54 MANUAL FOR SUGAR GROWERS. 



the trash for some gain in destroying certain pests, 

 and the practical planter will readily discriminate 

 between wise and unwise burning. 



It is a common practice for planters to remove 

 the fine mould accumulated in hollows and water- 

 courses and return it to the land. There are several 

 things to be considered in estimating the value of 

 this practice. In the first place it is very necessary 

 that ponds and watercourses should be kept from 

 silting up, so that the accumulated mould must be 

 removed at intervals ; in the second place it is de- 

 sirable that the soil washed from the fields should, if 

 possible, be restored to them ; again, it frequently 

 happens that the soil in certain places is shallow, so 

 that increased crops will result if by covering with 

 mould an increased depth can be obtained. Mould 

 obtained from watercourses and ponds often contains 

 a fair amount of plant-food, but not to the extent 

 which planters often think, and thus they frequently 

 overestimate its value. The following analysis of 

 mould from a watercourse, which was forwarded to 

 the author as an illustration of a good mould, will 

 prove instructive if compared with the analyses of 

 soil given on page 23, when it will be seen that 

 it is deficient in both potash and phosphoric acid. 



ANALYSIS OF "MOULD," POUNDS PER MILLION. 



Silica 1,480 



Lime 3,836 



Magnesia 1,350 



Oxide of iron 1,750 



Oxide of manganese 900 



Potash 41 



Phosphoric acid 47 



Nitrogen 1,687 



The cost of removing mould and spreading it on 

 the land is often very great, from 6 to 10 per acre 



