THE HUSBANDRY OF THE CANE 133 



passed over the row so as to mix the manure and soil and loosen up the latter ; 

 weeds between the rows are kept down as described above. 



Cuba. — F. S. Earle^ gives the following account of a method of cultiva- 

 tion advocated by the Cuban Experiment Station as the most practical 

 under the conditions there : — 



" The system recently advocated by the Cuban experiment station, while it 

 has not yet stood the test of long-continued use, promises to solve satisfactorily 

 the question of continued production of profitable stubble crops. It is as follows : — 

 Plough the land intended for fall cane in the winter or spring. Plant to velvet 

 beans in April or May. Plough these under with a disc plough in August and 

 September. Harrow two or three times with the disc harrow. In October open 

 deep planting furrows with the sulky double mould-board plough, spacing them 

 about seven feet apart. Scatter tankage and potash or some similar complete 

 fertilizer carrying about equal parts of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in the 

 bottom of the furrow, at the rate of 500 lbs. per acre. This is best done with a two- 

 horse fertilizer drill. A small cultivator shovel attached at the rear of the drill will 

 serve to mix the fertilizer at the bottom of the furrow. Now drop a continuous row 

 of seed cane in the bottom of the furrow. It is best to select plant cane or -vigorously 

 growing stubble for seed. Using that from old worn-out stubble fields is inadvis- 

 able, as it will make a weaker, less satisfactory growth. Cover ^vith the disc 

 cultivator, setting the gang to throw more or less dirt, according to the condition 

 of moisture. If the ground is moist, germination will be prompter if the cane is 

 not covered more than tAvo or three inches. If it is dry, it is necessary to cover 

 six or eight inches deep to prevent the drjdng of the seed canes. In from one to 

 two weeks, or just as the canes are peeping through the ground, harrow the field 

 thoroughly with the smoothing harrow running lengthwise of the rows. This will 

 kill any small weeds that may be starting, and will freshen the surface of the soil 

 and greatly aid germination. When the young plants are well up so that they 

 show from one end of the row to the other, begin cultivating with the ordinary 

 riding two-horse com cultivator, of course straddling the row so as to cultivate 

 two rows at once. The seven-foot rows are so wide that there ■wdll be a strip in the 

 middle not reached by the cultivator. This can be finished by the ordinary walking 

 cultivator of the Planet Junior type, or the narrow cultivator blades may be 

 removed from the regular cultivator, and eight-inch cut-away sweeps be bolted on 

 instead. These will have a wide-enough cut to meet in the centre, and as thus 

 rigged the same implement makes a good middle cultivator. Cultivation should be 

 repeated throughout the winter as often as is needed to keep do\vn all weeds and 

 maintain a dust mulch. Before spring the growth of the cane will be so great that 

 the row can no longer be straddled, and the middles only can be cultivated. In 

 April or the first part of May sow cow peas broadcast in the middles, cover them 

 with the cultivator and the work is finished. Up to this point the plan does not 

 differ materially from the ordinary- sj-stem except that the use of the riding com 

 cultivator, which works so close to the row, makes it possible to almost dispense 

 A\ith the expensive hoe. It is only the few weeds and bunches of grass that come 

 up directly in the row that have to be cut with the hoe, or better still be pulled by 

 hand. The line of cultivation thus outlined will leave the land practically level. 

 This is right for the red lands, since they have natural under-drainage, but in the 

 wetter black it should be modified by using disc cultivators which ridge up the row 

 as in Louisiana. 



" As soon as the cane is cut, take an ordinary horse rake and drive so as to 

 cross the cane rows, raking the trash from one middle and dumping it in the next 

 one. This quickly and cheaply clears half the ground so that it can be ploughed 

 and cultivated, and it provides a double mulch of trash for the other half which 

 makes it so thick and heavy that practically no grass or weeds can come through, 

 and these middles will require no further attention for the season. Now plough the 

 cleared middles with a two-horse turning plough, thro\\dng the dirt away from the 

 cane. Run the last furrow up as close to the cane stubble as possible. You will 

 not hurt the roots. They all died when the cane was cut, and the new ones will 

 form as the new shoots of cane begin to grow. If fertilizer is needed, it can now 

 be applied in this open furrow next the cane. On most lands, however, it will only 

 be necessary to use fertilizer every third or fourth year. Do not leave the furrow 

 next the cane open any longer than is necessar^^ but work the dirt back with the 

 cultivator, using some implement that viiW throw a little dirt back over the stubble. 

 Keep these alternate middles well cultivated until the beginning of the rainy season 

 and then sow them down to cow peas. This will be found much cheaper than the 

 ordinary plan of going over all the surface of the ground two or three times with 



