The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-06-15
CAN IMPROVE
SUGAR CANE
LUTHER BURBANK, THE PLANT
WIZARD, SAYS THE SUGAR CAN
BE GREATLY INCREASED.

race in possession of plants and fruits
of value which can hardly be COM
puted. The seedless orange, the cali
fornia prune and the new white black
berry are three of the we'll known re-
suits of his efforts and it will particu-
larry interest the people of the Ha-
waiian Islands to know that Mr.. Bur
bank has recently expressed himself on
the matter of improving the saccharine
qualities of sugar cane.
In the correspondence which is here
Reproduced it will be noted that there
is nothing tentative about Mr. Bur
banks proposition. He states definite
ly that he could produce a cane with
much more sugar and could partially
or wholly remove the husk by breeding
The matter is one of prime Importance
and it is to be hoped that the sugges-
tions of the great expert will be acted
upon.
san Francisco May %, 1904.
Mr.. John a. Buck, No. 327 Market St,
City.
Dear Mr.. Buck: In pursuance of our
conversation this morning. I beg to
give you the substance of the sugges-
tions made by Mr.. Luther Burbank for
the Improvement of sugar-cane
The first thing to be done is to pro-
cure seedlings. To do this it may be
necessary to plant a great quantity of
seed before any shoots can be had, as
sugar-cane has, to a large extent lost
the power of producing vital seed. 1t
is sid however that seed is effectually
planted in Jamaica and also in British
Guiana. Mr.. Burbank is very con-
fident that if it is gone about in the
proper way seedlings can be raised from
seed taken from cane in the Hawaiian
Islands but he thinks it would be NJ
cessary to take large quantities Of the
seed and plant them in such a way as
will be most likely to cause the shoots
to grow; to use his own expression, it
would probably be necessary to tease
them Cthe seedlings) into growing
The seeds should be planted in shall
low boxes, say - feet long by -
feet wide and three inches deep; the
bottom of the boxes should have Sits
/ in 1t so that the water may the more
readily dram out. The first layer In
the box should be broken trap-rock, if
! the experiment is conducted here, or
! broken lava if in the islands This gra o.
vel base should be made up of pieces
about the size of a pea Above this,
| rough-edged sand should be used if
| possible CThe smooth, coral sands Of
the islands is not desirable, but coral
sand itselfwould be very good if the
edges of the sand have not been worn
smooth bv the action of waterO Above
the sand, and as a final surface soil.
should be used a mixture of sand or
sifted moss or pulverized peat This
should be laid in to a depth of about an
inch over the sand, then the pulverizad
tassel containing the seeds should be
laid in to a thickness of say half an
inch, and above this, another covering
of the sifted moss or pulverized peat
should be add d. This should be thick
enough to thoroughly cover the seed
say half an inch. The tasSels should be
taken just as they are fully mature
that is just about as they are beginning
to fall The seed cannot come up too
thick. The pulverized tassel decom-
poses and forms part of the bed in
which the seeds grow. CThe purpose
in planting so large a quantity of seed
J.
chances of some sprOutingD 4 number
of boxes should be used i'm this way.
These boxes should be kept in green
house; the temperature should be from
60 to 100 Ont. Burbank said that the
green house should be closed so that
there will not be draught through il.
l do not know, however as this will be
/ necessary in the construction of a
green house in the islands where the
| temperature is uniformly The seed
/ should be watered once day thorough
| ly, and the seedlings should be kept
well Watered also but not too often;
| they do not want to be "petted"
sprinkled or otherwise fused with.
After the seedlings once begin TO
grow, Mr. Burbank said he would then
give us further assistance by way of
| suggestion in selecting from them; he
aid however go on to say that as soon
/ as the seedlings We're an inch or so
out OF the ground, they ought to be set
out about two or three inches apart,
and thereafter when the seedlings have
grown to the height Of say four or five
inches they ought to be again trans
/ planted four inches or SO apart and
IFhen after they have grown little more
they should be set out into the ground.
! When the seedlings have matured
! which Will be in about three Years
time, they ought to be chemically lest
! ed to ascertain which of them contains
the greater amount of sugar should be
used for re-seeding; all the rest should
be discarded. Another point insisted
upon by Mr.. Burbank, was that # Is
very desirable, if possible, to get seed
from different countries and locations
and cross the same, as this produces a
cane some OF the seedlings of which
VIII have greater vigor than any of
their parents, and win be more likely
to contain a greater quantity of SUI
crosse contents, The whole basis of i'm
provement lies principally i'm variation
ana selection, You keep the best and
discard all of the remaining lie de-
| clared that the sugar-caue belonged 20