Jttly 2, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



25 



ou the estate, with their lady adherents. The social 

 customs of the coast Malagasies do not include marriage. 

 A merry, laughing crowd they are, who, if they do not 

 work as well as Indian coolies, are infinitely superior to 

 the Zulus and Kafth-s of Natal. They ai-e paid about 

 nine shillings per mouth, and get their food in addition. 

 Altogether they cost about sixteen shillings per month 

 each. A cooUe in Mauritius costs the planter about thirty- 

 three shillings, so that, even putting domi tivo cooUes 

 as equal to three Malagasies, labom' in Madagascar is 

 fifteen per cent cheaper than in Mamitius. And there 

 is not the preliminary outlay required to bring the cooUes 

 from India, and to send them back when their term has 

 expired. Another immense advantage for Madagascar is 

 that the \Trgin soil is so rich and deep — on an average 

 from sbf to eight feet of the special loam required for 

 cane — that no manure is necessary. But the great and 

 crowning advantage of all is that there are no cyclones. 

 The majority of the joint-stock sugar-planting concerns 

 of Mauritius pay dividends in ordinary years of from 

 ten to twenty-five per cent. But every thu-d or fourth year 

 comes a tornado, which lays everything level with the 

 ground ; and for that season, and sometimes for two or 

 thi-ee followuig ones, there is Uttle or no dividend paid. 

 From this risk ami from this giinding anxiety the planter 

 iu Madagascar is free. 



Following our guide, the manager, we made om- way 

 to the topmost eminence on the estate, and as we went 

 passed through fields of gigantic canes, towering from 

 twenty to thirty feet high overhead. Nowhere m Maur- 

 itius, and at no period, we were assm'ed by the enthu- 

 siastic manager, did canes grow in such perfection, a 

 statement which 'crtainly om* own observation confirmed. 

 And 'ae view which unfoMed itself as we reached our 

 destui -tion cannot be matched, I make bold to say, for 

 the wealth of tropical growth ilisplayed, all the world 

 over. I have seen nothing like it in the richest portions 

 of India, even where u'rigation aids the elforts of Nature 

 and of man. But here was no other irrigation than the 

 rain of Heaven afforded. The country is studded with 

 little Imolls, and it is in the tiny valleys between, and 

 on the slopes reaching down to the river banks, that the 

 cane is cidtivated. The latter are preferred, as the water- 

 way affords easy carriage for the canes to the factory. 

 What with the tall green canes, the palms, and for 

 temperate climes, the rare and beautifid plants which 

 form the undergi-owth on the ImoUs, the ground itself was 

 everywhere slirouded from view. "When it is stated that 

 a .strip of country equal to, and sometimes suri^assing, 

 this in richness, from twenty to forty miles broad and 

 .several hundred miles iu length, with wide navigable rivers 

 at intervals of from ten to twenty miles, awaits cultiv- 

 ation on the east coast of Madagascar, it will be understood 

 how great a future there is in store for the country. And 

 not only 'sugar, but on the knolls which dot his estate 

 the planter can grow tobacco, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, 

 and aU the spices m profusion. " No wonder," as a 

 Creole in Mauritius said to me, " our eyes are directed 

 towards Madagascar. " 



At fii'st and for many years to come, before the river 

 frontage is exhausted, the sugar mills and the estates 

 will be placed along the river banks. There is ground 

 enough of that description available to gi'ow many times 

 the three milUons' worth of produce turned out annually 

 by Mauritius. But, of course, as with all industries, there 

 are obstacles to be overcome. Under the original Treaties 

 between the Hovas and England, France, and America, 

 it was agreed that the subjects of those nations shall be 

 permitted in any lawful manner to " purchase, rent, lease" 

