10 
BULLETIN 35. PUERTO RICO EXPERIMENT STATION 
In the first ratoons the three varieties gave low percentages of 
BUgar in cane owing apparently to abnormally high rainfall, 24 inches, 
during the 2 months preceding harvest. Contrary to expectations, 
however, P.O.J. 2878 was superior to the other varieties, with 9.44 
percent of sugar as opposed to 8.4 percent for B.H. 10(12), and 8.76 
peic.-nt for S.C. 12/4. 
The contrast in cane production was striking for both crops. 
During the L929-30 primavera-crop period, when the rainfall was 
light/P.OJ. 2878 exceeded B.H. 10(12) in yield by an average of 
over 17 tons of cane per acre. The superiority was uniform; the 
nearest B.H. 10(12) approached P.O.J. 2878 in cane production was 
in plat no. 29, and there the adjoining plat of the latter was superior 
by l l .4 tons per acre of cane. During the 1930-31 crop period, when 
the rainfall was high, the first ratoon of P.O.J. 2878 was superior to 
B.H. 10(12) in cane production by 28.42 tons per acre, a much wider 
margin than in the primavera crop. During the two crops P.O.J. 
2878 produced 4.1 tons more sugar per acre than did S.C. 12/4, and 
5.17 tons more than did B.H. 10(12). These favorable results are 
not, however, applicable to gran-cultura plantings. 
Results of 13-month primavera, grown at Central San Vicente 
under irrigation on ^o-acre plats and cut in March 1931 are shown 
in table (i. 
Table 6. — Results of sugarcane variety tests at Central San Vicente (Colonia 
Cayures, Vega Baja), 1931 l 
Culture and variety 
13-month primavera cut in March 1931; irrigated: 
P.O.J. 2878 (average of 10 replications) 
F.C. 916 (average of 10 replications) 
S.C. 12/4 (average of 10 replications) 
B.H. 10(12) (average of 32 replications) 
Germi- 
nation 
Percent 
92 
84 
78 
Acre yield 
of cane 
Tons 
48.90dzl.34 
43.78±1.68 
34.72±1.03 
43. 10±0. 80 
Available 
96° sugar 
per acre 
Tons 
5.435±0. 178 
4. 893=fc. 187 
3.958±. 128 
4.856±.079 
Sugar in 
cane 
(average) 
Percent 
11.10 
11.18 
11.74 
11.27 
1 Richardson Kuntz, P. la production de nuevas variedades de cana y sus resultados experi- 
mentales. P. R.Dept. Agr. and Com. Insular Expt. Sta. Bui. 38:23. 1931. 
2 Soil type not identified. 
P.O.J. 2878 exceeded B.H. 10(12) in yield by 5.8 tons of cane per 
acre and by 0.579 ton of sugar per acre. The sugar in cane of P.O.J. 
2878 (11.10 percent) was practically the same as that of B.H. 10(12). 
Under the conditions of scant rainfall during the first 2 months of 
growth (table 3), P.O.J. 2878 gave an excellent germination and grew 
better than did the other varieties. Both F.C. 916 and S.C. 12/4 
w r ere inferior to P.O.J. 2878 in sugar production. A 12-8-5 fer- 
tilizer, at the rate of 600 pounds per acre, was applied to the crop 
April 4, 1930. Irrigation water was not measured, but was applied 
once during each of the months of April, May, July, September, and 
October. 
GENERAL FIELD PLANTINGS ALONG THE NORTH COAST 
Data on general field plantings for the north coast have been placed 
under four heads: (Iran cultura on friable alluvial soils; gran cultura 
on upland soils with good surface drainage; gran cultura on lowland 
soils with inadequate artificial or surface drainage, and first ratoons. 
