B £ fififi 053 AGRIC. LIBRARY MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, EGYPT. Technical and Scientific Service. Bulletin No. 26. (Entomological Section.) THE OUTBREAK OF PSEUDOCOCCUS SACCHARI, CklL, ON THE SUGAR CANE OF EGYPT. By W. J. HALL, A.R.C.S., F.E.S., T, MraisvuY or (Edited by the Publication Committee ol the Ministry of Agriculture which it not, at a body, responsible (or the opinion* cxpreued in this Bulletin.) May 10, 1922, Government Press, Cairo, 1922. To be >.litiiiiM'il. Price P«T. 3. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, EGYPT. Technical and Scientific Service. Bulletin No. 26. (Entomological Section.) THE OUTBREAK OF PSEUDOCOCCUS SACCHARI, Ckll., ON THE SUGAR CANE OF EGYPT. By W. J. HALL, A.R.C.S., F.E.S., ENTOMOLOGIST, MIHISTKY or AGRICULTURE. (Edited h> Ihe Publication Committee of Die Ministry of Agriculture which is not, as a body, responsible for the opinions expressed In this Bulletin.) [May 10, 1922. Government Press, Cairo, 1922. 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H oc 1 o '.'.'.'. o Ed '.'.'.. Hi o H PROVINC •SlifSt JH « CTrt.CX" o ' CM * • rrj S _, _^<3 ^ MIDDLE . •" CS C v;'.^ 5; IK « a O H MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, EGYPT. Bulletin No. 26. THE OUTBREAK OF PSEUDOCOCCUS SACCHARI, Ckll., ON THE SUGAR CANE OF EGYPT. The sugar cane cultivation of Egypt dates back to 1848, in which year Ibrahim Pasha introduced a red variety from Jamaica : the variety now known as " Baladi." The experiment met with such success that a factory was built at Roda in 1855 to extract the sugar from the cane, and so profitable did it prove that the area under sugar cane increased yearly. Sugar cane is now one of the major crops of Egypt and the old Roda factory has long since been replaced by six or seven others of more modern type situated at intervals throughout Upper Egypt. The sugar production of Egypt at the present time is practically a monopoly of the Societe Generale des Sucreries et Raffi- nerie d'Egypte and all the factories with one exception belong to them. In 1903, owing to the low market price of sugar, the low production of " Baladi " cane, and the high prices obtained by other crops, it was realized that unless a higher producing cane was found the future of sugar production in Egypt was doomed. Accordingly M. Henri Naus Bey of the Sugar Company visited Java, Borneo, Hawaii, etc., and brought back 128 selected varieties of sugar cane. Amongst these was found a variety called " Java 105 " which possessed the necessary characteristics for revitalizing the industry. It might be as well here to compare " Baladi " and " 105," the two varieties almost exclusively grown in Egypt to-day. Although " 105 " cane contains a slightly lower sugar percentage -12-5 to 13 as against 13-5 to 14 — and a slightly lower degree of purity, it has the characteristic of giving a much higher yield of cane per feddan than the " Baladi." In the first year it produces about 200 qantars per feddan* more cane and whereas in the second year the yield per feddan only falls off by 100-150 qantars, in the case of "Baladi " 44-'J28 kiloB. = 9',)-0:> Ibs. 1 feddan = 4,200-833 square metres = 5,024-17 square yards = 1-038 acres. — 2 — it falls off from 150-200 qantars, so that over a period of two years a field will produce 400 qantars per feddan more cane or an increased yield of over 30 per cent. On well cultivated good land " 105 " will give in the neighbourhood of 900 qantars, and it has an additional advantage in that it will produce a remunerative crop on poor land. This increase in production of the " 105 " variety over the " Baladi " is due to the fact that the former grows much more slowly than the latter in the early stages and some of the lower eyes grow out giving a greater number of canes per set planted. On the other hand " Baladi " cane is stouter and finer in appearance. The " 105 " cane, however, possesses one serious drawback, once the cane is cut inversion of the sugars rapidly sets in. Consequently it has to be passed to the factory after cutting with the utmost despatch, a delay of more than twenty-four hours being sufficient to reduce the available crystallizable sugar content. Sugar cane is grown in Egypt for three purposes :— (1) Human consumption (chewing). (2) " Honey " manufactured in the villages for local con- sumption. (3) Sugar production. By far the most important of these is the sugar production and it is chiefly with sugar cane grown for this purpose that the present paper deals. The attached table shows the areas under sugar cane cultivation for the last ten years, and it will be seen that the Provinces of Minya, Asyut, Qena, and Aswan claim by far the greatest areas. These are the provinces served by the factories of the Sugar Company ; the other provinces, with the exception of Girga, only produce cane for human consumption (chewing). The chief localities under sugar cane in the various provinces and the factories by which they are served are as follows :— PBOVINOE. LOCALITY. FACTORY SERVED BY. Minya I Sheikh Fa