The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-12-21

the work Il must perform has already
materially increased extraction This
gain in extraction and the increased
capacity of the mill amounting to be-
tween thirty and forty per cent gain
in maximum load per hour will enable
this plantation to grind its crop in a
shorter season and put more sugar IN
the bags.
S Alonzo Gartley characterized the
Searby Shredder as being the most In.
portant engineering Improvement piac.
ed at the disposal Of the Hawaiian
planters this year. The Messchaert
groove invention was one step in the
direction Of securing perfect extraction.
The adoption Of the old and well known
swing hammer principle in mechanics
to cane maceration, as perfected in the
Searby Shredder, is another step bring
ing the industry that much nearer the
goal. There is still 4 gap to be bridg-
ed but the inventive genius of Hawaii
can be depended on to cross il and
perhaps another step forward will be
announced at the next planter con
vention.
Legumes Cure Lahaina Disease
At Waipio the most striking lesson
for the enlightenment of the planters
was Dr. Agee s experiment to show
what turning under green manners
| does to Lahaina disease. Early in 1918
collection of cane stools showing the
worst possible infection with this ma
lady were planted near the substation
Office and these plants have now been
worked over, dosed and doped for three
years in attempts to discover the cause
and q remedy.
Early this year Director Agee had
half the plot planted with legumes and
half left untreated as n check The
cane rows where legumes have been
turned under looked as fresh and green
yesterday as any perfectly healthy ra-
| toon growth of the Lahaina variety
| ought to look. The adjoining check
rows which have been starved for or,
ganic nitrogen looked just as sick as
they did when the managers inspected
the substation two years ago.
But Gypsum Doesn't
Manager RentOn of Eva, who has
| plenty of the Lahaina disease in his
/ fields, as have all other managers who
| are growing the old Bourbon cane va
riety on irrigated plantations, said yes
| terday afternoon that he does not think
black alkali is the cause of the trou-
BILE nor is he sanguine of gypsum being
| q sure cure.
Acting on a suggestion made by s.
| s. Peck that the quickest way to get
gypsum into the soil would be to ap-
| ply sulphuric acid, Mr.. Renton turned
| fort carboys of vitriol into the irri-
1 CATION water used on one acre where
| the cane was badly affected with La.
haina disease. Absolutely nothing
came of this experiment" he stated.
1.-THE disease was just as bad after the
| treatment as it was before. If | slip
a cog and go to the wrong place when
| die | suppose my eternal punishment
will consist in fighting Lahaina dis
ease. 1t is one of the battling myster-
| les of the cane planters existence. -
Fractional Fertilization
An equally important result at
Waipio is the experiment with late
manuring of one-year ratOOns. Cumula-
tive doses of nitrates, amOnium salts
and high grade fertilizers applied to the
| ration crops Of certain of the new Ha-
waiian seedlings that have the ratoon-
ing habit highly developed, have given
marvellous increase in cane and sucrose.
at is not the weight of fertilizer
that counts" Doctor Agee said, "but
the nitrogen content and the time of
application. The last three hundred
pounds Of nitrate applied late in the
season has in some instances increased
the stand and weight of the cane thirty
to forty per cent. The whole theory
of fertilization is to put nitrates into
the soil so that the cane roots will
find continuous and rapid growth. "
It Was All Worth While
Many experiments Of far reaching
Importance in cane sugar production
are being conducted on the fifteen
hundred trial plots at Waipio. The
planters have been fortunate in secur-
ing the services of DR.. II. P. Agee and
his corps of scientific assistants. Great
results have come out of Waipio and
greater will still appear.
The thirty fifth annual planters
convention mas been, in many regards,
the most satisfactory managers meet
ing ever conducted in Hawaii. Those
who lave attended and have listened
to the interesting debates will carry
home with them a new point of view
that will aid them materially in the
solution of their own individual prob
lens and difficulties. =