The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-16

'7uS~sAE tAht LOT
Dig up seed cane before the temper
AZURE drops to freezing; a light frost
does no harm, but is of some advan-
tase, as it stops the flow of sap, says
the Florida Agriculturalist. Dig
stubble cane for seed, if available. or
select short jointed canes, the shorter
the better, since, short iointed cane
has more eyes. In bedding, let the
roots come in contact with the moist
earth, to preserve them and prevent
dry rot. The best time to put down
seed is just after the rain. Cover with
about two inches of moist earth as
last as the cane is put down. Don't
let 1t lie exposed to sun and wind be-
fore covering. as the moisture should
be retained in the bank or window
Break the land deep broadcast in fall
or winter, and harrow thoroughly
with a disk harrow Just before plant
ing. / use a disk cultivator to lay off
rows, setting the gangs so as to throw
the land out from the drills to the
middle, leaving a small ridge or balk
in the drill.
In planting, use guano distributor.
with S-inch round shovel on same to
open furrow by bursting out the balk
mentioned above and at the same
operation distributing half the fertil-
lzer that is to be used on the crop. Cut
the seed cane in pieces ranging from
one to two feet in length, according
to the length of the joints. | try to
get four or five eyes on each piece
very short-jointed stubble cane will
give that many eyes on pieces one foot
long. In planting leave space between
each, ranging from three to six inches,
According tn no -
on the seed cane; the shorter the
joints the greater the space. Cover
with small bull tongues. The time of
planting is governed somewhat by the
seasons, but ordinarily Feb. 20 is early
enough to begin and should be finish
ed by March 20
When cultivatlng, run weeder cross
ways over rows as soon as crust is
formed, and before cane begins to
come through, then lengthwise after it
begins to come, and keep up this weed
ing until the cane Is knee high or
higher often enough to keep weeds and
grass down, and keep the surface soft
Thls helps the cane to come through
and at the same time conserves moist
ure. If frequently done very little hoeing
by hand will be necessary. This weed
ing is not intended to take the place
of cultivating with plows, but is sim
ply to supplement the blowing and to
take the place of hoeing
Suckering is nearly completed. saw
the latter part of May or the first of
June. | then put out the second and
last application of fertilizers with the
distributor on both sides of the row,
using small sweeps on the distributor,
set so as to throw dirt to cane: then
clean out the middle with larger
sweeps. After this cultivate with
sweeps or scrapes exclusively until
laid by often enough to keep a crust
from forming. / usually lay by about
the middle of July sometimes later,
in July, the cane roots will come to
the surface and can be seen among
the rows protruding from the ground;
according to seasons. If much rain
when this is the case l pillow in alter
nate weeks. My experience is that the
cutting of surface roots in every other
row does no damage unless it turns off
quite dry.
We are forced to the conclusion that
sugar cane cannot be grown probably
in Georgia without the aid of fertil-
izers. To emphasize the great impOr-
lance of fertilizers, / will state the re-
suit of an experiment made last year.
The yield per acre on good lands not
fortified was twelve tons cane, anG
the maximum yield on the same land
with 1000 pounds of guano per acre
Was thirty-nine tons, thus giving a
gain of twenty-seven tons cane per
acre as the result of 1000 pounds of
cGano; The twenty-seven tons cane al
$3.50 per tCh is worth $9450, and the
2.arO pounds guano costs sci this
shows net gain of $3.50 per acre as
the result of this fertilizer On my
crop last year l used 1900 pounds
guano per acre at two applications OF
the following formula: 1900 pounds
Is per cent. acid phosphate; 40C