72 



CHAPTER V 



loss from washing could be avoided by terracing or running the rows in irregular 

 circles following the contour lines, as is done so universally in cotton fields on the 

 broken hill-lands of the southern United States. These irregular, crooked rows 

 seom unsightly and awkward to those who are not accustomed to them, but when 

 properl}' laid out they are very effective in preventing loss from washing. , 



Black Lands with Impervious Clay Subsoil.— The hlac'k lands that are underlaid 

 with a stiff impervious clay present some of the most difficult problems to the sugar 

 planter. They are naturally very fertile, and, when conditions are favourable, they 

 yield maximum crops. But most of these lands are quite level, and the subsoil 

 holds the rainfall, so that the cane often suffers from a lack of drainage. In wet 

 seasons, too, it is difficult, or often impossible, to give sufficiently frequent cultiva- 

 tions to keep down the weeds. These troubles are not so obvious when the land is 

 new, as the immense number of decaying roots leave the soil more or less open and 

 porous, so that the surface water passes away more readily. With age the soil 

 settles together and becomes more compact and impermeable. All old lands of this 

 class will be greatly improved by establishing a carefully planned system of 

 drainage ditches and keepmg them always well cleaned. Ridging up in cultivation, 

 so as to leave deep water-furrows between the rows, will also be very advantageous. 



Crawlev^^ has published the following analyses of Cuban soils : — 

 Average Composition of Cuban Soils (Crawley). 



Province. 

 Pinar del Rio 

 Havana 

 Matanzas 

 St. Clara 

 Camaguey 

 Oriente 



Number of 

 samples. 

 66 

 30 

 13 

 35 

 26 



Lime%* 

 0-48 

 1-57 



1-62 



1.66 

 2-57 



2-31 



Phosphoric 

 Potash % acid% 



0-44 



0-37 

 o* 30 



0-33 

 o- 52 



0-59 



0-40 

 0-51 

 o- 71 



0-34 

 0*40 

 0-42 



Nitrogen % 

 0-25 

 0-27 

 o- 21 



0-33 

 o- 21 



0'22 



Egyptian Soils.— The Egyptian soils upon which the cane is culti- 

 vated are in Upper Egypt, and lie in a narrow strip on both banks of the Nile ; 

 the soil is all an alluvial deposit of great depth, overlying a basis of sand, and 

 has been formed, and is continually renewed, by the overflow of the Nile. 

 Numerous analyses have been made of these soils, many of which have been 

 collected by Pellet and Roche."" They remark : — 



" The soil of this district is very uniform in its general composition ; the 

 percentage of calcium carbonate is from 5 to 7, of sand from 20 to 60, of clay from 

 20 to 60, of humus o- 8 to I • 3. The very compact nature of the greater part of the 

 soils attracts attention, and certainly influences to a greater or less extent the 



♦Occasional samples testing over 20 per cent, of lime perhaps tend to make the average percentage of this 

 material too high. — (N.D.). 



