, 1881-12-10

Ullp. L MS 0EIiISlIlIA oliiA III ~ " Wy
earth cannot per Sc alter its productive
qualities to any appreciable extent, but it
haS enabled the chemical action OF the
clements sun, air, and water, to take place
more or less on each individual particle OF
moulded or miIled earth, which therefore
is returned to the hole it originally came
trom,rich in fertilizing properties to the ma
nifestadvantage ofthe cane plant The action
of throwing up the earth from the cane
hole, of leaving it thus exposed to the ele-
mantS, and of returning the same from Tune
to time to its original hole has exposed every
particle TO the warm rays OF the sun, TO the
showers and dew of Heaven, and to the
oxygenating Winds. Briefly, then, though
b. has, by breaking up his ''pieces" into
continuous holes, or, in other words, into
ridges and burrows, enormously increased
the labour Of planting, wedding, cutting
and carrying, and thereby gone to greatly
increased expense, still his returns OF crop
far more than compensate him. The ad-
vantages and reasons of deep culture as
the holeing system is termed, are stated to
be as follows:
l. The sprouts are protected against the
sun by the trash deposited on the banks.
2. The rainwater collects around the plant.
3. The banks afford soil for moulding
the canes which otherwise would grow out
of the ground.
1t does not seem improbable however
that these reasons were sought for long
after the effect Of the system was apparent
in the canes. the real reason being that the
holeing system, as we have said, comminu-
ted the soil and brought it under the che
mical action OF the elements.
Seeing that our labour supply is both
Scant and inefficient, and that manual
lab0ur is everywhere acknowledged to be
~, N-N,A1 r-LIn {n
question whether any system OF cultivation
could be adopted by which the great eX-
pense of ho!ejng and moulding with the hoe
and the subsequent difficulties as to wedding
and cutting could be avoided, while at the
same time the soil was comminuted and
brought into contact with the elements in
an equally efficient, il not more efficient
manner With regard to the advan-
tages given above of deep cultivation it
NAV be- remarked hat while the sprouts
certainly do meet with protection from the
sun BY the trash deposited on the banks,
they would meet with almost equal protec-
ton if there were no banks at all, while
the work Of depositiug the trash between
the r0ws would be very greatly diminished.
As fG? the canes growing out of tho
ground. this may be held to be q doubtful
point. Lin the same joint or properly
a03el with, and opposite every eye, lie
concealed r~ootletS, and if we only mould
HIGH enough these ~rOOtletS will rapidly
dayelope. AS with many other plants and
trees, the banyan tree for instance and the
guinea corn plant, there are always roots
out OF the ground. Indeed, i'll wet weather
it is not unc0mm0 to see the gulnea-cOrn
plant with ~r0otiets Springing from joints 3
or 4 feet above the ground, but no one will
pretend TO say thai this plant ought from
the very first to have been set in q
hole 3 or 4 feet deep.
Aerial roots Will always be found in
canes, and though the lab0urers will point
to them and sly it is a sign that the stools
are growing out Of the ground and should
be moulded, it can hardly be the case.
With regard to the rain water collecting
round the plants, this it certainly does,
but since it is patent to every child that if
he wishes to cool his porridge he must
break UP the smooth fat surface, SO does it
seem patent that a piece broken up into
ridges and burrows will dry up very much
sooner than a fat piece. Thus in the
holeing system the plant gets a lot OF water
for a short time, while in the fiat
system it would be afforded less water
because more diffused throughout the
piecel but for a longer time, and perhaps
with better results. AS opposed to the
.holeing' system, the fiat system as prac-
tised nDemefara and elsewhere would seem,
or the score of economy, to be preferable.
BY the flat system is not meant, however,
LAYING the plant tops fat, as is the case in
Porto Rico and also throughout the East