Vol. IX. No. 208. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



123 



THE WEST INDIES. GENERAL IXEORMA- 

 TION FOR INTENDING SETTLERS. Issued by the 

 Emigrants' Information Office. 



This is one of the valuable series of hand-books issued 

 from the Emigrants' Information Office, 31, Broadway, 

 Westminster, S.W. (whence it may be obtained at the price 

 of f>d.), which have for their purpose the supplying of useful 

 had trustworthy information respecting emigration, chiefly 

 to the British Colonies. 



The first fifteen pages of the book are devoted to giving 

 information concerning the West Indies in a very general 

 manner. This relates to areas, population, climate, postal 

 matters, telegraphs, railways, steamers and fares, products, 

 customs, money, education, hospitals, openings for emigrants, 

 professional employment, commercial travellers, permission to 

 practise medicine, hints to emigrants, cost of living. This 

 part is followed by paragraphs having reference to the West 

 Indian iioyal Commission of IcS96 and the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The bulk of the book is then concern- 

 ed with detailed information with respect to the different 

 parts of the West Indies. This is given in a very thorough 

 manner, and in a sufficiently interesting way to appeal to the 

 ordinary .seeker after information, and not only to the 

 emigrant. The book should be of interest and use to 

 visitors to the West Indies, as it contains matters 

 of knowledge that will concern tbem directly, more 

 especially in the form of paragraphs containing hints for 

 visitors. As regards settlers, a piece of advice that is given 

 to these in the Leeward Islands section applies equally well 

 to most of the remaining part of the West Indies. It runs; 

 'The settler who wishes to invest money and cultivate his 

 own land should make no investment until he has lived for 

 some little time in the island which he selects; indeed, it 

 would prove of material assistance to him if he were 

 to spend a year or so actually working as an overseer in 

 a business similar to that in which he proposes to invest. In 

 this way he would learn the habits of the people with whom 

 he has to work, and would have opportunities of studying his 

 future plans.' 



A fair map, which, however, is too small to present the 

 smaller islands on a scale by which their .sizes may be com- 

 pared, is included. The work concludes with a good list of 

 publications on the British West Indies, together with infor- 

 mation concerning the latest Blue Book Reports. 



REPORT ON THE LANDS AND MINES 

 DEPARTMENT, BRITISH GUIANA, l'.)0S-9. Printed 

 by the Authority of His Excellency the Governor. 



In reviewing this report, a copy of which has just been 

 received, the chief attention will be given to the facts that are 

 of more general interest. It .shows, first of all, that the area in 

 sugar-cane cultivation in Rriti.sh Guiana has decreased since the 

 previous year, being 69,296 acres, as against 70,896 acres in 

 1907-8, the diminution of the area being chiefly due to the 

 abandonment of Plantation Vergenoegen. That of rice culti- 

 vation has largely increased, and is now estimated at 37,000 



acres. On the tract of 7,000 acres of land in the rear of Bartica 

 Village, granted for experiments in the cultivation of sisal 

 hemp, work has been pursued actively, and by the end of 

 August of last year, 550 acres of the forest had been cleared, 

 and stacked leady for burning, but the latter has been much 

 impeded, fiwing to heavy rains; planting has also been 

 delayed through the difficulty of obtaining material. 

 Notwithstanding this, some 300 acres had been put in by the 

 end of the year, and the plants are in a flourishing condition; 

 counting on the young plants in the nurseries and others 

 that were expected to arrive soon, it was estimated that the 

 planting of the 500 acres would be completed by the end of 

 the next dry season. In this area, catch crops from selected 

 seed, some ground provisions, and on an area of 10 acres, 

 fruit trees obtained from Florida, have been planted. As 

 regards limes, the operations of the Demerara Development 

 Clompany, Limited, at Agatash, have made steady progress. 

 Up to X(jvember 1, 1909, 355 acres of the forest had been 

 felled, and 308 acres of this area cleared. In this cleared 

 land, 163i acres had been planted in limes with 27,713 

 plants, and there were 138,000 .seedlings in the nurseries. 

 In addition, 650 Para rubber plants and 50 of Sapiuiii 

 ■letimani were established. 



The output of timber for the year was 511,000 cubic 

 feet; of this 191,409 cubic feet was exported, as against 

 232,670 cubic feet shipped last year. The amount cut 

 included 448,223 cubic feet of greenheart and 48,546 cubic 

 feet of crabwood. It is stated that the cutting of the latter 

 timber is likely to become an important industry, and that 

 several .saw-mills have been erected for the purpose of turning 

 out crabwood boards, which have been largely used instead of 

 the imported white pine. Experiments are being carried out for 

 the purpose of finding the best method of curing the wood, 

 and confidence is expressed in the expectation that, when an 

 economical and efficient means of doing this has been devised, 

 large quanties of crabwood will be exported. 



A record was made in the preceding year in the output 

 of balata, which amounted to 981,720 R. This was exceeded, 

 however, during the jear under report, reaching 1,100,390 lb. 

 In connexion with this industry, it is stated that licence- 

 holders continue to experience great difficulty in controlling 

 adequately the operations of their labourers, and it is hoped 

 that more stringent legislation against defaulters, and the 

 centralization of control about to be secured by the amalgam- 

 ation of the several interests, will cause an amelioration of 

 present conditions. 



The rubber industry has evoked much practical interest, 

 and the work at the Government Experiment Stations has 

 been pursued actively; valuable data in connexion with the 

 yield from the native rubber tree (Sajiiiim Jeninani) are 

 about to be obtained. 



In addition to this tree. Para rubber {lleveahrasilktisis), 

 Lagos rubber {Funtumia elantica) And Central American rubber 

 (C'lstilloa elastica) SLTe being cultivated in the experimental 

 fields, at the Botanic Gardens, and investigations in connexion 

 with pruning are being carried out. The Forestry Officer has 

 also made trials of methods of preparing rubber, with success. 

 The proprietors of sugar estates, and others, continue to evince 

 an interest in the cultivation of rubber-producing trees, so 

 that several thousand seedlings of Para rubber, raised at 

 the Botanic Gardens, have found a ready sale, while large 

 quantities of the seed of this plant have been imported pri- 

 vately. There is also an increased interest in the native 

 rubber tree {Sdjiiiiiii Jentnani), and this has been planted 

 largely in ditterent parts of the colony. The work of the 

 British Guiana and Rubber Corporation is being prosecuted 

 vigorously. The amount of rubber exported during the year 

 was 5,751 B). 



