MANUAL FOR SUGAR GROWERS. 41 



the bottom of the furrows. If farm -yard or pen 

 manure is used, and either this or green dressing is 

 generally very necessary, it should be well ploughed 

 in during the preparation of the land for planting, 

 preferably before the holeing or banking process. 

 It is not an uncommon practice to defer the appli- 

 cation of manure of this kind until the preparation 

 of the land is completed, and often until after the 

 cane has been planted. This is a mistake, as the 

 function of pen manure is a double one : first, to sup- 

 ply vegetable matter to form humus, the importance 

 of which has been fully dwelt upon and its action in 

 loosening the soil explained ; and it is as a mechani- 

 cal manure, as a means of improving condition or 

 heart, that pen manure is most useful ; its second 

 property, that of a fertilizer, is not to be overlooked, 

 but is secondary to the one already alluded to ; and it 

 is to secure the full benefit of the first of these prop- 

 erties that complete covering and mixing with the 

 soil is desirable. 



Another method of preparing the land for plant- 

 ing, which has some good features, consists in cross- 

 holeing ; this differs from the plain holeing or bank- 

 ing in having a cross-bar raised at right angles to 

 the furrow, thus forming a number of square holes, 

 and in the bottom of each a cane-plant is placed. 

 The use of cross -holeing appears to be twofold : in 

 the first place it restrains the flow of surface water 

 and prevents loss of mould by washing in heavy rain ; 

 if the land be sufficiently porous the water retained in 

 the holes will soak through the soil and drain away 

 without injury to the plant ; on stiff land or in a wet 



