194 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



June 18, 1904. 



The Government did not desire, he ^vonld have 

 them understand, to make agriculturists of all the boys 

 of the colony, but their object was to make them useful 

 members of the community. They desired to teach 

 them to study nature, to learn nature's methods, and 

 how to help nature, and to learn in what manner nature 

 could best be made to help them. With that object 

 they would encourage also the collecting of specimens 

 of plants, etc. There were other efforts that might also 

 be a,ssisted such as bee keeping and lessons in carpentry. 



The Government was doing its best to push on the 

 teaching of agriculture in the elementary schools : in 

 this connexion they were following what other 

 countries, such as Great Britain, Germany, an<l the 

 United States, were doing. No school in any of these 

 countries was now considered to be well equipped 

 unless a thorough and practical course in agricidture 

 was provided. 



In Trinidad their teaching was not confined to 

 school shows ; there was also the assistance given by 

 the Agricultural Instructors. Further, with the 

 lectures of Pi'ofessor Carmody they were now able to 

 impress something of the scientific part of the study of 

 agriculture on the minds of the teachers. 



His Excellency the Acting Governor, in addressing 

 the meeting, referred to the prejudice that was alleged 

 to be cherished by some persons against agriculture. 

 He was sure the audience before him did not share 

 a sentiment of so foolish a character. They had 

 realized that agriculture was a profession demanding 

 a great deal of intellectual energy, if it was to be made 

 to bear its proper fiuits. It required an intelligent 

 man to make a good cultivator of the soil. It w.as 

 a mistake to think that it was a mark of want of 

 intelligence to leave the town and go into the country. 

 In town all the markets of labour were becoming over- 

 crowded. He was daily receiving applications from 

 boys fresh from school who wanted employment, and 

 he said that it would be better for them to devote 

 themselves to agriculture and remember that the 

 agricultural profession called for the highest character- 

 istics of the human mind. 



In conclusion his Excellency referi-ed also to the 

 fruit industry, and urged his hearers to do what they 

 could to help this enterprise, which had been the saving 

 of the neighbouring colony of Janiaica. Yet, when 

 the soil and labour conditions in the two colonies were 

 compared, it did not appear that Jamaica enjoyed any 

 privileges greater than their own : it depended entirely 

 on themselves whether they would make this new 

 industry a success. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Seedling Canes in Cuba. 



In our last issue we gave some of the results of 

 the cultivation of seedling canes in Cuba. Jlr. Atkins 

 has kindly forwarded a number of these to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, of which the following 



is a list : — 



Varieties of Sugar-cane other than Bourbon in 

 British Guiana. 



The following is a return showing the area under 

 cultivation in British Guiana with varieties of sugar- 

 cane other than the Bourbon, published by the Board 

 of Agriculture, British Guiana : — 



The following is a suininaiy compiled from the returns 

 rendered to the Sugar-cane Experiments Committee, in 

 answer to the circular letter of January 21, 1904. 



With the exception of one plantation in the county 

 of Demerara, returns have been furnished by every estate 

 on which varieties of canes are being cultivated. 



Varietie.s of canes other than Bourbon are being grown 

 on areas of more than 1 acre on twenty-uiiie plantations 

 in the county of Demerara, four in the county of Esse- 

 quebo, and eight in the county of Berbice ; or on forty-one 

 plantations in British Guiana. 



!Many of the plantations which are growing varieties of 

 canes on a relatively large scale have nurseries of several 

 or of many varieties, the cultivation of which they intend 

 gradually to extend. 



The areas used for the experimental cultivation of the 

 varieties other than Bourbon on the estates participating 

 in the inquiry vary very greatly, from about 1 acre as 

 the minimum to about 2,200 acres as the maximum. 



One plantation in Demerara has an area of over 

 2,200 acres occupied by large-scale expeiiments with 

 varieties of canes, while one in Berbice has about 1,600 

 acres similarly occupied. 



The following shows the various acreages devoted to 

 these experiments : — • 



Denieiaiii. E.sse(iuebo. Berbice. 



The returns show that in British Guiana 12j8G0 acres 



