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EXPERIMENTING. 



It would be clearly a waste of time and money to experiment to 

 prove questions already understood and that have stood the test of 

 experience; such, for example, as the reclamation of alkali laud, for it 

 is already known how it can be done. The things for the planter to 

 elucidate by experiment are those in his line that are not yet fully 

 understood, or have not been determined for his particular locality or 

 conditions. 



The experiments applicable for a sugar estate are connected with 

 the work of field and factory. Although experimenting is generally 

 associated only with the field work, it ought to play an equally im- 

 portant role in the factory. 



Field experiments are concerned chiefly with fertilizer tests, variety 

 tests, irrigation, cultivation, control of pests, and kindred questions 

 of interest. 



There is little need for a factory to experiment until it has intro- 

 duced modern methods and machinery; after this., has been done, exper- 

 iments for saving labor, preventing losses of sugar, methods of boiling, 

 clarification, and other factory processes, may be studied for the sake 

 of improvement. 



The essentials in all experimenting are: To diagnose all of the 

 conditions as thoroughly as possible; to carry out the experiment perse- 

 veringly and to a finish; to make careful observations to detect 

 the "point" of the experiment if it exists, no matter how obscured, 

 and after getting it, to work upon it till the desired conditions are 

 brought about or definite proof obtained that they cannot be 

 brought about. 



A few systematic field experiments have recently been begun at 

 Cartavio. A small field was laid off in 20 plots in accordance 

 with the regular methods. The experiments were as follows: 



Plot 1. Fertilizer applied sheep manure and a mixture of Peruvian 

 guano with sulphate of potash, (The mixture contained 6.5$ 

 nitrogen, 7.2% total phosphoric acid, 10^ potash.) 



Plot 2. Same mixtuie of guano arid potash, and a little sand. 



Plot 3, 4 and 5 were devoted to samples of commercial fertilizers 

 sent for trial* The analyses were not given. Each plot rep- 

 resents a sample. 



Plot 6. Same mixture of guano and potash. 



Plot 7. Sulphate of potash. 



