Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-02-17
NECESSITY FOR SUGAR : CANE
EXPERIMENT STATION
To The Herald.

So NRAMNtA WMA IT. JAZZ AFHAFA Wa tNN
terday. the cane growers Of the Val
Icy are by no means sure that they
are planting the cans best suited 70
our soil and climate.
III the tropics. cane ripens by ma
.turisy. from natural causes. In Lou
lsiana zane never reaches maturity.
rs il a killed BY frost while imma-
.ture. but the early cold nights usu-
ally experienced III the latter part Of
October checks the growth and the
canes rapidly accumulate sucrose.
These conditions have resulted In
The Louisiana planters experimenting
with canes from an over the world
in order TO find varieties that would
reach an early maturity. and yield a
high per cent of sucrose under Louis
lana conditions
ID the Rio GRANGE country. Il
climatic conditions are very differ
emit We are liable 70 b. confronted
with frost about the first 0f-the year,
land therefore must be prepared 10
windrow such Of our crop that can
not be ground before the Xmas hoK-
days. Tsis neccssitates commencing
the grinding season al least by No
.vcmbcr ist
We. however. do not get The cold
Louisiana nights III this country 20
ripen the canes and increase their
sugar content. bat on the other
hand. our days and nights are usu-
ally warm. ana. moreover. September
Is one oil our rainy months. and fire.
auently there II considerable rainfall
IN October also This combination
Of moisture and warmth forces a
strong growth in the canes at the
very time N Il necessary for them 10
o. ripened.
n would appear TO BE- desirable 10
secure a variety Of zane for the Val
ley that could be forced 70 mature
early under irrigation. and possibly
fertilization. but even then Il would
De- necessary 70 experiment how best
10 handle the irrigation OF the crop,
50 that its maximum sucrose content
f, MID be attained a. early As possi-
BE in the grinding season.
sugarf-cane in tropical countries.
employing cheap coolie labor. where
AN cultivation 81 done with the hoe.
IN often planted Ia 4-fo0t rows or
less m Louisiana. where the soils
are heavy. the custom is 6-foot rows.
which We have followed. but the g.
foot row n principally used because
"A IN best adapted 10 the Louisiana
pattern 81 implements which We are
now using.
Cane can MT he laid BY until the
leaves shade between the rows. and
during tha RTriod M cultivation the
network % roots. near the surface OF
the ground. are being continually IN
iured IN Tho implement used. 50 that
cane, after III rs laid by. grows much
more rapidly than while being Guilt
waited u Is therefore reasonable 10
suppose that closer rows. which per
INIT of an earlier lay-bv. and consa-
.quentlv u faster growth of cane
would Pc better adapted 70 our re-
quirements. and az the same time
would considerably Increase our on
mage per acre. for n s-foot rows
yield 4 tonnage of 25 tons per acre.
5-foot rows viii yield 80 tons per
This IS another subject for
Experimentation
4 third experiment should be the
question oi fertilization. Tn this con-
neetion & Is simply necessary 20 re-
mark that IN Hawaii. which has the
reputation ~ having the most ideal
IN the world Tor surar-canp.
certain fertilizers are being used
with great success, an annual ex-
pendifnrc of sixty dollars per acre
being made IN some Instances. but
the rcsult n thar the increase In
both tonnage and sucroSe coatent
warrants the expenditure. The yield
NJ per acre 81 cane under these
experiments has Increased Ia more
than 500 per cent above the best
Yield as YET obtainanie In the Rio
Grande Valley, and before they ex-