The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-07

tinuOuS beet sugar cultivation suffice to PX-
haust the best Of soils If not properly fer
tilted.
The same experience exists In many of the
cane sugar countries, and this to some meas
| ure will be more and more the case with the
sugar lands in Louisiana, and it is only from
agricultural chemistry and science that light
and help can he expected SO as to enrich the
lands and increase their prOduCtiVoneSS.
Sugar cane would not be very eXhaustlng
and its cultivation might even enrich the
land II nothing but sugar in its purcst form
were removed. Sugar contains carbon 70, by
drOgGn 10, oxygen 10, which would be ample
proof that sugar is principally product Of
the atmosphere, and what the sugar cane at
full maturity contains is shown by the follow
Ing analysis OF StenhOuse:
Water .,............... ............... .71Oi
CGlulOSc and woody fibre gOG
Sugar. ..................-....... ......... 1902
Silica ........ ............. O2O
AIbumen and other heterogeneous matter O45
CerOztne and coIoring matter .,...... OBS
Soluble salts ................ ............ 012
Now, If we look at the constituents Of which
the unripe cane is composed we shall find the
following, established by scientific research ::
Woody tibre-CarbOn u, hydrogen 3, Oxy-
gen B.
Cellular fibre Carbon 70, hydrogen TO- oxy-
gen 10.
Starch Carbon 70, hydrogen 10. oxygen TO-
Gum-Carbon u, hydrogen 10, oxygen 10.
Cane sugar-CarbOn II, hydrogen 10, Oxy-
gen 10.
Grape sugar-Carbon 70, hydrogen u, oxy-
gen IL.
All the above substances are present in
variable quantities in the unripe Louisiana
sugar cane, and it should be the study of the
planter to assist the transition Of some Of
these constituents into another and princi-
pally cane sugar, by the proper nOuriShment
abuldantly supplied to the roots
The analysis Of the ashes Of the cane shows
what Substances have been withdrawn from
n a. bn fnT kn nfun ion of
sugar these are:
Silica ........ 1854 Divide of calcium 1927
POtassa ........ 1859 PhOsphOriC acid 407
Soda .,.... 258 Suphuric acid 100
Magnesia. ...... 8.O4 Chloride potassa 1902
These consequently would be the principal
substances which should be returned to the
soil. and nothing could be more easily accom-
pishGd So long as the diffusion process is
not in favor here, it would be very desirable
and Of the greatest importance to the Louis
lana sugar planters to have their bngnsae cu
bV u circular knife, which might be procured
cReaply, and thus return large proportion If
the substance taken from the soil by dStrib
uting the bagaSse on the stubble lands. On
my visit to the Louisa plantation found the
sliced bagasse, from the diffusion process, de-
composed into rich manure, after an cX-
p0suro of only two years Thus planters
could return the most valuable substances at
comparatively small cost.
Had it not been for the pea vine, the great
lVlenN 0I Lllh LOUISIANA planters, Jfh sugar
cane in Louisiana would not yield the quaint
ties it still does. The pea vine abSOrdS nitro
gen from the air, which, when dpCaying, it
yields to the soil. In this way the lands are
enriched with nitrogen for the benefit of the
plant cane principally
Cotton seed meal IS the cheapest source Of
ammonia, but if too large quantities Of this
are applied upon the stubbr, there will be a
deficiency OF inorganic substances which
have been taken away in the bagaSSp Of the
n 80 hurnpI or on
the leVees. No phOsphOriC acid, no pOtassa.
no lime, etc, is added to the soil, and sup
ported by the best authorities on this subject.
venture to predict that, sooner or later, this
application of improper fertilizers will prove
disastrous to the sugar interest Of Louisiana
There cannot be a moro natural fertilizer
imagined than the fine Cut-up bagasse, which,
with great advantage, could be brought to
the stables and barns to facilitate the decOm-
position before being put on the lands, or it
could be CompOSted with chemicals and
steam.
Small portions Of heterogeneous matter will,
OF course, be very desirable for the sugar
manufacturer as a constituent for COagulating
albumen. An excess Of heterogeneous matter,
however, becomes of necessity q fprment
builder, and one ferment changing into an
other will finally go into Tactic fermentation,
against which there is hardly any antidOte
Imaginable when the sugar cane is fully i'm
bued with it, as will happen in frozen cane.
The only way to stop this fermentation is to
preserve it from frost experience.
Beets, more tender plant than the sugar
cane, are in France, Austria and Germany
preserved against far harder and severrr
frOsts than sugar cane under the Louisiana
latitude ever can be exposed to. Why should
it not be possible to preserve the sugar cane
from light frost during six weeks only, when |
the more bulky beet is preserved for months |
against the hardest frOSts. The bPets are put |
m stly in mats and covered with q layer Of |
ST. aW, SO as to facilitate ventilation and main
tam the requisite temperature inside the
mats II a similar preservation could be aC- !
complished in Louisiana, no Tactic fermcnta-
ii n would enter the sugar cane.
During my experience with beet sugar CHl- |
tivatiOn | found phOsphOriC acid and pOtaSSa |
the most effective and paying fertilizers
ANN mia alone the poorest. On lands In Aus |
trla upon which ammonia fertilizers were EN-
pIoyed for six years in succession, the bcptS
degenerated from II per cent to Ga per cent
In chryStaliZahle sugar. Would not the same
results he obtained finally even on the com
DarativeIy far richer lands of Louisiana?
The aluvial bottom lands have not felt the
necessity so much of using fertilizers, be-
cause the decrease in the prOductivpnesS Of
this soil has not been so visible. The pine
wood plantations, however, already require
4 good fertilizer.
The futur" prosperity of sugar planting in
Louisiana will, next to the labor question, be
dependent mostly upon the means applied to
5hR restoration of fertility, because n fertile
ants which the plant requires. Why not pro-
luce, with the same expense for Gu tiVauiOn,
more sugar to the acre by adding fer
iliznr?
Planters complain that they have been mis-
cd in the purchase of ready mixed fertiiiz rs.
Such articles should not b. purchased except
lnder full guarantee of analysis. A better,
afer and cheaper method would be for the
PLANTER to buy all his raw material, phosphate,
'"tash. su|nhate Of lime and cotton seed meal
or ammonia, mixing his own fertilizers on the
'EtntatiUn according to the requirements of
lis soil, ascertainpd by practical tests. The
nalvsia of a soil Is only partly regarded as q
'uide for the Sc eCtiOn Of a proper fertilizer;
My by actual practical experiment can it be
determined what proportion the soil needs of
he different materials to secure the most
Profitable results. For myself, as a manu-
actur"r Of fertilizers, l would not hesitate a
lOnent to give to planters all the infOrma-
ion n q lisitP to enable them to prepare their
wn fertilizers If they should prefer this to
ny guarantee OF analysis.
MIR. Ed. J. Gay has this season manufaC-
ured a fertilizer on his plantation, under my
uporviei"on, thus obtaining very good and
heap article, combining phosphates, am
lODla, and pOtaSSa.