The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-01-31
POSSIBLE ECONOMIES ~ ~
SUGAf PRODUCTION
Mainly Question Of Agronom
Of Chemistry, Bacteriology
Cane Tonnage May be Ind
sification Necessary to c.
a Rather Than One
hysics--How
ed--Diver-
Extent
By DR.. w R. DODSON, Director Loui:
berimant Stations.

or 1ouiH !: 'eriTlnt Stations.
chemla A., .;5acteriology or mechanics
HoweE @ the utilization of the by
products of the sugar house, for in
creasfn5 the total value of the out
put, is, i field Of considerable promise
The manufacture of white sugar is Of
cour a matter of considerable i'm
Dorte, as are Other improvements
in ry operations, but they can
at be be only an aid in making the
I'busIn1 profitable one. These
things yill aid all countries alike
| We, refore, come back to the
propose bn that the reduction in cost
must primarily a question of field
operati
lncreas BY Tonnage May Lessen Cost
S Of Production.
Bette} pnnage may be secured, %
by enrid 1g the soil, (2) by better
stands ane and 60 by better cul-
| While r soils are naturally rich,
| they haTV# been more or less depict
ed by continued cropping. The in
creased tonnage of cane following a
! good crop of COW peas shows that
the soil has had it's producing pow
er decreased. If We could operate a
plan by which the land could be de-
voted to corn and cow peas for two
years. instead of one, as is now the
common practice, larger yields Of
cane would undoubtedly follow, at
the same cost of planting and culti-
waiting, Most, if not all, Of our su-
gar lands will produce winter grow
ing clovers. Corn may be harvested
in the early fall just in time to
plant red Or crimson clover. These
crops come to harvest in May with
tonnage almost equal to a summer
crop of COW peas, and add almost
as much fertility to the soil. Then
a crop of cow peas,s or other sum-
mer crop, may be planted. Is it not
very reasonable to expect fall plant
ed cane, on land treated in this
way, to make a very heavy yield?
Our crops are often damaged by
excessively dry weather, and some
times by excessive rain. A soil de-
pleted of vegetab1eE matter shows
the effect of either wet or dry wealth
ser8 much quicker taa II sell with an.
optimum amount OF vegetable matter.
We can materially increase the pro-
ducing capacity Of most of our soils
by incorporating in them more Vege-
table matter. In the ordinary process
Of cane production We burn the tops
and leaves of the cane, and the
amount Of pea vines and corn stalks
that are plowed under every three
or four years is not enough to keep
up the supply Of humus
The burning Of cane tops is also a
direct draft on the supply of nitrogen
in the soil. A ton Of tops and leaves
contains ST pounds of nitrogen.
When the trash is burned this nitro
gen goes into the air and represents
loss Of that much soil fertility.
Should We purchase commercial nitro
gen to replace it, it would cost us
from $8 to SO per acre.
Tops make a fairly good quality
Of silage. A yield of twenty tons of
cane per acre would give about five
tons of tops FOR the silo. This would
be enough to furnish the roughage
for fattening two steers. The tops
from a hundred acres Of cane would
furnish the necessary sllage for feed
ing two hundred head of cattle.
If we were to harvest the manure
from these two hundred head of
cattle and distribute it over the land
from which the cane was harvested,
We would DE putting back into the
soil a large part of the fertilizer in
gradients that the crop had taken
away and adding thereto the fertll-
izing value of the supplemental feed,
and at the same time putting Vege-
table matter into the soil that would
show it's good effects in times Of
drouth Of wet weather.
This economy could not be brought
about, however, without making an
investment in silo and machinery
for preparing the Silage. A concrete
silo that would hold the tops Of a
hundred acres Of cane would cost in
the neiShoorhood of q thousand dol |
lars; silos of wood may be con-
structed for much less. The cost of
the silage cutter would be in the
of a hundred dollars, |
and then the source of power to run |
the cutter would have to be supplied. /
capital for purchasing the |
cattle and the cotton seed meal, and |
possibly some molasses, would have |
70 be provided. TWO hundred head of |
c&ttle would cost not less than six !
thousand dollars. This sort of an en-
terprise would, therefore, represent |
an additional investment Of seventy |
five dollars an acre working capital. |
There is little. doubt that the tom
mage Of cane following the opera |
ton Of such an enS@rise would be |
very large, and tA@ tAnase cost Of
production would De decreased. One
great difficulty standing in the way /
Of utilizing the tops for feed stuff in |
this way is that few people have the |
money to provide the equipment |
and the cattle to consume the feed, |
and the banking institutions are not |!
accustomed to financing feeding en- /
An industry Of this nature |
would have to be developed GRADUAL |
" until it could be thoroughly demon
strated that such a thing was practica-
BILE, when the banks would finance