Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-12-04
Committee Report Takes Up
This and Other Vital
Subjects


meeting OF the Hawaiian Sugar Plant
ers' Association, beginning tomorrow
is that OF the committee on clltiva
ton, fertilization and irrigation on ir
rigated plantations George F. lien
ton, manager of Eva plantation, Is the
head OF IL.
Referring to burning off, irrigation
the "Lahaina trouble" and other vital
subjects, the report OF his committee
says:
While, in a general way, there
may have been no marked alterations
in the cultivation on irrigated estates.
as q matter Of fact, changes are con-
tinually going ON. Take, for instance,
the question of conservation OF all the
leaves and refuse Of the fields. There
seems to be growing conviction that
burning Off Is detrimental to soil
fertility. The only thing that stops
/. the majority OF US from adopting this
Ltgservation off hand is the question
\ "a labor, which is dominant factor.
and viii continue to remain so until
the situation is relieved. But, even
with this drawback, the area devoted
TO the conservation method is being
increased, because the leaving of the
trash on the fields has pronounced
advantages In promoting land fertility.
in retaining irrigation water in the
soil. and In lessening the cost Of weed
ing. For this reason almost every
plantation is doing what can be done
along this line.
Several methods for reducing the
labor cost for irrigation have been or
are being adopted. The first TO be
taken up Is the system of Mr.. Geo. F.
Renton. Jr.. adopted by the Eva Plan
tation. which had q complete test in
1916, the entire crop being handled
on that system u has been SO sue
cessful az Eva that, with the excep-
tion Of q few hillsides, the whole place
IL Irrigated IN that way The plan 10
very simple Every other water
course Il cot out. The remaining al
tcrnafe water courses furnish wnter
on either side 10 the burrows A small
ridge Of earth 30 feet from each water
course serves IS the end Of each fur
row. The irrieator, therefore. waters
the burrows on either side of the wa
ter course. instead Of on one side only
as formerly. This Is stating the mat
ter very briefly but, practically that
Is all there Is to H. Under the old
method the crop of 1914 averaged
s.29 acres per contract irrigator. I'm
der the new system. that for 1916 av-
eraged 1885 acres. This speaks for
itself. No more water is required
than before and its advantages cut
two ways:
"First-The irrigator is enabled to
accomplish more work.
-Second-The land occupied former
u by one-half the number of water
|arses and banks is utilized for grow
iIglc
IN Is evident, therefore. that in adj
dition to the economy in labor for ir-
rigation, there Is also to be consid-
cred the increased yield Of sugar from
more land.
Second System
The second irrigation system
which has been noted is that where
killing up ratoons IL carried out How
great an AREA Is cultivated in that
way. your committee has no means of
knowing The plan Is to place all the
leaves and refuse In alternate fur
rows and to irrigate only every other
furrow from which the trash has
been removed, the idea being to leave
this trash in the alternate burrows
TO act as q mulch to preserve soil
moisture. There are several advant-
ages from this system:
"First-The use Of a lesser guam
tity Of irrigation water.
'Second-The saving of labor be-
cause the ground covered daily by
the irrigator is largely increased.
''Third-The very convenient dis
position of the trash
"On the Wailuku Sugar Company
this method Of every other furrow IT..
rigation. on two experimental fields
containing q total Of SO acres, is be-
ing carried out by Mr.. PenhalIow.
Each irrigator handles IL acres, and
the results from this area will I'M
deubtedly be both instructive and in
teresting to everyone In the cane ir-
rigation business.
A third system Of irrigation has
been tried to some extent. This vas
merely in the use Of a longer furrow
Or the purpose of lessening the num-
Ser Of water courses It was aban-
doned on one plantation because on
account Of these longer burrows. and
their taking more time to fill, more
water leached away from the roots
of the plant than was desirable, es-
pecially when young cane was irri-
gated.
In connection with fertilization
your committee has nothing new to
offer. In the replies to the letter of
inquiry sent out by the committee,
nothing was said about fertilizer. Per-
haps nothing can definitely be said.
Owing to the European war the sup
ply of potash has been so much cur
tailed that only one per cent Of this
element has been provided in our
mixed goods by the fertilizer distri-
butors. with the hint that after 1916. IL
present conditions continue, the plan