19 



less resistant to drought. 



After the application of fertilizer, water may be run on the field, 

 but only enough to moisten the earth thoroughly and not in sufficient 

 quantities to cause underground drainage. After the first irrigation the 

 fertilizer will be pretty well set. A good practice is to apply the fertil- 

 izer, cover it up, and allow the cane to remain without irrigation for 

 several days. 



At present, fertilizer is put on the field by hand, but with the 

 parallel furrow planting there is no good reason for not applying it 

 with a fertilizer drill particularly with ratoon crops. Should some of the 

 soils be too hard to permit drilling on plant cane, fertilizer could be 

 drilled on the surface and covered by a single plow. 



fertilizing plants and ratoons. As planting is a matter of considera- 

 ble expense, the more cuts the planter can make the greater will be 

 his profits. A strong rooted plant cane is more apt to produce a good 

 ratoon than a weak one, and for this reason the plant cane should re- 

 ceive as large an installment of fertilizer as it can take without pro- 

 ducing an over rank growth. Ratoons should have an abundant sup- 

 ply of fertilizer placed along their roots underneath the ground. By 

 judicious fertilizing, one or two additional cuts may be obtained. 



It would seem that in Peruvian soil as a whole, the element most 

 needed is nitrogen, in some instances potash, and of lesser importance, 

 phosphoric acid and lime. The soils are naturally rich containing a 

 good supply of food elements that need only to be made available. Some 

 of the soils are almost inexhaustible. Owing to their lime and other 

 elements, they permit the addition of fertilizers in large quanti- 

 ties. A fertilizer that would be well adapted to most of these soils is 

 one containing about 8% nitrogen, 6% potash, and 3% phosphoric 

 acid. 



