83 



i]ualities of the varieties already present with a large size and greater 

 }ield per hectare. Furthermore^ even if the native variety should still 

 prove best for general cultivation, it is very advisable that each hacienda 

 should have one or two other kinds available for planting in case of 

 need, since costly experience in other countries has proved that where 

 Qne variety of cane has been grown for a long time, to the exclusion 

 of all others, it may suddenly succumb to the attacks of diseases, which, 

 doing little damage at the start, after existing for many generations 

 under exactly the same conditions, become much more virulent and para- 

 sitic in character toward the particular variety of cane which they have 

 been attacking. 



Such a condition of affairs, as shown by Tempany " in the case of a certain 

 variety growing in the West Indies, is more liable to occur with a soft and juicy 

 cane than with one containing a larger amount of fiber. It may best be held in 

 check by the temporary substitution of other varieties of more resistant cane. 



THE CULTIVATION OF SUGAR CANE AND THE PRODUCTION OF SUGAR AS 

 CARRIED ON AT THE PRESENT TIME IN NEGROS. 



PREPARATIOX ' OF THE SOIL. 



It is practically the universal custom in Negros to burn the cane 

 fields immediately after removing the season's crop of cane, or as 

 soon thereafter as weather conditions will permit, thus ridding the land 

 of trash and leaving the ground in a fit condition for plowing without 

 delay. This practice is of further value in that injurious insects 

 which might otherwise breed in the decaying leaves and stubble are 

 in a large measure destroyed, and the potash and phosphoric acid con- 

 tained in the trash are made more readily available to the coming 

 crop. It has the disadvantage, however, that practically all the nitrogen 

 content of this vegetable matter is lost during the burning process, 

 and a soil already comparatively poor in nitrogen is still more im- 

 poverished each year. However, results on the whole seem to justify 

 burning the trash, as Philippine cane in general is remarkably^ free 

 from disease and from insect pests. 



Shortly after removing a crop of cane and burning a field — as a 

 rule, between the months of November and April— if it is to be replanted 

 for the coming season, the ground is first given a preliminary plowing, 

 termed in Visayan "lusoc," each field being plowed from two to six 

 times before it is considered in fit condition for planting. If the 

 field to be planted is one that has lain fallow from the previous year, 

 this preliminary tillage of the soil may begin as early as July or 

 August in order to have everything in readiness by the time the plant- 

 ing season begins. 



"The Passing of the Bourbon Cane in Antigua. West Indian Bull. (1909), 

 10, 34-54. 



