784 



as close together as is consistent with proper cultivation with 

 modem machinery, this distance appearing to be about 5 ft. 



for the thicker types of cane, such as " Cheribon," " Lahaina/ 

 " B 208/' etc., and from 6^-6 ft. for the more abundantly suckering 

 types such as the ''Java Canes" the '' Uba," the "Japanese 

 Bamboo '* type, etc, (Rosenfeld, Inter. Sugar Journ. Nov. 1920, 

 p. 635). A good yield would be about 4 tons of sugar per acre; 

 but considerable variation might be expected according to 

 variety, cUmatic, soil and other conditions. Of the canes above ' 

 mentioned, the " JJba " (also known as " Cavangerie " or 

 " Kavangire ") — the standard cane in Natal, in Madeira (Inter. 

 Sugar Journ., Aug. 1909, p. ,415) and in Portuguese East Africa 

 (West India Comm, Circ, April 28th, 1921, p. 165) — has been 

 recommended as the most suitable cane for West African estates 

 (I.e. July 22nd, 1920, p. 216); in Jamaica, where it is regarded 

 as resistant to disease and immune to the " Mosaic disease," it 

 has been found to yield 26-8 tons of cane per acre — giving 

 17-38 per cent, sucrose (Cousins, Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric, 

 Jamaica, year ending March 1920; Inter. Sugar Journ., Dec. 

 1920, p. 670) and in Natal the tonnage sometimes reaches 60 tons 

 of cane per acre and at the highest yield it takes about 8 tons 

 of " Uba " canes to produce 1 ton of sugar (I.e. Jan. 1920, p. 14). 

 The chief advantages of this cane appear to be its hardiness, 

 freedom from disease, and that it ratoons well. In some places 

 it has been discarded as of little or no value, probably due to 

 some unsuitable local condition; the thin canes contain much 

 fibre, are difficult to crush, and require more powerful machinery 

 than the thick [tropical] canes (I.e. p. 13), while in Madeira — 

 although its purity and sucrose contents are considerably less 

 than in the old sorts which " Uba " seems to have replaced — 

 its powers of resistance in a much-exhausted soil is a strong 

 recommendation (I.e. Aug. 1909, p. 415). It is suggested that 

 if this cane is to bear out the above recommendation as the 

 most suitable for West Africa, that experiments be made at 

 the higher altitudes, where for instance in Nigeria it may succeed 

 when the purely tropical canes fail. In the Zambesi river area, 

 where this cane is grown, the rainfall varies from 30-45 in. per 

 annum : the soil varies from a fairly stiff clay to a light sandy 

 loam of good depth. " The fields are mostly laid out in squares 

 with broad traces round them to enable the cultivator engines 

 to work easily, and so that portable light lines may be laid to 

 feed the main lines. After the land has been cleared it is double 

 ploughed, 18-24 in. deep, by Fowler's steam cultivators. Shallow 

 drains are then constructed 40-50 ft. apart by a special plough 

 for surface drainage, whilst another plough ridges out the cane 

 rows 6 ft. apart. The land is then left fallow until the rains 

 start, when the cane plant cuttings are put in by hand and lightly 

 covered with earth. As soon as the plants are high enough, 

 they are weeded and moulded and kept clean until they are 

 about 6 months old, from which time no more labour is expended 



