go TlMEHRl. 



as we have stumps and tops to do it with, and we 

 must weed, but forking is out of the question, and we all 

 know what it means to weed and not be able to fork 

 within a couple of weeks afterwards, the fields get dirty 

 again in no time, and now that the pinch for labourers is 

 felt, the resident gangs are quite unable to keep estates 

 clear and Managers have to offer high rates in order to 

 try and induce outside people or task gangs to weed 

 their fields. All this continual trampling of workers on 

 the sodden land has the effe6l of entirely closing up the 

 drainage pores, and the fields soon have pra6lically no 

 drainage except on the surface. In this state they remain 

 until dry weather comes again and the sun causes the 

 land to crack and open. When we have eight months 

 of continual wet weather, it is not easy to decide on 

 what is best to do, to help the starved-looking, 

 chilled canes. Drilling is held by many Planters to be 

 the corre6l thing, but some have long been of opinion it 

 is not the infallible remedy it is said to be, and indeed the 

 results of this work during two late crops on the estate I 

 have charge of point to its not being helpful at all ; these 

 two years shew respe6lively 5 0/0 and 16 0/0 increased 

 yield in favour of undrilled fields — of course plants were 

 excluded. I may say the soils in both cases were very 

 similar, and the drills were from i to 3 years old. It 

 seems to me drilling has the following obje6lions : — 

 1st, It is expensive work ; and, it does not help drain- 

 age materially ; 3rd, it is heavy work, and as it is gene- 

 rally done in wet weather a great deal of puddling of 

 the soil by the shovelmen is inevitable, and so probably 

 does a deal more harm than good ; and 4th, it materially 

 diminishes the land available for food to the cane-roots 



