652 



tK'E TieOPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April 1, 1887. 



the trenches, is then placed over the creepers so as 

 to cover the cut mrf^ces but no manure is applied 

 Three mouths after plaDting, i.e., iu the beginning 

 of March the creepers strike root, when new leaves 

 appear on the main stems. These, as they grow, are 

 fastened to the agathi plant. 



Irriyotion. — As a rule, these betle fields are irrigated 

 from tanks aud but seldom or never from wells. 

 Water is distributed in the trenches by gravitation. 

 When tbe trenches are full, a cooly is employed to throw 

 water on the ridges. Regular watering is usually neces- 

 sary for the betle crop throughout its duration of 

 growth. It may be remarked that the trenches are 

 always filled with water which becomes stagnant and 

 ultimately a nursery for injurious insects that feed upon 

 the plants. Excess of water turns the plants pale 

 in colour, and weakens them. 



Diseases of the plant. — The betle leaf gets blanched 

 aud sickly, if deprived of hght. Wht-n the evaporat- 

 ion is impeded, they suffer, while on the other hand 

 when it is excessive, leaves dry and fall off. Rot, a dis- 

 ease in which the lower branches begin to decompose, is 

 also seen when there is no free circulation of 

 air. A fungus, characterised by small bandies of 

 white globules, is also seen among them. It first 

 attacks the roots and then the stem. The plant 

 attacked by it, turns yellow, and the leases fall off; 

 the section of an internode exhi' its a dark ling around 

 the pith, and ultimately becomes rotten. "When plants 

 are affected in the abovementioned ways, the agathi 

 plants are stripped off their leaves and the diseased 

 plants are removed. 



"Serva" operation. — In the beginning af April, the 

 operation of arbouring the stems of Agathi plants 

 known in Tamil as "serva" operation takes place. 

 This is as follows : — A plant in the first row along the 

 margin is tied up with the corresponding one iu the 

 adjacent row on the sam«^ r.dge. When the whole 

 field has thus been dealt with, a pair of agathi on the 

 ridge is fastened to the opposite pair on the other. 

 Bamboos are at tho same time placed all along the 

 interior angle formed by the junction of two pairs of 

 agathi, facing the trenches. 600 bamboos of 2 inches 

 iu diameter, on the average, are required to each acre. 

 This operation engages the labour of 50 meu to com- 

 plete an acre in a day. 



Harvesting leaves —No leaves are plucked until the 

 plants are about 6 months old from the time of planting. 

 The gardener never plucks leaves from the main creeper, 

 but removes them from the branches. From the 

 heginnirg of June, 25 1 undies of 4r0 leaves each, may 

 be coKected from an acre per day till the first pruning 

 takes place. The plmts are atforded ;j months' rest 

 between the succpssive prunings. 



Pruning o;)e>'fl?io?t.— When the creepers reach the 

 full height of the af;atbi plants, the ties are removed, 

 and the whole creeper is shorieaed to 3 feet and the 

 ties are replaced. Ihe fibre used in binding is obtained 

 from the stem of Cypress bu'bosa. 



Jfanuvr 7'eq%died, —At each time of pruning or lower- 

 ing, 50 cart loads of compost are required for each acre. 



Lahour required. — One cooly takes 10 minutes to do 

 all the msiuiptilations necessary for one creeper. As 

 there are 560 creepers in a ridge he will take 96 hours 

 to finish the work. Considering that 8 hours= 1 work- 

 ing day, a ridge will be finished in 12 days by a cooly, 

 in other words, 12 coo ies are required to finish a ridge 

 in one day or 300 cojlies to an acre iu a day. 



I)uration ofgrcncth. — Under favourable circumstances 

 and good management, the crop will live for a period 

 of not less than 6 yi ars. 



Labour diffi-ultg. — The chief diflBculty which the 

 cultivator experiences in the cultivation of this crop is 

 securing a .'uflBcient number of coolies at the proper 

 time, notwithstanding the enormous expense that he 

 is prepared to incur. 



^ 



PEODUCTS OF DOMINICA. 



Oacao. 



