Edible Products. 



[March, 1909. 



The West Indian canes grown by Mr. 

 James for the Inanda Association gave 

 results as follow :— 



B.109 D.95 B-15 



Total solids in juice 



(percent.) ... 15-31 17-04 16-78 



Sucrose (per cent,) ... 12-68 15-83 15'19 

 Glucose (percent.) ... 1-78 -28 '37 

 Non-sugars (per cent.) "85 '93 P22 

 Glucose ratio ... 14-17 1-78 2-46 



Purity ... 82-8° 92-9° 90-6° 



The samples were gathered unseason- 

 ably, and the juices were dilute, but the 

 purity and giucose ratio of the last 

 two samples were good. In fact, the 

 analyses generally show that, so far as 

 quality is concerned, the soils and 

 climate of Natal admit of cane being 

 grown here as well as elsewhere. 

 Soils. 



The soils of the planting districts vary 

 considerably, there being light grey 

 sands, red sands, light loams, chocolate 

 loams, sandy clays of all degrees of tex- 

 ture, grey alluvials and black alluvials. 

 Many of these soils may be on the one 

 farm, and even in one cane field. The 

 prevailing soil is a red or chocolate 

 ferruginous sandy loam, light in texture 

 and easy to work when once broken up. 

 This class of soil is often very fertile 

 when first cleared of bush, and has been 

 known to give yields in good seasons of 

 four and five tons of sugar crystals per 

 acre from the plant canes. At one time 

 the cane was grown exclusively in the 

 alluvial flats, some of which have been 

 in continuous cultivation for 40 years, 

 and still yield well. But many are of 

 poorer quality, and as crops grown in 

 them are subject to flood and frost, it 

 has been found advantageous to plant 

 on the hills, even on the steeper slopes 

 where only hand labour can be applied. 

 According to Mr. Win. Campbell, 

 " tambootie grass " land is excellent for 

 cane. 



Preparation op the Ground. 

 In newly-cleared bush land the canes 

 may be planted without ploughing. The 

 bush having been cut, the timber stacked 

 and the scrub burnt, holes may be 

 grubbed out with hoe and axe, and the 

 cane planted straight away. Grass land, 

 however, requires to be broken up, 

 allowed to lie for a time, and then cross 

 ploughed and harrowed. For planting 

 old cane lands the ratoons are ploughed 

 out— with the mould board plough, and 

 recently with the disc plough— and the 

 land is then cross ploughed and harrowed. 



Manures. 

 Very little manure is used other than 

 mill refuse, but in the reighbourhood of 

 Durban stuff is carted out from the 



Corporation stables, and in a few cases 

 small quantities of artificials and bone 

 dust are applied. Experiments now 

 being conducted by the Department of 

 Agriculture, both on the Coast Experi- 

 ment Farm and on private farms, suggest 

 that many of these lands may be mate- 

 rially benefited by the judicious applica- 

 tion of phosphatic manures. 



Planting. 

 The cane is planted in rows five or six 

 feet apart, or even nearer in poor land, 

 and further apart in very rich land. 

 The land is either drilled out with the 

 drill plough working 9 or 10 in. deep, or 

 it is holed out in lines by hand hoes, holes 

 being made 1 ft. wide, 8 or 10 in. deep, 

 and H to 2 ft. long, a space of from 6 to 

 18 in. being left between each. Some- 

 times whole canes are used for planting, 

 these being laid two together in the 

 drills ; or the canes are cut into lengths of 

 five eyes to each : many, however, prefer 

 only the tops which have been cut off 

 when the canes are harvested for the 

 mill. These are laid, two, three or four 

 together, in the holes or drills, at dis- 

 tances of 1 to 2 ft. apart. The cuttings 

 or sets having been planted are loosely 

 covered with about an inch of soil. As 

 the young shoots grow up, the covering 

 of soil is increased until the drills or 

 holes are filled. Tne shoots appear in 

 from 10 to 20 days, according to the 

 weather and the vitality of the sets. 

 The general time for planting is August 

 to September, but it may be done as late 

 as December and January- Natal Agri- 

 cultural Journal, Vol- XL, No. 12, 

 December, 1908. 



THE 



(To be continued-) 



" PULQUE MAGUEY" 

 OF MEXICO. 



Under the title "The Century Plant 

 and some other Plants of the Dry 

 Country, " Professor William Trelease, 

 of the Missouri Botanic Gardens, con- 

 tributed a highly interesting paper to 

 the "Popular Science Monthly" of March, 

 1907, dealing with the various agaves 

 fouud in Mexico and their characteristics 

 and uses- This paper includes a lengthy 

 account of Agave atrovirens, or the 

 " pulque maguey," from which the na- 

 tional alcoholic drink of Mexico is pro- 

 duced. The details given below as to 

 the methods followed in the manufac- 

 ture of pulque, and the extent of the 

 trade in this product, are extracted from 

 Dr. Trelease's article : — 



South of the city of Mexico, centreing 

 about the little town of Apam, the 

 species of agave is almost exclusively the 



