SUGARCANE VARIETY P.O.J. 2878 IN PUERTO RICO 33 
The sugar yield of P.O.J. 2878 was generally satisfactory in this 
district where much of the crop was grown on clay or silty clay soils. 
On January 6, 1932, gran cultura of P.O.J. 2878, P.O.J. 2725, B.H. 
10(12), Mayaguez 7, and Mayaguez 42 were harvested on single 
%-acre plats on a farm adjoining that of the variety trial at Filial 
Amor. P.O.J. 2878 yielded 2 tons more sugar per acre than did the 
other varieties. P.O.J. 2878 was superior to the other varieties not 
only in cane production but also in the quality of its juice. With a 
sugar in cane of 13.23 percent it was sweeter than Mayaguez 7, which 
gave 11.98 percent, and B.H. 10(12), winch gave only 11 percent. 
The 1932 gran-cultura crop of P.O.J. 2878 in the San German Valley 
district of Russell & Co. totaled 248 acres distributed over 7 different 
farms in 18 fields. The average cane production was 63.2 tons per 
acre. P.O.J. 2725 averaged 62.2 tons per acre on 87.1 acres, and 
B.H. 10(12), although grown for the most part on richer soils, averaged 
only 46.3 tons per acre on 53 acres. 
General field data on first ra toons in the San German Valley indi- 
cated a marked superiority for P.O.J. 2878 over B.H. 10(12). The 
former averaged a yield of 46.9 tons per acre of cane on 20.48 acres, 
whereas the latter averaged a yield of only 32 tons per acre on 31.42 
acres. 
On friable alluvial soils. — The consistently inferior juices of P.O.J. 
2878, on friable alluvial soils subject to overflow was illustrated on 
the lands of Alfredo Ramirez. On silt loam at Colonia Davila, 17- 
month-old gran cultura cut January 10, 1932, 0.9 acre of Mayaguez 
28 yielded at the acre rate of 56.1 tons, with 14.4 percent of sucrose 
and 84.6 percent purity, in comparison with 1 acre of P.O.J. 2878, 
which yielded 59.2 tons of cane with 12 percent of sucrose and 77.2 
percent purity. Results from primavera on friable alluvial silt loam 9 
next to the river, on the farm of Francisco Murati, of San German, 
were almost equally discouraging for P.O.J. 2878. One half acre of 
Mayaguez 42 yielded at the acre rate of 46 tons with a sucrose content 
of 16.5 percent and a purity of 85 percent. P.O.J. 2878 averaged the 
same cane tonnage on 7.16 acres, but with a sucrose of 15 percent and 
a purity of only 79 percent. A considerable part of the P.O.J. 2878 
had been laid flat by a windstorm of moderate intensity. In both 
of these trials on friable alluvial river-bottom soils Mayaguez nos. 
28 and 42 gave more satisfactory percentages of sugar in cane and 
produced more sugar per acre than did P.O.J. 2878. Cane growers in 
the San German Valley are fortunate in having cropped P.O.J. 2878 
largely on clay to silty clay rather than on soils of tins type; otherwise 
the rapid extension probably would result in heavy financial losses 
similar to those along the north coast. A variety trial, comparing 
Mayaguez 28 and B.H 10(12) on silt loam, is recommended for this 
district. 
In the San German Valley district of Russell & Co., P.O.J. 2878 
equaled B.H. 10(12) in cane production in gran-cultura plantings of 
the 1931 crop, although the latter variety was grown on the more 
fertile soils. In 1932, P.O.J. 2878 was markedly superior to B.H. 
10(12) in both gran cultura and first ratoons, regardless of whether 
comparisons were made between plantings of varieties in the same 
field, or between the average results of the total areas for each variety. 
» The soil was so designated by Francisco Murati. 
