230 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Oct. I, 1886. 



3 or 4 )'ear8, and the results, evea on an experimen- 

 tal estate, give a good return on the capital invested. 

 If started in connection with a cocoa estate 

 the expenses would be reduced to a minimum 

 regards buildings and OfiBces. 



The Ground-nut (AracliU) will only thrive in 

 light sandy soils which however require to be 

 fairly rich. In Virginia and Kentucky the " Pea- 

 nut" is very important crop, and if it could be 

 established at Trinidad, and the " nuts produced at 

 a price to compete with the States," there is a large 

 market open there for them. An experiment tried 

 in a few districts at Trinidad would soon show 

 what prospects the industry would have. Seed 

 nuts can be had in any quantity. 



Among Minor Industries to which attention 

 might very well be directed, I would mention a 

 few here, in the hope that my remarks may stimul- 

 ate inquiry and lead to some practical result. 



Limes, I know, are cultivated in Trinidad, and 

 the export of crude lime-juice may have been al- 

 ready attemptf^d. The most acceptable form 

 however for presenting lime-juice in the market is 

 as " Concentrated Juice. " This is prepared by 

 boiling the crude juice down to the consistency of 

 thick molasses. The proportion of concentrated 

 juice to the raw juice should be as 1 to 16. Just 

 at present concentrated lime-juice is selling at very 

 high rates, viz : — about £30 per pipe. I commend 

 this cultivation within certain limits: and I 

 have no doubt that there is plenty of scope for it 

 at Trinidad. In some Islands I find that a trade 

 is arising for the seeds of the Musk Mellow {Abel- 

 moichus Moschatus) which are used for perfumery 

 purposes. I believe the chief market for this 

 " Vegetable Musk " is in France. The plant itself 

 is a common weed in Tropics, and might be 

 grown in the rows between Sugar cane, Indian 

 corn or other field crops. The parts used are the 

 seeds cleaned from the husk, which, when crushed 

 have a strong flavour of musk. 



It is a matter of surprise that the cultivation and 

 preparation of Vanill.\ has not taken a larger hold 

 in Trinidad than it has done. At Martinique and 

 Guadeloupe, Vanilla, exactly similar to what is 

 found at Trinidad, is sucessfully cultivated and 

 the exports are considerable. This is an Industry 

 suitable to old and somewhat feeble people and 

 requires no laborious effort or exposure to the sun. 

 Black pepper is another small industry capable of 

 being carried on successfully at Trinidad and at an 

 outlay that is purely nominal. 



AnniVtto [lioucoif) is just now in large demand. 

 Thisis produced by a shrubby tree of a hardy char- 

 acter, not browsed upon by hor.ses or cattle and 

 capable of being established on rather poor savauuah 

 land. Seeds may be planted a few in each hole 12 

 feet apart and in three or four yeais the plants will 

 begin to bear. 



There are various drugs and spices which might 

 be successfully introduced into the Island, but it is 

 Impossible to enumerate them here. 



Bee-keeping with Italian or other good strains 

 might be greatly extended in the West Indies. In 

 Jamaica, Bees-wax appears as an important item 

 ia the Exports. 



I have thus far only given general hints and offered 

 suggestions which might be hereafter devolped. 



At to the best means of promoting the growth of 

 minor industries, there is nothing better than the 

 system of Agricultural Boards which you have 

 already organized to act as local centres. The.se 

 Boards might very conveniently distribute seeds 

 and cuttuigs of economic plants and give practi(^:il 

 information respecting their proper treatment. To 

 aid in this latter work it is important to prepare 

 and distribute all over the Island leatii^ts or bulletins, 

 couche i in simple and clear language, giving direc- 

 tions to the people how to proceed with industrie.s 

 the details of which are new to them. The prepar- 

 ation of such leaflets will require at first some care 

 and attention, hut they ari^ invalviable if rightly 

 worked . 



