828 



THE TROPCIAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May r, 1884. 



trouble to tlie future rulers of this province, but the 

 neighbourhood of such a formidable competitor in the 

 same field might do considerable harm to the individ- 

 ual planters, or deter individual planters from cominc 

 forward at idl. All big and successful companies are 

 apt to develop an idea' that that they should be able 

 to monopolize any business they take in hand, and 

 this idea often leads to tbeir trying, with more or less 

 success, to crush the smaller fry'in the same line of 

 business. Now, we submit that the real interests of 

 the province will be mueh better served jjy a com- 

 paratively slow colonizition by individuals than by 

 Mr. Sevestre's company. Of course, if Mr. Sevestre 

 gets up a company to take up some of the Tavoy 

 waste lands, on miich the same terms as Government 

 oifers them to individuals, no one can object. On 

 the contrary, such a company would be welcome for 

 the sake of the impetus it would give to a new 

 industry in Burma. The company would still have 

 the great initial advantage of large capital, but if 

 this were the only exceptional advantage it started 

 with, wo should not be afraid of its ultimately crush- 

 ing out the individuals who dared to compete with it. 

 Planting is essentially an industry the success of 

 which depends very much on close, constant and un- 

 remitting supervision, and on ecoonomical manage- 

 ment ; and in all these points the individual planter 

 is likely to excel, and thereby more than counter- 

 balance, in the long run, the company's initial advant- 

 age of larger means. 



Planting has been started in Tavoy, and if the 

 present planters meet with a fair measure of success, 

 there is no doubt that others will come forward, and 

 that in time the suitable parts of the district will 

 all be taken up. Meantime, there is no need to be 

 in too great a hurry, or to pay an exorbitant price 

 for hastening by a few years a result which is certain 

 to come. 



■J' he trausfer of part of the overflowing population 

 of Behar to Burma, which seems to be the bait which 

 has caught Sir Stuart Bayley, sounds, attractive, but 

 is, we fear, illusory. In the first place, even the 

 promoters of the scheme do not seem to be certain 

 of effecting this trausfer, as they talk of falling back 

 on Chinese labour it Bchar fails them ; and in the 

 second place, if these people from Behar are only to 

 come with the planters, and to work on the plant- 

 ntious, their advent will not really cheapen labour in 

 Burma generally at all. 



BRITISH HONDUKAS.* 

 [We are indebted to Mr. Morris for a copy of his 

 well got up and interesting work on British Honduras, 

 and, as it may bo some time before we are able to 

 read and notice it, we extract the following review 

 from the Planters' Qazctto.—ED.] 



The reputation which Mr. D. Morris has acquired for 

 energy and thoroughness iu his work will be heightened by 

 a perusal of the volume before us. Iu his modest preface 

 the author speaks of it as merely an attempt to give some 

 accoujit of the resources of the colony, and to sujjply a few 

 practical hints to those who are, or about to be, engao-ed 

 in developing them ; but the Government of British Hon- 

 dui-as, by whom its pubUcation has, we believe, been 

 undertaken, rightly judged that the dissemination of such 

 mfonnatiou as this work affords would be the best means 

 of attracting European capital and enterprize, and accord- 

 ingly, determined to issue it at the comparatively low price 

 of 2/. It was towards the close of 1882 that Mr. Morris 

 visited tlie colony at the request of the Governor, and he 

 evidently made the most of the opportunity .afforded hmi of 

 seemg the country and of studying its capabUities and re- 

 quirements. His object is to dispel the ignorance and pre- 



* By D. Morris, M.A., f.l.s., f.o.s., Duector of Public 

 Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica, E. Stanford, 35, Ohariu"- 

 Cross. ° 



judice now prevalent in England with regard to British 

 Honduras, which has, he says, "afforded one of the most 

 remarkable instances of British enterprize and energy. 