 land in Madagascar. But tliis clause in the Treaty has 

 almost remained a dead letter. Any native landowner 

 knows that if he parts with his property to a foreigner 

 he is likely to suffer du'e retriV)ution at the instance of 

 the native authorities. Short leases the Hovas do not 

 object to ; but then, of course, it is impossible on such 

 short secm-ity for capitalists to invest the large sums re- 

 quired for sugar entei'prise. The fact is, the French sub- 

 ject.s in Madagascar talked so much about what France 

 would eventually do that the Hovas got frightened. They 

 argue that if foreigners were allowed to acquire land indis- 

 criminately, such hordes of them would come that the 

 country no longer would be their own, and a pretext for i 



its annexation would be afforded. Then they are able to 

 refer to Mauritius, where none but British subjects are 

 allowed to own laud, and so they say "We are not so uia- 

 civilised in our determination to maintain a simihar rule 

 there." As the EngUsh Consular authorities at least have 

 refrained from pressing the matter, the question has gone 

 on increasing, untd at last the French have seized hold 

 of it as a base upon which to found their quarrel. But 

 the Hovas are firm, and if hostilities are to be avoided, 

 the matter must be settled by a compromise. Probably 

 for sugar estates ninety-nine years' lease will be author- 

 ised for the ground on which the factories are built, ^vith 

 ample provision for a valuation at the end of that period 

 should the Go\erninent wish to take over the land. 

 Then, in the \Tcinity of the factories, the land will be 

 thi'own upon to planting leases of from twenty to thirty years. 

 The cane in that case would mostly be grown by natives, by 

 Indians, perhaps, and Creoles from Mauritius, and sold to 

 the mills. Two of the existing factories are ah-eady work- 

 ing on that principle, which is found to answer well. On 

 this subject I will, however, be able to write more defin- 

 itely after my arrival at the capital, for which I start 

 to-morrow. I will only say at present that, in the opinion 

 of all British subjects here, difficulties might have been 

 avoided and an arrangement long ago come to if England 

 had maintained a Representative at the Malagasy capital. 

 France has her chief Consul at the seat of Crovernment, 

 and a Vice-Consul on the coast. We, with a far greater 

 trade, and with double the number of subjects in the 

 country, are content with aConsid resident at this port only. 

 The Government are most anxious to have English official 

 advice, but, of course, when the nearest officer is seven days' 

 journey distant, they have been obliged to do without it, 

 and British interests in Madagascar have suffered accordingly. 

 French traders, by means of the pressure which their Consuls 

 are always prepared to exert none too scrupulously, obtain ad- 

 vantages over the English. In a word, ISritish interests in 

 Madagascar, which in the next few years are likely to increase 

 indefinitely, demand that a Diplomatic representative cap- 

 able of watching closely and skilfully whatever concerns 

 them shall be stationed at Antananarivo. I find a universal 

 complaint here on the part of Enghshmen, Indians, and 

 Creoles, against the English OonsuLcr Office. It is declared 

 to be inefficient, procrastinating to the last degree, and 

 careless of their interests. How far that complaint may 

 be well founded I cannot, of course, say. I can only 

 testify to its vuianimous existence. At all eveuts, it is 

 a fact that from Mauritius alone considerable sums are 

 awaiting investment in Matlagascnr, and it will be a pity 

 if so di'sirable an extension of British trade shouUl t><: 

 lost through lack of a Uttio encouragement and support 

 from our own Government. So soon as the legal obstacles 

 have been removed, we may expect to see large tracts of 

 land on this coast brought under cultivation on the sys- 

 tem which is answering so well in Mauritius — that is, in 

 small joint-stock concerns of from twenty to forty thou- 

 sand pounds each. And whero returns of from twenty- 

 five to thirty per cent ai-e to be oljtained, British capital- 

 ists are not likely to remain long behind those of the 

 Colony — provided that French aggression does not close 

 Madagascar to British entei-prise altogether. — Ht<inilard. 



As a rule, a tree that is growing vigorously will no", 

 fruit much. To make a tree bear fruit there must be 

 some check to its growth. After a certain age there is a 

 natui-al cessation of the growth, and trees then bear. 

 B\it w'e do not always care to wait until that time comes. 

 We want fruit sooner. This may be had by checking the 

 growth in some way. The check must not be too violent. 

 or the tree will be injured. It may be said briefly that 

 all summer pi-uning, cutting back, root pruning, or any 

 other practice that strikes at the life of the tree, or re- 

 tards the growth in summer, tends to the formation of 

 fruit bads. Among these are bending downi, or gently 

 breakiTig in branches, hanging wiights on them, tying 

 them down to stakes, slightly barking the ti"ee or branches 

 in June, etc. But it must be Ijorne iu mind that 

 all such checking or pruning .should be done carefully and 

 judiciously, to balance or check the force of the tree and 

 retard its wood growth, if the tree is large enough to 

 to bear and fruit is desired. — Soutlterii Planter. 



