April i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



751 



portation. If it would supply local demands it would do 

 a great deal. 



It would appear that a large amount of foreign coffee is 

 imported to the island, the returns for the last 10 years 

 being as follows: — 



Quantity 

 Year. (Bags). Value. 



£ 



1873 63 ... 311 



1874 74 ... 433 



1876 91 ... 431 



1876 37 ... 171 



1S77 93 ... 473 



1878 76 ... "222 



1879 60 ... 2-51 



1880 82 ... 348 



1881 62 ... 237 



1882 31 ... 121 



Total... 669 



2,998 



For the improvement of this industry, which is in a very 

 languishing condition, induced no doubt by the smallness 

 of the individual areas and the inability to give proper 

 scientific treatment to the trees, I have little of practical 

 utility to offer. There should, however, be no difficulty 

 in digging the groimd around the trees, and applying, 

 occasionally, a good dressing of manure to them. Also the 

 pruning which the trees require is a simple matter in itself, 

 but it requires skill and intelligence above the average of 

 that found amongst the small settlers. 



The chief hope is, that if an intelligent gardener is 

 appoiutcd to take charge of the Crown lauds and teach the 

 people the elementary principles of cultivation, co£fee will 

 be included amongst the first objects to receive special 

 attention. 



Tobacco. — No tobacco is, at present, grown and prepared 

 iu the island. During the last 10 years 84,570 lb. of to- 

 bacco were imported representing an aggregate value of 

 5,272^. 



Iu 1869, at the suggestion of Sir Joseph Hooker, Sir 

 Charles Elliott thought it desirable to encourage the cult- 

 ivation of tobacco, if not for exportation, at least to supply 

 ordinary demands iu the island. 



A small plantation was accordingly started by Jlr. Chal- 

 mers, who gives the following account, in his report dated 

 12th December 1871 ; — " The ground was manured and the 

 " plants otherwise well attended to till they had arrived 

 " at that state of maturity at which it is customary to 

 " ' cure ' or prepare the leaf for use. They were then 

 " carefully treated after the manner usually practised in 

 " tobacco-growing countries. A sample was prepared and 

 " submitted through Sir Joseph Hooker to the test of a 

 " proficient IjOudon tobacconist, who reported upon it to 

 " the effect that it was deficient in flavour and burning 

 " properties, and bore evidence of having been grown on 

 " a very poor soil. Some of the leaves were, however, of 

 " fair quality, and he believed that by increased attention 

 " to the manuring of the soil, and the preparation of the 

 " leaf, St. Helena tobacco should become equal in quality 

 " to that of Natal and other tobacco-growing countries." 



The results of this experiment are exactly what might 

 have been expected under the cii-cumsttmces, and so far 

 from discouraging the industry they afford very hopeful 

 grounds for its ultimate success. There is no doubt that 

 it Mr. Chalmers had remained in the island and carried 

 on further experiments, tobacco culture would now have 

 become an established industry. For good returns ou a 

 small acreage tobacco growing is the most profitable of 

 any. The chief points to be attended to are the selec- 

 tion of soil, and its thorough trenching and working, so as 

 to reduce it to the finest powder. The soil should be a 

 fine, somewhat sandy, rich loam, with no trace of clay or 

 marl, and thoroughly well drained. No soil that I noticed 

 in St. Helena is sufficiently rich at present to grow to- 

 bacco, and it would be useless to attempt to grow it where 

 good facilities do not exist for heavily manuring the land. 

 ^^'here the soil possesses the chai-acteristics mentioned 

 above, a portion might be enclosed and cattle or sheep 

 penned and fed upon it f 3r several weeks. "When the ground 

 has become throughly saturated with animal deposits, it 

 uhould then he ploughed or trenched, and all the manure 

 thoroughly mixed with the soil. 



Land so prepared would produce tobacco of the finest 

 quality, and I trust that another attempt will be made to 

 start an industry which possesses so many advantages for 

 hmited areas and a small labour supply. 



