Dr Davy's Agricultural Discourse. 367 



And, I think, it cannot be doubted that improvements which have 

 been found of such vast importance in England, so lucrative and ad- 

 vantageous to all concerned, would not be less so in Barbadoes. We 

 know of one gentleman, to whose writings tropical agriculture is 

 under no small obligations, who has commenced thorough draining 

 on a part of his property in this island, which, from its qualities, he 

 was of opinion required it. As the process was begun only a few 

 months ago, and is not yet completed, it is too soon to witness any 

 remarkable effect from it ; and yet, some effect, I understand, is al- 

 ready apparent : a gentleman, a very competent judge, who was 

 lately at Lamberts, has told me, that the canes over the drains were 

 green in their stalks and growing, unaffected by the dry weather at 

 that time prevailing, whilst those not so situated had the scorched 

 appearance connected with the suspension of healthy active vegeta- 

 tion, owing to want of moisture. 



If a soil is too loose (to pass to the other extreme) from excess of 

 sand and deficiency of clay, unretentive of moisture, rain-water 

 passing through it almost unobstructed, fatally parched in dry sea- 

 sons, and never productive excepting in moist ones, what is the cor- 

 rective to be applied ? Is it not obviously an addition of that ad- 

 hesive plastic element, clay, which is deficient ? Respecting this, 

 there can be no doubt. But a doubt may arise in the mind of the 

 proprietor, whether the improvements calculated on, may be worth 

 the expense that must be incurred. The determination, the solving 

 of the doubt, must, of course, rest on a variety of circumstances, 

 chiefly local, all connected with economical views, as the probable 

 quantity of clay required, the distance from which it is to be brought, 

 &;c., circumstances I need not dwell on, or particularise. 



Of the other order of defects, those depending upon the chemical 

 composition of soils, I can speak with less confidence ; for the sub- 

 ject is a difficult one, partly owing to its nature, and partly to the 

 little attention it has yet received, especially in the West Indies. If 

 we are to start from principles, certain questions nmst be asked and 

 answered to enable us to make a successful beginning : — Such as, 

 what is the exact composition of soil best adapted to any particular 

 crop, for example, the sugar cane ? If this can be determined, then 

 we have a principle to guide us ; we are no longer groping as it 

 were in the dark ; then the object of the planter will be to approx- 

 imate as much as possible all his soils to the high standard soil ; 

 but which he can only do by knowing their composition, what ele- 

 ments are in excess, or in deficiency, or altogether wanting, com- 

 pared with the standard. At present, I fear the state of tropical 

 agriculture is not sufficiently advanced to enable us to say what this 

 standard soil is, how it is constituted ; and it may be long before the 

 problem will be solved ; and, certainly , never without the aid of 

 scientific research, and the joint operation of the man of science, and 

 of the practical agriculturist ; or, what would be best, the union of 



