August i, 1883.] 



THE TRdPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



83 



an estimated extent of 1,280,000 acres of splendid " cohune 

 ridge " or alluviau virgin soil in British Honduras, accord- 

 ing to a late return only some 10,000 acres, or less than one 

 hundredth part, is, or has been, under cultivation. Coming 

 to the older and more settled Colonies, as they have been for 

 the most part under cultivation in sugar, land.son the lower 

 slopes of the hills and in the plains only, have been chiefly 

 worked. The bulk of the hill lauds, most of which 

 possess magnihcent soil and a sijlendid climate, have been 

 practically untouched. For iustance, in Jamaica, on the 

 northern "slopes of the Blue Mountains, there are, at tlie 

 present time, about 100,000 acres of land in virgin forest, 

 richer and finer than any now cultivated, admiiably ad- 

 apted for the gi-owth of tea, coffee, and cinchona. At 

 lower elevations, in the central districts of the island, to 

 the west, I estimate that above the range for sugar there 

 are fully 200,000 acres suitable for the cultivation of 

 oranges, cacao, spices, and most tropical produce. In 

 the neighbourhood of Spanish Town, and within easy reach 

 of railway facilities, the Rio Cobre irrigation works em- 

 brace an extent of country equal to about 50,000 acres, 

 now mostly in pasture and ruinate, but adnurably adapted 

 for the cultivation of bananas, oranges, cacao, and spices. 

 In the lesser Antilles, to the we.st and south, similar 

 circumstances are foiuid, and indeed, thi'oughout the West 

 Indies you vrill hardly find a single island without plenty 

 of unoccupied land suitable for the growth of either sugar, 

 cacao, coifee, spices, tobacco, or coco-nuts. Barbadoes and 

 possibly Antigua, are the only islands of any importance 

 which have no hill lands still available for cultivation ; but 

 with regard to the former, as I have elsewhere remarked 

 " the rich character of the soil in Barbadoes, and the suc- 

 ces.sful results of the high culture it has received," may be 

 gathered from the fact that, while the Siu/ar Plaiiti>-,a paper 

 devoted to the interests of the sugar industry in Australia, 

 gravely discusses the exhaustion of canefields, the Flaiitcn' 

 Journal, of Barbadoes, somewhat facetiously remarks that 

 " the hind of this island, even now, shows no sign of exhaus- 

 tion, although it was converted into canefields within a 

 measurable distance of Noah's flood" (laughter.) 



In Dominica, the President, Mr. Eldridge, in the Blue 

 Book 1! port for 1S79, refers to the facilities for obtaining 

 land in that beautiful island, •' uusurpas.sed in Her Majesty's 

 dominions for fertility." Large tracts of these lands, in the 

 interior, belong to the Crown, and they can be purchased at 

 an upset price of £i per acre. Another official report states 

 that " at least on-haif the total area of Dominica isavaila ble 

 for agricultural purposes, amounting to about 96,0U0 acres. 

 . . , At the present moment there is not a third of that 

 extent under cultivation." 



Coming further south, Grenada has a considerable area of 

 mountain land available forcultivation ; while at Tobago prob- 

 ably fully two-thirds "t its area are still covered by virgin forest. 

 This review, necessarily rapid and general, will at least 

 show to what a small extent really, the rich and fertile lauds 

 of the West Indies have been so t:<r utilised. In British 

 Guiana alone, there is an area of country enual to two Ceylons 

 quite untouched; in British Honduras we have more than 

 the total rea of the Fiji Islands ; to Trinidad we could add 

 the wealth of the Straits Settlements ; and with the resources 

 of the unworked soil of Jamaica we might emulate the pros- 

 perity of. at least, for colonies of the size of Mauritius. 



Next to sugar, rum, and molasses, the most important 

 articles of production m theWest Indies are cacao and coffee. 

 Cp to within a few years ago, these two articles were almost 

 exclu.sively produced by Trinidad and Jamaica, each of 

 which had a corresponding number of acres under cultivation 

 and an equal gross value of exports. For instance, in Trini- 

 dad, 26,188 acres were returned under cocoa, yielding a gross 

 export value of £270,H0G; while, in Jamaica, 22,853 acres 

 were returned (in 1878) under coffee, yielding a gross export 

 valu of £271,449. Latterly, however, Grenada has become 

 a large cacao-producing colony, ami it wiU shortly, no 

 doubts approach Trinidad in the \ aine and extent of its 

 exports. The success of the cacao industry in thi.s island is 

 very remarkable and suggestive. In a comparative state- 

 ment, published in the Blue Book Report for 1879, the 

 staple products of Grenada are thus shown: 



Sugar 

 Cacao 

 Hum 

 Spices 



1848. 