Forage plants. — As raising and feeding cattle is one of 

 the principal industries iu the island, the question of rais- 

 ing large quantities of forage is a matter of prime im- 

 portance. At present owing to the poor quality of the 

 pasture lands cattle require to be fed, especially in the 

 mnter months, with green forage, such as barley, oats, and 

 Indian corn, supplemented by well cured hay made in the 

 high lands. During jjcriods of drought, such as those e.x- 

 pcrienced during the lust three or four j'ears, several hund- 

 red cattle have died from want of proper nourishment ; 

 and at the time of my visit few, it any, island cattle 

 were fit to be killed for food, the whole community being 

 dependent on supplies from the Cape or the West Coast. 

 Beef is usually retailed in Jamestown at Is Id to Is 3d 

 per pound. 



The improvement of the grass lands and a larger and 

 more abundant supply of forage appear to nie to be the 

 urgent wants of the island. 



As regards the grass lands, they have all. for the most 

 part, become impoverished by continued and ceaseless crop- 

 ping and the entire absence of manuring. 



To improve them, the hundreds of tons of manure wasted 

 in Jamestown .should by some means be made available for 

 the purpose; or, failing this, farmers should look upon a 

 compost or manure heap, formed by all refuse and veget- 

 able debris near and around farm buildings and cottages, 

 as a necessity in order to enrich the lands in their neigh- 

 bourhood and develop their resources. Iu some few cases 

 where this is done the results are so patent that they 

 .should commend themselves to the serious attention of all 

 in possession of pasture lands. 



For green forage possibly barley. Cape oats, and maize 

 or Indian corn are very suitable for the soil and climate, 

 and yield large quantities of useful and nutritious forage. 

 To supplement these I would recommend the introduction 

 and cultivation of several varieties of Sorghum, usually 

 called millet or guinea corn. In the South of Europe, in 

 Asia Minor, and more recently in the United States of 

 America, the cultivation of Sorghum occupied a place sim- 

 ilar to that which oats and barley hold in the field-culture 

 of the northern parts of Europe ; and its extended culture 

 in fSt. Helena would, I believe, be attended with very 

 satisfactory results as a forage plant. 



I was much struck by the almost entire neglect of the 

 celebrated guinea grass {Panicn.m jvmentoruni) in St. Helena. 

 Speaking of the importance of this grass in Jamaica (Re- 

 port 1880, p. 23), I mentioned that " most of the grazing 

 " and breedmg pens were originally created and are still 

 " supported by means of this invaluable herbage, and per- 

 " haps the settlement of the north side of the island is 

 " wholly due to the introduction of this excellent grass. 

 " Again, it has rendered many rocky and otherwise barren 

 " spots in Jamaica, very valuable as affording support to 

 " herds of cattle and horses." 



To establish this grass in St. Helena the land should first 

 be ploughed and manured. The grass-tufts taken from an 

 older field should be pl.anted about a foot or 18 inches apart 

 each way and well fixed in the soil. If seeds are used 

 they may be sown broad-cast or in drills. A large field 

 of guinea grass in a sheltered spot at mid-elevation would 

 be more productive than almost any forage plant. To 

 keep it in good order the grass should be cut not grazed, 

 and the field shoidd receive periodical hoeing etaA a plenti- 

 ful supply of manure. 



To guard against drought and times of scarcity of water 

 it would be very desirable to introduce several valuable 

 trees, yielding nutritious pods or fruits, which in many 

 countries possessing dry and arid climates supply the chief 

 food stock for cattle and horse.s. 



Among the first of these I would place the Carob tree 

 (Ceratonia ailigna), a native of the countries bordering the 

 Mediterranean, where it is extensively cultivated for the 

 sake of its pods. These contain a large quantity of agree- 

 ably flavoured mucilaginous and saccharine matter com- 

 monly employed for feeding horses, mules, pigs, &c., and 

 occasionally, in times of scarcity, for human food. 



The tree can resist great drought, as its long roots pene- 

 trate to a great depth in search of water. I found one 