In the West Indies there is an uofortiuato 

 absence of publications dealing with agricultural 

 matters and to this fact in a great measure is due 

 much of the doubt and hesitation which exists 

 respecting new industries. I know of no better 

 publications on miscellaneous tropical cultures than 

 one published monthly ia Ceylon called " The 

 Tropical Agriculturist " and for which Messrs. 

 Trubuer, 57, Ludgatt; Hill, London, are Agents. 



The plan of offering prizes through the Agricul- 

 tural Boards is an admirable one. The prizes 

 might consist of seed, plants, agricultural tools 

 and implements, or purely a money priz(;. Annual 

 shows, trials of tools and implements, friendly con- 

 tests in agricultural tasks, are all means for exciting 

 the interest of the people in progressive ideas and iu 

 eventually bringing about an improvement in habits 

 of thought and life as bearing upon agricultural 

 matters. 



I shall be happy to give any further information 

 in my power and shall at all times take a deep 

 interest in your efforts to infuse life and energy 

 into the agricultural interests of the West India 

 Islands. — I am, believe me, very sincerly yours, 



D. MOBRIS. 



His Excellency, Sir Wm. Robin.son, k. c. m. g. 

 Governor of Trinidad. — Trinidad Chronicle. 



BALATA INDUSTRY- 



In the Journal of the Society of Arts for Nov. 20th, 

 18ti3, a list of subjects for premiums was published, 

 amongst which was one " For any new substance or 

 compound which may be employed as a substitute for 

 India-rubber or gutta-percha in the arts and manu- 

 factures."* This was responded to in the Journal for 

 Fobryary 26th, and March 4th 1864, letter being pub- 

 lished in the latter from Sir William Holmes, from 

 British Guiana, advi.sing the despatch to the Society 

 of a box containing samples of balata, both in the 

 fluid or milky, as well as in the dried or coagulated 

 state. In the letter referred to, Sir William Holmes 

 speaks of the small specimen which was exhibited 

 in tbe International Exhibition of 1862 as attracting 

 a considerable amount of attention, and further says, 

 so far as he could judge, balata was not to be rivalled 

 either by India-rubber or gutta-percha, posses.siug 

 "much of the elasticity of the one, and the ductility 

 of the other, without the iutraotibility of India-rubber, 

 or the brittleness or friability of gutta-ptn-cha." Sir 

 William Holmes further expressed a hope balata would, 

 eie long, be included as an important item amonest 

 the exports of the colony. Notwithstanding that this 

 was written so far back as 1864, little or nothing 

 has been done since towards making balata a regular 

 article of import ; occasional notice has been drawn 

 to it from time to time, and tbe subject as frequently 

 allowed to drop. As a poof of the truth of Sir 

 William Holme's statement as to the ductility of balata 

 it may be mentioned that a sample of that exhibited 

 in the Exhibition of 1862, and presented to the Kew 

 Museum at the close of the Exhibition, is still in a 

 fairly ductile state, and shows no such brittleness as 

 is the case with gutta-percha. 



In connection with this subject of the development 

 of balata, Mr. G. S. .Tenman, Government Botanist, 

 and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in IJritish 

 Guiana, has just drawn up a very cxhaustivt) r-.'port. 

 the result of which, it is hoped, will be to bring the 

 substance into a regular commercial channel. 



The title of the report is " Balata and the Bnlata 

 Industry, Forest I/aws, &o.," and it conimenees with 

 a very interesting description of the bullet tree region, 

 including its inhabitants, character of the vegetation. 

 &c. Coming to the immediate subject of the report. 

 Mr. Jenman describes the bullet tree, from the l>ark 

 of which balata is obtained, as a large forest tree. 



* In a paper on " Gutta-percha in Surinam," Pro- 

 fessor Bleckrode described balata as the protluct of 

 a tree named by him Sapotn Mnlleri. Jourval, vol. v. p. 

 625, Oct. 9, 1857. See also vol. viii, p. 713, and vol. 

 xxxii, p. 14. 



