Lower coast gazette., 1909-12-11
Scientific Agriculture.

Scientific Agriculture.
WHEN Cain and Abel began gardening back
IN the Adanic days, quite a controversy arose
between these brothers as to the relaVVe eAce'.
)ence of their products and the death or one u
them has been thought to have made agrlcuI-
+,,ra] life harder for the other and his successors
than if otherwise would have been. BE TINS as
II NAV. it now looks as though after thousands
Of wears, agriculture was finally coming 10 IT'S
own. We are beginning to learn more OF the
wonders Of plant life than a few years back
seemed possible and improvements are no"
going on in every direction. Agriculture IS no"
becoming as scientific as the manufacture OF
steel or any other great industry. This present
advancement has apparently been reached by
the ordinary necessities Of the case. Kea''2ng
as we now do the advantage OF a sclentlllc STUDY
Of agriculture, it becomes US to lay the tounda-
tions for such studies so deep and wide that all
may learn the elementary principles WITHOUT
esnecial effort, The school gardens that are
now being 50 generally cultivated constitute a
verv marked step in that direction. Young
children generally take a very keen interest," IN
agriculture and especially in horticulture anu
Horticulture. They like to plant flower SEEDS
and sec the flowers grow; to plant corn ana see
the great plant develop above the ground 10
plant beans and potatoes and reap their harvest
in due course, Doing this and in the mean
while learning the leading points in the methods
utilized. the reason for the same and the posi-
BILE causes of failure, will give young cnl!dlen,
as we'll as children of an older growth, a ground
work of information whereupon they can build
a superstructure of advanced study as hlgh as
they may desire.
Unless we make special efforts along these
lines it will take years and perhaps decades to
accomnlish much. Take the sugar industry, 1of
instance. It is but a hundred years old IN TINS
state and vet it required between thirty anC
forty wears, or more than a generation, to ge'
rid of the old Creole and Otaheite canes tor IN
, dustrial purposes and to go over to the ribbon
canes introduced by Coiron in the thirteS. In
next three decades were devoted to the develop
ment of the sugar industry in this state VIII
those canes and a very wonderful advance wa
established, although our knowledge OF suga
n and of sugar cane from a scientific point OF vleN
n had scarcely any development. After the CIV
war efforts were made to get better varieties
J. cane, the impression prevailing that our dome'
l. tic canes had lost their original vigor. Mr.. l
rs Pice of the Pice of the Parish Of st. Jane
re went out to the island Of Java and brougi
Re back quite a number of canes, only one varle1
of which, however, survived, and that has sim
es been known as the La Pice cane and was vel
81 similar in it's general appearance to the, Crysts
al line, or ''Crystallina" cane imported here
ll- small lots from Cuba. A careful study of tn
OF cane later on developed the fact that und
nd given conditions it was always less sweet tn
our older varieties of cane and this discourag
1t it's production. The Investigations OF /
Sir Stubs at our Audubon Park Sugar Experime
no Station led him into a very serious experlme
I'm tation with numerous varieties Of Seeding car
from the tropics and among these two SCI
lings, D.4 and D.95 gave the promise OF t
highest degree of adaptation to our china
bo- conditions, The results with these canes d
,rn ing this year have been greatly discussed a
we need hardly refec to them here, except
of as we are doing for the purpose Of show]
go how long it has taken in the past to arrive
any sound conclusions in regard to cane cultu
70. The present more comprehensive systems
arc investigation lead to far more rapid results
we are bound to avail of them, or be surpas
by all of our neighbors who are using ev
effort to utilize science in the aid Of agricult}
in development.
The scientific expert and ms experlme
ltly are all right in their place, but what we nee
and to lay the foundations based upon which tn
nan experts can utilize their knowledge. We n