Edible Prodzicts, 



524 



[December, 1908. 



are grown. The usual practice followed 

 is to propagate the seedlings in seed-beds, 

 from which, the entire crop is trans- 

 planted by hand. 



The average annual yield (two crops) 

 on good lands in favourable localities 

 is 6,000 lb. of paddy per acre, while 

 8,000 lb. or more is not uncommon. At 

 present prices, which are exceptior ally 

 g';od, an acre will produce a crop valued 

 at from $100 to ¥200. The estimated 

 annual value of the Hawaiian rice crop 

 in a favourable year is approximately 

 $2,500,000. 



In the year 1906 a series of experi- 

 ments dealing with rice cultivation was 

 started at the Hawaiian Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. These experiments, 

 which deal with the fertilizer require- 

 ment? of the rice plant and of rice 

 soils, the development of superior strains 

 of rice of the old varieties, selection of 

 new varieties, a comparison of the yields 

 obtained from broadcasted, drilled, and 

 transplanted rice respectively, etc., were 

 continued during 1907, and an account 

 of the progress of the work is included 

 in the report for 1907 of the Experiment 

 Station. The land on which the trials 

 are being carried out has been under 

 rice culture for a number of years, and 

 although it has received no fertilizer 

 for several seasons, yet it has invariably 

 yielded crops approximating to 3,000 lb. 

 of paddy per acre per harvest. 



One of the most interesting of the 

 experiments, and which gave a definite 

 result was that undertaken to test the 

 relative value, for Hawaiian conditions, 

 of two distinct methods of planting, viz., 

 the direct sowing of seed, as practised 

 in the Southern United States, and the 

 Eastern method of transplanting, which, 

 as already mentioned, is generally 

 adopted in Hawaii, Seed was broad- 

 casted at the rate of 50 lb. an acre, 

 and another lot of the same stock of 

 seed was drilled in rows at the same 

 rate per acre. When well established 

 the seedlings were thinned out to a 

 stand of approximately 200,000 plants 

 per acre, thus conforming as closely as 

 possible with the number of transplanted 

 plants per acre. One adjacent plot was 

 set out with seedlings twenty days old 

 at transplanting, and a second plot 

 with seedlings thirty-five days old at 

 ti'ansplanting. By far the best return 

 of all, viz., 4,205 lb of paddy and 4,024 

 lb. of straw per acre was given by the 

 plot planted with the seedlings twenty 

 days old at transplanting. The cash 

 value of the paddy return per acre 

 from this plot was $105 '12. The plot 

 planted with the older seedlings and 

 that on which the seed was drilled 



gave returns very nearly equal, but 

 about $56 less in value than the return 

 from the best plot. The plot on which 

 the seed was broadcasted gave a return 

 of slightly less value than the plot 

 which was drilled.— Agricultural News, 

 Vol. Vll., No. 164, August, 1908. 



BANANA GROWING IN CUBA. 



Although banana growing is a more 

 staple industry in some of the British 

 West India Islands than in Cuba, yet 

 a few hints on the subject, from an 

 article that appeared in the Ctiba Re- 

 view for June last, are worth bringing 

 before the notice of planters in these 

 islands. 



It is pointed out that the banana 

 delights in a rich, moist, deep soil, that 

 has an abundance of vegetable matter 

 in it. Congenial temperature and rain- 

 fall conditions are even more important 

 to the banana plant than suitable soil, 

 and to do its best, and to produce large 

 bunches of fine fruit the whole year 

 round, it must have a liberal and regular 

 supply of water. If its requirements as 

 to moisture and temperature are con- 

 served, it is well known that the banana 

 will give fairly good results even on a 

 poor soil. 



The best time for planting the suckers 

 is during the rainy season, from June to 

 October, and stress is laid upon the 

 importance of having the soil well tilled 

 and prepared beforehand. The land 

 should be ploughed or hoed to a depth 

 of at least 9 inches, and afterwards 

 harrowed until the soil is in a fine and 

 mellow condition. Suckers from 2 to 4 

 feet high and with large well-developed 

 bulbs should be selected for planting 

 and set out at distances of about 14 or 

 15 feet each way. To give the plants 

 a good chance of early development it 

 is well to dig the holes about 30 inches 

 deep, and 30 inches in diameter. If the 

 soil is dry, the suckers should be liber- 

 ally watered at the start. When the 

 plants are well established, hoeing or 

 ploughing between the rows, for the 

 purpose of maintaining a surface mulch 

 and keeping down weeds, is practised 

 by many planters, and always atteud 

 with beneficial results. The banana 

 grower in Cuba is recommended, in 

 cases where the soil is poor, to sow 

 cowpeas between the rows of banana 

 plants, at the beginning of the rainy 

 season, and to plough in the crop later 

 on when the peas begin to ripen. In 

 districts where the rainfall is small, the 

 cultivation of cowpeas, in the way 

 indicated, might tend to rob the bana- 