0,071 hhds. 



3,yH5 bags. 



2,156 phns. 



nil. 



1878. 

 2,580 hhds 

 24,3P4 bags. 

 113 phns. 

 50,800 lbs. 



From this, it appears, that while " the caue cultivation is 

 rapidly declining in Grenada, and less sugar is made from 

 yeju- to year," the cacao industry is being increased tenfold. 

 By these means Grenada, which was once hi a languishing 

 condition, has become one of the most prosperous of the 

 Windward Islands. Again, in Dominica cacao cultivation 

 has been greatly extended, and the quality ot the produce 

 improved by fermentation and better curing. 



In Jamaica, cacao cultivation, where once it wasa flourish- 

 ing industry, is now being revived and extended in connoi- 

 tiou with the cultivation ot bananas for the 1 iiited States. 

 It is estimated that about 1,000 acres are in course of be- 

 ing planted with cacao in Jamaica, and some 80,000 jilants 

 of the best Trinidad and Caracas varieties have been disti-ib- 

 uted from tlie public gardens. 



As bananas and cacao thrive in exactly similar situations, 

 and under the same system of cultivation, the returns yieliled 

 by the bananas (which bear during the first fifteen or eighteen 

 mouths after planting) are more than siifficieiif to cover the 

 whole cost of planting the cacao. In other words, ow ing to 

 the development of the fruit trade in Jamaica, a cacao estate 

 can be successfully established, and its working expenses en- 

 tirely clearcil, by the profits on the sale of bananas. Planters 

 seeing this, are utilising their banana plants as nurses for the 

 cacao plants, and hence, when the bananas cease to bear, the 

 cacao pknts will remain as a permanent cultivation and a 

 source of continued wealth to the proprietor. As mentioned 

 lately in my tifficial report, "where bananas obtain good 

 prices, as in Jamaica, it is no exaggeration to say that a cacao 

 estate can be established there under more favourable con- 

 ditions than in any other British possession." 



For several years, and indeed up to the close of 1879, cin- 

 chona cultivation had not been taken up by private planters. 

 The number of plants grown by private enterprise in the 

 whole island, to W.-^O. woulil probably not have exceeded 

 900 or 1,000 plants ; that is, a number barely sufficient to 

 cover an acre of land. Owing, however, to the favourable 

 results of the sales of cinchona bark grown on the Govern- 

 ment plantations during the last three years, and to the 

 facihties afforded by Government in rising and distribut- 

 ing seeds and plants on a large scale, private enterprise 

 has now been largely enlisted in the industry. 



As indicating what has been done on the Government 

 plantations, I may mention that up to a recent date thev 

 had cost including all pioneering and experimental work 

 about £16,000. The returns on the sale of cinchona bark 

 and cinchona seeds ami plants have yielded a returi. of 

 £12,000, whil.stthe plantations, as they now stand, have been 

 valued by experienced planters from Ceylom at £20.000. 

 In my report for the year ending September .30th. 18HI. 

 mentioned that the object of the Government in inaiiilainiiig 

 these plantations was not on account of the pecuniary 

 returns hkely to be vielded by them, but for the purpL..se 

 of showing "that cinchona barks of good quality could be 

 successfully gi-own in Jamaica ; ami also, that cinchona 

 planting, as an enterprise in private hands, possesseil all the 

 elements of a sound and remunerative industry. The sales 

 of Jamaica-grown cinchona bark, during the last three 

 years having fully proved both these points, the Govern- 

 ment plantations 'now naturally devote chief attention to 

 the successful introduction and cultivation, on a small 

 scale, ot all the newer and richer kind of cinchonas, for the 

 purpose of successfully establishing them in the island; 

 and also to such necessarv exiierimental and scientific 

 work relating to the ii-.dustry which, for lack of means or 

 .scientific knowledge, cannot be conveniently undertaken 

 by private enterprise. As already mentioned, much re- 

 mains to be done in this respect; and as the plantations as 

 a whole do not contain more than about 180 acres, this 

 will not allow, on an average, more than about five acres 

 for each of the twenty-five or thirty species, varieties, 

 and forms of cinchona bark now the subject ot caretul 

 experiment and investigation on these plantations. 

 ' In order to test the commercial value of Jamaica-grown 

 hark no better plan could be followed than to semi it in 

 lots, to the open market, and place it in competition with 

 barks from other countries. That it has so satrst; ctorily 

 stood this test, and brought in a large return on the outlay 

 and moreover., that the results of the sales have induced 

 cinchona planting to be undertaken in the Lsland, by private 

 enterprise with energy and success, are matters for which 

 the Government, no less than the general pubhc, arc to be 



