The Hawaiian gazette., 1916-12-08
.TRASHD|SP0SBL
SIBRTSEEPERES
1H0ILY iARGUNG
10 Burn Or Not 10 BururIs cues
tion That Escitss Sugar
Planters Association 7
BURNING orr BURNING /
f.. ISSUE OF BIG MEETING
Discussions of the Day
Provoked By Appearapce Of I,
Disputed Theories

| To burn or not to burn the trash on
cane fields was the question when the
report Of the committee on cultivation,
fertilization and irrigation on irrigated
plantations was submitted TO the meet
ing of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters
Association yesterday by George +.
Renton, chairman. .,r...
The merits and dement's of "buTn-
ing,off ~ became the burning issue Of
the session, The subject provoked the
Iiveliest and most general discussion Of
the day and WIS not without a vein of
rumor as each member seemed. 70 be
"a man convinced against his Nill and
of the same opinion still" 80, b
Three advantages we're pointed out
by Mr.. Reaton in leading the discussion
for the practise Of leaving trash on the
'Geldss These are promotion Of land fer
fifty, retention of irrigation water in
the soil and lessening Of the cost Of
wedding. '.'r-.s-~
Reducing Cost 10. !,
In this connection his report points
out a method of reducing the cost Of
irrigation BY leaving the trash in alter.
nate burrows and irrigetiug the, inter
ysning burrows from which the leaves
and refuse have been removed, the idea
being to leave the trash in the alter
nate burrows TO act as a mulch to pre-.
serve the moisture in the soil. 2, "
| j, T. Moir raised the bugbear about
which the. burning of problem reyolyedl
Where would we be, " he said, rif
leyery plantation did not burn OF.
Would there be enough labor to 20
aroundf" Mr.. Renton admitted that
there would not be enough labor, but
that at the beginning of, the crop 1T
least a feW fields could be handled with,
out burning-of H. B. Penhallow point
ed out that two fields on his plantation
handled without burning-Of were much
cheaper 10 care for and had promising
yields. &c. al
Gaylord P. Wilcox told of the ad.
yantages of keeping the trash on fields
saying that il took less men to irngats
and less men to hoe, that the trash
rottcd well and that felds used thus
were working out good yield {. & 2
F. F. Baldwin stated that there ives
much to be said on either side Of the
gain in labor but that IL all cane was
cut without burning ii would be eleven
or twelve months before the harves,
would be completed and that much OF
the cane would rot. ~ NJ
Labor the Question y +tF.
The. discussion quickly simmered
down. TO the question of whether il
the trash were left on all fields could
the crop be gotten in the same time
with the same number Of men, ~
Mr.. Glib stated that even 81 the 10
Dor were available his opinion was thai
fifty per cent of the trash was retain
ed with light burning which would b.
not enough to hurt the, soil, that Il
TO burn before emitting and leaving the
cane tops on the ground. e :
/ Mr., Agee said that there was no lues
ton but that the trash was q benefit
to the soil as it put organic matter
back into the soil though there wal
a possibility that too much trash nigh
be turned back into the soil.
Asked how much more labor WoulS
be needed to permit leaving trash OF
an fields and eliminating burningOn
I Mr.. Renton replied that from twenty
Ave to thirty per tent more labor Youl;
be needed. On the question, of labD
Involved the subject was dropped,