The Barbados Sugar Cane Experiments. 353 



loss necessarily being greater with nitrate of soda, for 

 which the soil has no retentive power, than with sulphate 

 of ammonia ; but we find that, in almost all other experi- 

 ments as yet made, sulphate of ammonia has given, 

 though in very varying degrees, more satisfa6tory results 

 with the sugar cane than nitrate of soda. At Dodds, 

 since 1885, the application of sulphate of ammonia and 

 nitrate of soda in quantities supplying equal proportions 

 of nitrogen was made the subje6l of twenty-five 

 stri6lly comparative experiments, in two only of which 

 nitrate of soda gave the better result. The follow- 

 ing shews the average results of these experiments : — 



Nitrate of Bod a 



Bulphate of 

 Ammonia . 



Weight 



oanes ^ 



acre. 



tns. cwt 



18-3 





5 

 61-2 



3,435 

 8,780 



Lbs. per 

 Gallon. 



ID S I j 



£|JSU- Glu- 

 aO ^HiCrosecose. 



1086 11 -4 1 1-988 -093 

 1085 11-3 1-963 -075 



11 



7,420 



Gain by use of 

 Salphate of 

 Ammonia. 



Cwts. 



of 

 Canes 



50-3 



Sucrose 



in juice. 



lbs. 



612 



Mixtures of dried blood and sulphate of ammonia 

 did not give equally favourable results as the use of 

 sulphate of ammonia alone, but gave better results than 

 those obtained with nitrate of soda. These experiments 

 were made to test the truth of the assertions often 

 made by makers of commercial sugar cane manures 

 about the great advantage of the supply of nitrogen to 

 the cane being gradual, and that this advantage is 

 obtained in their manures by judicious mixtures of 

 nitrates, ammonia salts and nitrogenous organic matters. 

 The results of the experiments showed that these advan- 

 tages, if they do exist, are of but little value, and agree 

 with an opinion I had expressed many years ago ; that the 



