October, 1909.] 



313 



Edible Products. 



were reaped towards the end of 

 November, while the ' Dixie Giant' nuts 

 did not mature till about a fortnight 

 later. The 'Spanish' variety did best, 

 showing a yield at the rate of 1,940 lb. 

 per acre. This was followed, in the 

 order named, by 'Carolina Running' 

 (1,137 lb. per acre), ' Tennessee Red ' (459 

 lb. per acre), and 'Dixie Giant' (335 lb- 

 per acre). It is mentioned that the 

 small nuts of the Spanish variety sell 

 in Dominica much more readily than 

 hose of larger kinds. 



At Montserrat the four kinds of nuts 

 were planted on June 26 and reaped in 

 the last week of October, so that only 

 four months were occupied in coming to 

 maturity. This was probably owing to 

 the dry weather that was experienced 

 during the season. The yields were 

 poor, 'Carolina Running' giving the 

 highest return, which was at the rate 

 of 889 lb. per acre. 'Tennessee Red' 

 yielded at the rate of 400 lb., and 

 ' Spanish ' at the rate of 364 lb. per acre. 

 ' Dixie Giant' failed to germinate at all. 



At Antigua, plots were planted with 

 each of the four varieties. ' Dixie Giant ' 

 gave the best return — at the rate of 960 

 lb, per acre. ' Carolina Running.' yielded 

 at the rate of 640 lb., 'Spanish- 440 lb., 

 and 'Tennessee Red' 440 lb. per acre. 

 It is mentioned that in these experi- 

 ments, the plants of the 'Carolina 

 Running ' variety covered the ground 

 much better than any of the others. 



Mr. Shepherd has sent in a report on 

 the groundnut trials made at St. Kitt's 

 in 1908. The same four kinds of nuts 

 were planted as in the other islands to 

 which reference has already been made. 

 It is unfortunate, however, that the 

 varieties, ' Spanish ' and ' Tennessee 

 Red ' were severely attacked by a fungus, 

 and as a result only a poor crop of nuts 

 was harvested, the yield being at the 

 rate of about 300 lb. per acre. In the 

 case of 'Dixie Giant' the nuts planted 

 showed very poor germination, and 

 rotted in the ground as if attacked by a 

 fungus disease, although they appeared 

 to be sound at the time of planting. 

 Much better results were obtained with 

 the 'Carolina Running' variety. The 

 seed nuts showed good germinating 

 power, and the ground was soon well 

 covered by the vines. The nuts took 

 from five to six months to mature, and 

 gave a yield of nearly 1,500 lb. per acre. 

 A local variety of groundnut planted 

 for purposes of comparison, showed a 

 crop return at the rate of about 2,000 lb. 

 per acre. 



Mr. Shepherd points out that in the 

 experiments made at St. Kitt's, none 

 of the imported varieties have yielded 

 40 



a return superior to that given by the 

 local nut, but adds that some of the new 

 kinds evidently possess certain very 

 desirable characteristics not found in 

 the local variety. It is apparent that 

 there is room for selection work in this 

 connexion, with the object of bringing 

 about increased resistance to disease- 

 Further experiments are to be carried 

 out at St, Kitt's this year. 



The four kinds of groundnuts in 

 question were also tried at Nevis last 

 year. ' Carolina Running ' and ' Spanish' 

 did best, giving yields respectively of 

 1,400 lb. and 810 lb. per acre. Both these 

 varieties matured in slightly less than 

 four months. 'Tennessee Red' germi- 

 nated fairly well, matured early, and 

 yielded a crop at the rate of 360 lb. per 

 acre- The ' Dixie Giant ' variety failed 

 to do well, many of the nuts rotting 

 before coming to maturity. The total 

 return obtained was at the rate of no 

 more than 120 lb. per acre. A local 

 variety, grown under similar conditions, 

 gave a yield at the rate of 570 lb. per 

 acre. 



HOW JAVA CAME BY HER PRE- 

 SENT EXCELLENT SUGARCANE, 



By H. C. Prinsen Geerligs. 



(Prom the Louisiana Planter and Sugar 

 Manufacturer, Vol. XLL, No 18, 



October, 1908.) 

 In the year 1892 a mysterious, up to 

 that time still unheard of, disease be- 

 fell the sugarcane plantations in the 

 most western part of Java and gradu- 

 ally spread in an eastern direction, 

 crawling along every year till at the 

 end of 1892 all the sugar-growing dis- 

 tricts of the island were infested with 

 it. The symptoms of the disease were 

 chiefly a stoppage of the growth after 

 a few months' vegetation and a consider- 

 able development of secondary stalks 

 and aerial roots. These secondary roots 

 were in their turn also attacked by the 

 disease and remained short too, so that 

 the whole stool instead of representing 

 the usual aspect of a stately group of 

 long stalks, crowned with green stuffs of 

 leaves, resembled the crumpled bunches 

 of the citronella grass, after the Javanese 

 name of which, "sereh," the disease 

 was called sereh-disease. ..Of the symp- 

 tons mentioned, of course, that res- 

 pecting the stoppage of the growth is 

 the most serious one, and in fact it 

 decreased the yield of a diseased field 

 in such a way as to render it practically 

 valueless. It is a happy circumstance 

 that the disease first commenced in one 

 part, and only very slowly proceeded 



