The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-21

eFS TO-DAY. DeIteli ana BCndme went
into this subject, but Basset. following
ia their train. put the matter into a
more logical position. From a given
weight OF matured cane and leaves GER
tain proportions of nitrogen, phOsphO-
nc acid, potash, etc, We're obtained
as an ultimate analysis; and from
this he naturally concluded the
weights OF each component could cas-
lily be calculated tor any crop, large or
small. This he calls fertilizng ~ res
tuition. The idea seems rational
| enough that if We return TO the soil
| what We have taken out. and in the
| same condition. the soil would be as
good as it was before it produced d
| crop. 1t is an old advice and in some
| cases a good one. that we return to
the soil the begasse and the leaves and
! allow the bulky mass a sufficient time
to decOmpose and become absorbed by
| the soil. This requires much labor and
plenty OF land, so that the rotation of
! planting is. good many years in com
! ing again TO the same field.
! In ratooning a field l have in many
! instances plowed under the leaves and
added nitrates and lime. and had good
| results from them, more, | think, from
! the mechanical effect than from their
| chemical properties; but we have been
| informed from some of our own plant
| ers, as we'll as from those in other
! sUgar-grOwing countries, that a surer
way does not exist of prOpdgating Dor
| ers, and other injurious insects, while
! others urge the destruction of all
| leaves and decayed cane in order 20
| keep out the many obscure sicknesses
and diseases usually found about cane
| fields. If it could be done, a better way
would be to compost all such matters
| until ii was fit as rOtted manure, TO be
| transported and placed on our fielis, as
We do now with stable manure.
Burning the leaves in the fields de-
stroys all the nitrogen. while the ash
which remains is invariably swept
away by the wind the little that re
mains is generally very insignificant,
even in those parts where there are no
constant winds. Leaves brought from
the field to generate steam in the mill
give some ash which is recovered
the nitrogen, of course, in this case is
lost just as well as if they were burned
in the field. When newly cut, the
weight of the top, green leaves and all
the leaves either stripped off or which
fall off during growth, is said by Bas
set TO be 81 per cent of the weight of
the cane ready for the mill, and con-
tainS 20 per cent of all the nitrogen and
about Y per cent OF the mineral mat
ter used by the entire plant. Could it
be possible to return to the soil the ele- |
nents taken up by the cane and the |
leaves. we would have for every 1900 i
pounds of cane 420 grammes Of nitro |
sen and 366 Kilograms of mineral mat !
ter. and from the leaves which came |
from these 1900 pounds of cane $50 |
grammeS nitrogen and 9.5 grammes OF |
mineral matter, total for cane and |
leaves, 1.37 kilos nitrogen and 1925 XII
los mineral matter.
If we multiply all these figures by |
612 we will have a little over seven
tons cane per ton of sugar, which might |
nearly represent our requirements; |
then the nitrogen and the mineral mat
ter would be for every ton of sugar
made, as follows, viz: 1.37X612 equals
SO kilOs nitrogen, equals 1888 pounds; |
Is. 25X612 equals S6.12 kilOs mineral
matter, equals 1916 pounds. But as
nearly all plantations burn the cane
leaves in the field or elsewhere, they
lose, according to these figures which |
have taken from Basset's work, page
COS, about II pounds nitrogen Tor ev-
cry TON Oh sugar Indue-IfOul TIE Dufn-
ms Of the leaves only.
DR.. Kruger, in one of his Java re-
ports, page 107, says the value of 100
kilOs, or 220 pounds, of the dried sub
stance, in leaves, would be worth %
confines for its contained nitrogen, and
in his work, Sugar Cane and It's CuI-
page 21S, referring TO cane
leaves, says their worth is very small
as mature, even taking their nitrogen
and the mineral ash into considera-
ton. In 100 kilOs dry substance, he
puts their value at Is pfennig. If I
green leaves are dried in the sun for
three or four weeks they lose four
ffths of their weight and they lose
in their value as a fertili- ;
ger; and it is only in the possible ap- t
plication of the first strippings, which
usually contain a notable proportion of
green, undecayed leaves, where any
benefit from their nitrogen ]
ard their mineral substances might be
taken into consideration.
Boname says, The ash from a given
quantity of green leaves may contain
as much as II per cent or % per cent of
potash, but from the ash of Withered, 1t
dry leaves only as much as 2.63 per /,
cent to 5.77 per cent of potash, both ex
pressed, OF course, on the ash OF the Il
dry substance. 1t is therefore in the Il
growing period when the leaves are in
perfect vigor that they are richest in
nitrogen and potash, and when their
functions are performed, their ele-
ments grow less and less, while the II
pl oportion of silica augments as they 6
grow of less value to the cane, and
eventually they fall off altogether The -.
greater portion of the alkaline salts
have either returned to the cane stick,
Or by rains or dew been diffused out Il
and returned to the SOIL
The use of commercial fertilizers is
very much over the Islands.
Lime is now recommended where for
merly it's place was taken up by large |
doses of superphOsphate, a useless ex-
penditure, in many cases. From my
own experience | can trace but little
benefit in our land from the use of
phosphates, either soluble or not, and
with nthpr elements