402 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



December 16, 1916. 



The revived interest which these figures and the 

 previously mentioned facts convey, is obviously the 

 outcome of the favourable conditions of production, 

 recorded at the beginning of this article. The 

 position of the grower is perfectly understandable: 

 chances (of none too frequent occurrence) are in 

 favour of big profits from cane cultivation, and the 

 grower is seizing and rightly seizing his opportunity. 

 But from a colonial point of view, from the point of 

 view of the community, it is well to acknowledge the 

 fact that the rush to plant sugar-cane is merely to 

 fill a partial vacuum produced by the war, and it is 

 -well to remember that this, like conditions of climate, 

 may change at any moment. The results might then 

 be disastrous. 



In the West Indian islands the production of 

 sugar and of most other products too, presupposes 

 a condition quite distinct from market prices and the 

 season. It depends upon adequate shipping facilities. 

 Upon this also rests the food supply of the islands. 

 High freights are being felt acutely already, but if 

 there should be an actual dearth of steamers so that 

 produce could not be shipped, then whatever rates 

 might be offered, neither sugar could be sold nor food 

 supplies bought. The suggestion Of such a situation 

 arising may seem quite unwarranted to many, but 

 recent events compel us to have regard to possibilities, 

 however remote. The renewal of enemy submarine 

 -warfare in the North Atlantic, the strong German 

 infiuence in South as well as North America, and the 

 sudden decision of an important steamship line to stop 

 calling at Barbados are matters which do not add to 

 our feeling of security. And all the time the shortage 

 of tonnage is being more and more felt by Great 

 Britain anrl her Allies, half of whose carrying trade is 

 already in the hands of neutral countries. 



Under these circumstances greater efforts should 

 be made to produce more in the.se islands for local 

 consumption. This does not refer merely to the 

 production of provision crops, though that occupies 

 a front position, but it refers to a general organization 

 of local food supplies and local industries. 



'i'he <|uestion of extending the area under crops 

 that will yield substitutes or partial substitutes for the 

 wheat Hour at present imported has already been dealt 

 with fully in this Journal. In this connexion it is 

 not enough for the peasant alone to follow this 

 policy: the large owner should also respond and 

 grow a certain acreage of some cereal like Indian 

 corn or (iuinea corn, or else ground provisions 



such as yams or sweet potatoes. Shortage of labour is 

 being felt in many parts of the West Indies: with the 

 unusually heavy crops of sugar-cane and the ever-rising 

 price of foodstuffs, the planter who can offer a labourer 

 a reasonable wage, and is in a position to sell him as 

 much corn meal as he wants at a lower price than 

 that at which it can be obtained from the merchants, 

 is the planter who will secure the necessary labour. 



More might be done to improve the methods 

 adopted in the production of animals. Greater attention 

 might be given to the economic feeding of cattle, sheep, 

 and poultry; and many more pigs might be raised with 

 the object of making bacon and hams for local consump- 

 tion, and for producing pork to take the place of that 

 which is imported from America. 



The fishing industry might be better organized 

 in many "of the islands. In Barbados, even, where it 

 is an industry of considerable importance there is 

 no attempt at organization. It seems strange that 

 a colony should leave its marine resources which have 

 not yet been even fully developed, entirely in the hands 

 of its poorest and most ignorant inhabitants. Agricultu- 

 ral societies should extend their functions to include 

 a general supervision of fisheries, or the Departments 

 of Agriculture might do this in an official capacity. 



Important items of importation into the West 

 Indies are tobacco, spirits and motor fuel. Tobacco 

 that would take the place of the lower grades 

 consumed might very well be grown and cured 

 in several of the islands, while the more general con- 

 sumption of rum in place of other spirits would reduce 

 the importation of spirits from abroad. As to petrol, 

 the West Indies are fortunate in having a suppl}- in 

 Trinidad, but it would save shipment and probably 

 be found cheaper all round to produce alcohol from 

 molasses locail}', in accordance with the methods 

 successfully .adopted in Natal. 



Inter-island or intercolonial trade should be 

 developed to the greatest possible extent, because this 

 can be carried on by means of schooners. Already 

 these islands are supplied with rice from Demerara 

 in place of that which used to come from India, and 

 on a smaller scale Antigua is beginning to capture 

 the intercolonial markets for onions. Similarly the 

 supply of fruit comes largely from intercolonial sources, 

 oranges from Trinidad and Grenada, and limes from 

 Dominica. This kind of business is to be encouraged 

 at the present time as it "tends to strengthen the 

 economic independence of the West Imlies. 