Dominica ought to make a fine display of cacao, 



as on its increased cultivation unquestionably rests, 



in no small degree, the future po^perity of the 



island. Two or three specimens will only show that 



cacao can he produced here, but a large variety of 

 exhibits— say specimens from thirty or forty of the 

 principal growers— will give visitors to the Exhibi- 

 tion some idea of the island's capabilities in regard to 

 this staple. 



The following are the classes under which our cacao 

 and its products can be sent .— 



1. Dominica plantation cacao— fermented. 



2. Dominica plantation cacao— fermented and clayed. 



3. Dominica settlers' cacao. 



4. Prepared cacao. 



5. Chocolate. 



Three quarts of cacao should be sent, put up 

 neatly m shallow boxes about 14 inches square, but 

 two pounds of prepared cacao and chocolate will be 

 sufficient. 



The plantation cacao should of course have the 

 name of the estate and the exhibitor as well as the 

 ordinary marks that are placed on the bags before 

 they are sent to tho market. The cacao can easily 

 be "clayed" by rubbing over the beans finely-powdered 

 red earth or clay as soon as the fermentation (or 

 "sweating") is completed. Clayed cacao fetches a 

 better price than the ordinary article and it is usually 

 bought by the French for their celebrated chocolate. 

 In fome instances red ochre is substituted for clay, 

 and we know of an instance where it was so em- 

 ployed in this island. 



Settlers' cacao forms the greater part of our crops; 

 it is the cacao purchased by the merchants from the 

 peasant proprietors, and unfortunately it is to this 

 imperfectly fermented and sometimes unripe article 

 that we owe the prevailing low prices for tbe Domi- 

 nica cacao. To our m'='rchants we must turn for re- 

 presentation in this class, and we sincerely trust that 

 each cacao broker will send on a sample of " settler's 

 cacao" with the name of the firm and the usual 

 mark. This will really be an important exhibit, for 

 if it be demonstrated to tbe trade that we have plant- 

 ation and sett'ers' cacao, it will at once cause extra 

 scrutiny amongst buyers, and rai«e the price of the 

 former article to the great " benefit of all concerned." 



Cur prepared cacao and chocolate will also make 

 important exhibits; aud it would be a good commercial 

 speculation for one of our merchants to consign these 

 articles in quantity to the Executive Commissioner 

 for the use of the refreshment bars and pavilions in 

 the Exhibition grounds. A cup of pure Dominica 

 cocoa or chocolate will be a surprising treat to those 

 accustomed to the villainous decoctions usually sold 

 in such places, and it cannot but tend to draw at- 

 tention to our island. 



Coffee. 



Under this head we make the following divisions:— 



1. Arabian or " Creole " plantation cofl:'ee. 



2. Arabian or " Creole" settlers' coffee. 



3. Mocha coffee. 



4. Liberian coffee. 



Years ago Dominica was one of the chief coffee 

 producing countries in the Western Hemisphere, and 

 capital enterprise alone are wanting to make itE name 

 known again in the great markets. Libeiiau coffee 

 grows well in the lowland-* ; and, in spite of the 

 'white fly" blight, the .so called " Creole" variety 

 f.'ives remunerative crops in lands situated over 1000 

 feet above the sea. It is to be hoped, therefore, 

 that th( re will be a good coffee exhibit at the forth- 

 coming ex'iihition. Three quarts of each kind of coffee 

 is the miniinnm quantity required, and the exhibit 

 should be packed in tint boxes about 14 inches stjuare, 

 and about H iiich deep. The labels .should have the 

 name of the exhibitor and the estate. 



We may here impress on every exhibitor to attend 

 carefully to neatness in getting up his exhibit, for 

 any article will look much better in a tastily made 

 box than it would in a rough receptacle hastily knocked 

 up out of an old packing case. ]\Ir. Jemmott, the 

 carpenter, made the most of the boxes sent to the 

 Demerara exhibition, and the neatness of the Domi- 

 nica exhibits at that show was the subject of much 

 public and private commendation. Two shillings each 

 were charged for the boxes. 



