The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-12-17
PLANTERS DEBATE
CULTURE OF CANE
AUTHORIZATION
Questions of Live Interest To
Sugar Men Are Viewed At
1a5 All Angles

I OF labor supply, or other hmiting CIR
cumstance, compared with doing what
theory and experience direct or sug-
gest, epitomizes yesterdays session of
Of the Hawaiian sugar planters asso-
citation.
The entire morning was devoted to
discussion of the report Of the com.
mittee on cultivation and fertilization
Of unirrigated plantations, c. +. Eek
art manager Of 0laa Sugar Company,
the chairman of the committee leading
the debate. Fertilization is the one
practise that has led to the most i'm
portant improvement in yields at
Olaa," he said.
Nitrogen Most Important
"The quantity Of nitrogen used and
when and how il is applied, has strong
bearing on results. A great many of
the first season, cane shoOts dry up and
disappear in the natural course of
growth. They serve their purpose and
are then overshadowed and disappear.
Now the question is, if we apply all
the fertilizer to the first season cane
is not large part of the application
wastedf Does not the best practise re-
quire that we give the crop enough
fertilizer TO carry it through the first
season and then Concentrate on the
second season cane to promote max
imum growth and mature more sticksf"
Mr.. Eekart thought it good practise
TO use enough fertilizer at the begin
ming to hasten growth so that the crop
would quickly "clOse i'm and save
cultivation. aThe important matter is
the nitrogen content of the fertilizer,
not the total amount Of fertilizer used.
A count of fields at time of harvest
shows that only thirty to forty per cent
of the sticks are first season cane. Sixty
to seventy per cent are second season
sticks" ,r.
Fertilizers For Second Season
Quoting his experience during the ex,
ceptionally wet season of 1914 when
heavy rains and bad drainage Of some
fields had cut down prospective yields
to not over fifteen tons per acre, Mr..
Eckart said that by applying a thou
sand pounds of fertilizer to the second
season cane he had changed the crop to
forty ton one. 81 believe that the
unirrigated plantations can increase
their yields very, materially by adopt,
ing this system" he remarked.
The next topic discussed was whether
the number of sticks per stool can be
increased by topping the cane high at
the beginning of the second season,
marked results in this direction having
followed recent experiments at Olaa
He said the checking Of growth must
not be too late or too severe. In this
preliminary trial, June topping followed
by cleaning the field and giving a nj
trate dressing increased the number of
canes in the stools from l0,4O0 to
81, 100 per acre.
John T. NOR took the opposing view
stating that he had compared the eff
fects of stripping and topping acre
plots grown under equal conditions, and
there were more canes per stool and
per acre on the stripped and check
plots than on the topped area. Top
ping made the canes lala at the base.
John A. Scott thought topping ought
to be good practise because eight
makes second season canes increase in
lumber. Topping let's in the light -
He referred to the heavy stand of cane
in the marginal rows of cane fields a.
due to this cause,
"Portable mulches look good to me, -
said Mr.. Ekart, passing on to the next
topic. At Olaa building felt placed
between the cane rows saved two hoe
ings, three civilizations and one small
blowing in one season. Advantages of
this system, he said, are that weeds can
be destroyed in all weathers, it avoids
pudding the soils through unwise cult
walton in wet weather, and, most i'm,
portant of all it saves field labor: -
Ill Ia -
right and is not attractive, but the
system is effective and that is the main
thing" Mr.. Eckart said. "Labor con
ditions may some day compel us to
adopt unusual methods such as this
The papered" cane certainly looks a.
good as any other and it may prove
better. OF course if when this crop il
harvested these fields show an increase
in sugar per acre that would be another
matter. I"
Reverted Phosphates
The phosphoric acid experiments to
cause artificial ripening of cane produc
ed no results and the subject can be
dropped, he reported. The question then
arose as to whether reverted, PhOs.
phate, bone, Thomas Stag and raw rock
are good phosphoric acid fertilizers
Il. X. Bull said his fields where half q
ton Of reverted phosphate per acre had
been used instead of suPerphOsphate
showed remarkable results. The patch
where reverted was used in vivid
contrast with the adjoining cane. Lined
patches adjoining showed no gain what
ever.
Edward BrOadbent said he now uses
reverted phosphate all the time, on both
plant and rattOon cane, applying dress
ings Of 800 pounds per acre. G. F
Eckart said the prejudice against using
anything but superphosphate has been
handed down a number Of years Tests
made ten or twenty years ago showed
superior results from superphOsphate
but il may be that the results obtained
do not hold in all cases. Phosphates
have always been applied early because
of the accepted theory that they pro
mote root development. Mr.. Bull 4
practise Of using reverted phOsphates
before the harvest may be better prac
tise, if it gives results. Results are
really what counts in the sugar bust
ness. J. n. 8. Williams told about
Robert Halls good work at Multi
where half and half mixture OF
Wyoming rock phosphate aud reverted
phosphate produced splendid results.
Scotch Fertilizers Too
James Webster acknowledged the