, 1877-11-17

sucking up tue 1000 Hnn drink OF Cno cane :
or with slus',y ranges pulling down the
stock, instead Of good solid roads; or with
the manure all exposed to the air, and
perhaps draining away to the sea, instead
OF being stored in paved basin and covered
by a shed.
We live in a progressive time. There
are many things yet to be thought Of and
acted on even in the cane field. What a
pity it is that we so seldom see theory and
practice successfully combined in one
man. Mr.. Espeut of Jamaica seems
10 be one of the exceptional instances.
1t is long since We published any
thing more interesting than his letter
to the Sugar Cane" which we print
ed in Nos. 81 and SO Of the Avis.
What do our Santa Cruz planters think
of his wide planting, seven feet each way 2
Perhaps our climate is too dry to venture
such a distance; the canes. it may be, would
never cover the ground. But why not try
a small, carefully measured piece. say a
quarter of ar acre planted six feet by SIX,
against another adjacent quarter of an acre
planted in the usual manner. and weigh
the canes cut off each. This would be
particularly easy for estates supplying the
Factory, as the weighing would be done
in the usual course at the crushing station,
and it would only require care in noting
TIE canes from each experimental piece.
We would earnestly recommend to our
practical planters such simple experiments
carefully conducted, as the readiest means
OF finding out what does and what does not
pay. The writer Of these notes once
spoke 10 a planter about weighing the
rows OF canes under experiment for testing
the values Of several kinds of manure. 1t
was replied that there was no need of
weighing, the eye was sufficient but this
is doubtful. Suppose manure A. gives an
advantage of one fortieth in weight of cane
over manure b. costing the same, would
the eye detect this tortieth +? Doubtful,
perhaps impossible but the scales would
and the forlieth is surely worth tying to
gain, In an estate making 100 hogsheads
OF sugar it would mean three hogs
heads. Accuracy 10 such matters will
always pay for the trouble taken to secure
it, and give a profit besides. Mr.. Espeut
tells us that he has tried planting only the
eyes OF the canes but this, from his own
admissions, evld ntIy requires 100 mnch
care TO be generally applied. He sreaks
OF his experiments an having been made
with the %Sa!angore cane, Which he had
persuaded the Government of Jamaica to
introduce a few years ago. Do the plan
ters here know anything Of TIL, Sa'angore
cane which has given such fine results in
jamaica ? Has it ever been tried in Santa
Cruz, and, ii not, why should it not now he
introduced ? The experiment might be
tried at private cost, jointly or otherwise.
or at the cost Of the Government and on the
Royal estates. 1t need not be an extern
sive one. All That would be necessary,
would be to grow a small area of Salangore
canes by the side of an ordinary piece of
equal measurement and under eqnal con
ditions as to quality of lard and kind of
cultivation, The expense would probably
b. small, and the benefit to the colony
might be very great. Nothing venture.
have is a provetb difficult for a
poor community to act up to !; but in this
Case the venture is too small to be a
difficulty even in GU: poor colony
1t giv"s us pleasure to note that there
is a growing opinion in England that sugar
will bring g ,od prices in tbs coming year,
and We lave therefore reasons both local
and general for looking hopefully to the
future.