather that the plants wither and 

 parch in the ground, and, in sandy soils, are either killed outright 

 or, in heavier ones, have such a poor start that they are unable to 

 stand up before the rains of the next season. 