 ^ " Once the home of buccaneers, afterwards, for more 

 than a hundred and Bfty years, a mere station for cuttin" 

 maliogany and logwood, its fortunes have practically been 

 in tlie hands of a few monopolists. These hokUng nearly 

 all the laud, have been content to get from it, iu a 

 lazy, desidtory, and somewhat spasmodic manner, such 

 timber and dyewoods as lay within reach of the principal 

 rivers. "^ 



'' Now, however, such supplies are becoming exhausted, 

 and as the land monopoly has been broken by the enforced 

 sale of extensive tracts of forests, the colony enters practic- 

 ally upon a new phase of existence." 



We need hardly say that Mr. Morris by no means advoc- 

 ates measures that woidd permit the wholesale destruc- 

 tion of the forests. He has, iu Itis official reports pointed 

 out the evils arising from such a system, but he strongly 

 urges that the time has come when the local Government 

 might, with advantage, offer such facilities for the ac- 

 qiusition of land as will atti-act an intelligent race of 

 planters, possessing the necessary capital and energy. 



The soil is described as beuig generally rich aud fertile, 

 and the climate as admiraWy adapted for a great variety 

 of tropical plants. To the question which of these will 

 prove most suitable and remunerative Mr. Morris addresses 

 himself with all his wanted abihfy and industry. To begin 

 with, he indicates the growth of oranges and other trop- 

 ical fruits intended for the American and Canadian 

 markets as affording a very promising field for investment 

 in Honduras as in Jamaica, where this newly-developed 

 fruit trade is the means of circulating more than £1.50,000 

 annually amongst all classes of the community. The fact 

 that many of these crops mature earUer than the old 

 established products, such as sugar, coft'ee, and cocoa- 

 recommends them especially to men of hmited capital, 

 and the returns from them are likely, moreover, to be 

 highly satisfactory. Mr. Morris mentions the Mullin's 

 Kiver Valley in this connection, as being peculiarly suit- 

 able. Two small fruit companies and several private owners 

 have already commenced operations there with bananas, 

 coconuts, and cacao, and there is plenty of room for more. 

 Oranges, limes, and lemons are in regular demand for 

 the American market, au.l may be advantageously cultiv- 

 ated vrith bananas. " Oranges should be put out at about 

 20 feet apart. Plants may be conveniently raised from 

 seed, in boxes or beds, raised some 4 or 5 feet above 

 grounds, so as to be beyond reach of ants, rats, mice, 

 and other noxious animals so common in tropical countries. 

 The export of oranges from Jamaica chiefly to the United 

 States during the year 1882, amomited to more than 

 thirty millions, of the estimated value of £,33,700. Man- 

 goes are also mentioned as a promising product, only the 

 local kinds are of inferior quality, and need to have better 

 sorts from Jamaica or Martinique grafted on them. The 

 Avocado pear, the Loqueat, the Mangosteen, the Akee, the 

 Durian, the Star-apple, aud the Cherimonger of Peru, and 

 numerousother tropical and sub-tropical fruits are recommend- 

 ed by Mr. Morris for trial, asthey woiJdfinda retidy sale both 

 for home use and export. Although Mr. Morris devotes 

 considerable space and attention to what may be called 

 the minor products, viz., those suitable for settlers and 

 men of comparatively sm dl means, requirmg a quick re- 

 turn ; he does not, by any means, limit the sphere of his 

 observatiou or the country's capabilities to these. On the 

 contrary, he declares that, provided the necessary capital 

 and labour are forthcoming, there is nowhere in the world 

 that the large tropical industries can do better- " South 

 of Belize River, aud extending for many miles on each side 

 of such rivers as the Rio Grande and others, there are," he 

 tells us, " extensive areas of fine land admirably suited for 

 sugar-cane cultivation, where the usine system especially 

 might be adopted with every prospect of success. Further 

 inland, cacao plantations might cover hundreds of acres of 

 fine undulating country ; while the finest coffee should 

 flourish on the slopes aud higher lauds of the Oockscomb 

 country, and along the western frontier." 



At the present moment the sugar industry of British 

 Honduras do.'S not appear to be in a very nourishing con- 

 dition, but as much as that may be said of it tliroughou 

 the West Indian colonies. Twelve large estates wore starte 



