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prolonged drought with heavy dews at night. These are the reasons 

 why we cultivate. With these reasons before us, the question may be 

 asked, which best promotes the above changes and conditions, the culti- 

 vator which stirs only to limited depths and never inverts ? or the 

 plough which runs six to twelve inches deep, completely inverting the 

 soil and frequently burying plant foods and ferments beyond resurrec- 

 tion for the growing crop ? The plain and candid reply, is, the culti- 

 vator. Again, but little stress has been laid upon the damage done the 

 cane by the frequent cutting of its roots by the turn ploughs, a damage 

 often fatal to good crops, and recognised in the adage among our older 

 planters " that the cane never grew until it was laid by." 



It is almost impossible to estimate correctly the annual damage to 

 the cane crop of this State by the use of turn ploughs in its cultivation. 

 Happily the custom is fast disappearing, and the presence of the middle 

 cultivator on our market, and its trial by many planters this year, gives 

 promise of an early adoption of cultivators alone, as implements suitable 

 for the cultivation of cane. (^) 



The element of cost in the use of plough and cultivator has been left to 

 the last ; because scientific and practical reasons were convincing with- 

 out it. But in this day of strong competition between the new and the 

 rapidly developing beet sugar industry and the ancient, but seriously 

 imperiled, sugar cane planting and manufacturing, every possible 

 economy will be practised. Only by the adoption of the most improved 

 and economical methods can the tropical sugar cane be maintained in 

 the race with beets. 



A comparison of the cost of cultivating a thousand acres with the 

 plough and with the cultivator, will show an enormous balance in favour 

 of the latter. With two good cultivators and four strong mules, from 

 four to ten acres (depending on width of row) of cane can be completely 

 cultivated in a day, whereas, with ploughs two or three acres per day 

 are reckoned goodly amounts. Again, hoeing, now such an expensive 

 factor in the growing of a crop of cane, can be greatly reduced if not 

 entirely eliminated (after scraping the cane) by the proper and rapid 

 use of cultivators. 



So strong are all the reasons, scientifically, practically and financially, 

 for the substitution of cultivators for plough in the growing of sugar 

 cane, that the assertion is made that all planters will ultimately use 

 them, " if not to-day, they will to-morrow." 



Cultivation of the Stubble. 



Of prime necessity for securing a good stand of stubble is the burning 

 of the trash as early after the cane is harvested as possible. The 

 advantages of burning have been given elsewhere and need not be 

 repeated here. After burning, provided the drainage is good, the cane 

 rows should remain high and dry during the winter and ready for ofP- 

 barring early in February. This latter operation is usually performed 

 with two or four horse turn ploughs, the stubbles being left on a narrow 



(3) Dp. Stubbs remarks must here be taken as applying to cultivation of grow-- 

 iDg canea and not to the preparation of the land for planting. — F. W. 



