Vol. XVIII. No. 449. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



221 



THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK IN 

 MONTSERRAT. 



The fol'owing observations are taken from 

 Mr. W. Robson's Reporo for 1917-18 on the Agricul- 

 tural Department, Montserrat : — 



The present boom in the Sea Island cotton industry, 

 which is evidently diiectly due to war requirements, has 

 resulted in an unprecedented measure of prosperity to the 

 inhabitants of this island, the value of the crop of the 

 1917-18 season being in the neighbourhood of J267,000. 

 That the present prices paid for the lint will be maintained 

 after the cessation of hostilities is probably more than can 

 be hoped for, but all the inform itiou to hand indicates 

 emphatically that the immediate future prosperity of the 

 island is intimately bound up with the successful cultivation 

 of Sea Island cotton. It is therefore incumbent on those 

 having the administration of the affairs of the island in 

 their hands, as well as the growers themselves in their own 

 interests, that no stone should be left unturned which makes 

 for the stability and permanence of cotton as a cultivation. 

 During the present high prices, every acre of land for which 

 labour can be provided is being planted in cotton, which 

 means that on many estates the sume fields are being 

 planted in the crop year after year without manurial appli- 

 cation, and the absence of a definite rotation of crops is 

 perhaps the chief weakness in the island's agriculture at the 

 present time. 



While there does not appear to be any annual crop in 

 view at the moment that is likely to satisfy the requirements 

 of cotton estates of limited area as a money-yielding rotation 

 crop, there would seem to be much that can be done by 

 growers to build up the fertility of the land by suitable 

 rotations with green dressing crops. It does not seem to 

 be good agriculture to throw a field that has grown several 

 crops of cotton out of cultivation for a year, when green 

 dressing crops can be grown at a miuimum of cost, though 

 it is admitted that out of consideration for the stock main- 

 tained by the estate, it is sometimes necessary to do this. 

 The neglect to provide for the maintenance of the fertility of 

 the land applies especially to the lands of smill holders, and 

 it is difficult to recommend measures to meet the require- 

 ments of persoDS who wish to have every yard of their prop- 

 erty in constant cultivation, except to accumulate as much 

 pen manure at possible by the aid of stock. 



Just to what extent certain areas that are now 

 considered to be only moderately well suited for cotton 

 cultivation can be in proved by more intensive methods of 

 cultivation, such as the provision of wind-breaks, the 

 draining of the land, etc., is a question for the owners of 

 land to consider, but it would seem to be in times like the 

 present when large profits are being made from the crops 

 grown, that measures like those mentioned should be taken 

 to increase the permanent value of the land. 



Apart from the questions raised in the foregoing 

 femarks, there does not appear to be much that is 

 •bjectionable in the methods in vogue at present in 

 connexion with the cotton crop. 



The stimulus given to the sugar industry after the 

 outbreak of the war has in a large measure fallen away, and 

 the area in plant canes Ik considerably less than in the 

 pcevioue year. This is largely accounted for by the 

 soarcity of labour on sugar estates, due to the attraction of 

 higher wages to the labourers on cotton estates, and in 

 certain sections of the island, to the practise of allowing the 

 labouier to grow cotton on the share sygtem. 



Minor industries, including papaw and onions, continue 

 to I« very raurh neglected, but reviv .Is in this connexion 

 can be looked for, if cotton becomes less attractive as a 

 cultivation. 



The lime cultivation in the island continues to be a 

 considerable source of anxiety to those responsible for it, 

 and th'.ugh the a^tml exports of lime products in 1917 

 are larger than those of the two previous yeirs, this is as 

 explained on a later page of the report, and cannot be 

 attribu'ed to any improvement in the general condition of 

 the areas cultivated. 



In view of the many problems involved in connexion 

 with lime tree di.sea.ses under our conditions, it is admitted 

 that the fit and proper person to resolve the various factors 

 into their appropriate places is the scientific agriculturist, 

 who has had an opportunity of closely observing lime cultiva- 

 tion under the various conditions existing in the West 

 Indian islands, and who can at tU ' same time co-ordinate 

 the results obtained with similar cultivations in other pirts 

 of the world In this connexion it can here be stated that 

 the Mvcologist of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Mr. Wm. Nowell, D.I.C., in a recent report stated: 'the 

 idea that Montserrat is troubled by some specific and special 

 disease of its lime trees, as compared with, say, Dominica, 

 has in my opinion no foundation'. 



This being taken for granted, the probleti to be fa=ed 

 in this island by lime growers is whether healthy areas of 

 lime trees can in the future be successfully established, and 

 in view of the r. suits obtainpd in this direction during the 

 last twelve years, there may be considerable doubt as to the 

 future of the industry. It is often claimed by lime growers 

 that there has been a definite change in the climatic condiiions 

 existing in the island, in the direction of dryness, since the 

 hurricane of 1899, and excepting that the fo ir years imme- 

 diately preceding the hurricane were particularly wet 

 ones, there is no definite substantiation of any marked 

 change so far as the actual precipitation is concerned. 

 There may possibly have been a great falling off in the 

 humidity as a result of the denudation of the foiests by 

 the hurricane. As, however, the major poriinn of the 

 existing lime cultivation in the Grove and Richmond 

 neighbourhoods wa.s successfully established subseq'ient to 

 the hurricane, the theory that climatic change is the 

 primary reason, would not seem to explain fully the 

 comparative failure to establisli regular areas within the 

 last twelve years. 



So far as can be gathered, the question of the decline of 

 areas in lime trees has troubled the industry ever since its 

 inception, and the policy adopted has been to replace fields 

 shoeing decline by others on a different site, which in turn 

 being a success, the area in limes has always been more or 

 less maintained. Now that the new areas planted are from 

 various causes not producing the results anticipated, the 

 very existence of the lime industry is threatened wih 

 extinction. 



Considerable attention has been given to matters 

 pertaining to the cultivation of lime trees, and the difficul- 

 ties experienced in connexion therewith. 



The measures recommend for consideration by lime 

 growers are: (l)the artificial control of scale insects on 

 young trees by regular spraying ; (2) the provision of lateral 

 shelter in young fields by means of green-dressing plants 

 e.g., pigeon pe» ; (3) the provision of more effective wind! 

 breaks ; (4) judicious manuring of the trees ; and (5), ia 

 some initances, the draiaing of the land. 



