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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[December i, 1882. 



trees, economic aud meJiciual plants, palms, ferns, orchiils, 

 etc. which are kept ready for distribution at the Gardens 

 was' published as an Appendix to my Report for 1880, 

 and I am glad to find that it has been the means of 

 stimulating greater attention to the resources of the De- 

 partment and has resulted in a much larger distribution 

 ot plants. Various papi'rs bearing on the cultivation of 

 Cinchona aud other plants have been prepared and pub- 

 lished, and a large correspondence undertaken with the 

 view of disseminating information in the Island respect- 

 ing the treatment and cultivation of new plants. 



Amongst the papers prepared and distributed last year 

 were a revised edition of " Hints aud Suggestions for 

 raising Ciiuhona Plants from seed and establishing Oin- 

 chomi i'l.iutations"; copies of a valuable report giving 

 the " Results of analyses of Jamaica grown barks," by Mr. 

 John Eliot Howard, F.R.S., " Hints on planting aud es- 

 tablishing timber trees, ornamental trees and shrubs, fruit 

 trees, etc., and the conditions under which they might 

 be obtained from the Public Gardens." " Hints and Sug- 

 gestions for the improvement of the Coffee industry in 

 JamBica " ; an " Estimate of the cost per acre of estab- 

 lishing Cinchona Plantations on the Blue Jlountains " ; a 

 " List of Economic Plants offered by Government for dis- 

 tribution in the Island," and copies of a lecture delivered 

 by the Director at the request of the Institute ot Jamaica 

 oil " Some objects ot Productive Industry."— Parts I and II. 



CASTLETON GARDENS. 



The portion of the Experimental Garden set apart for 

 the cultivation ot Trinidad Cacao has been drained by a 

 series of open main and tributary drains, amounting to 

 four hundred and tweuty-nine feet long by from eighteen 

 to twenty-four inches wide and deep. 



Two thousand aud seven miscellaneous trees and .shrubs 

 have been planted in various parts of the grounds, the 

 majority ot which being ot an ornamental character were 

 placed for effect in the rather bare portions of the old 

 flower garden and .shrubberies, and also to complete as 

 far up as the main entrance, the shrubbery lying parallel 

 to the public road in the Experimental Garden." 



A new plantation con.sisting of thirty-nine nutmeg and 

 ten clove plants has been made close to the aqueduct at 

 the toot or lower edge ot the mule pasture. The plants 

 are all growing nicely. 



Eighty-tour plants ot the best Trinidad varieties of Oacao 

 have been put out partly in the old plantation in the 

 ravine, above the tanks, and partly forming a new plant- 

 ation near the foot of the ravine adjacent to the official 

 residence. 



One hundred and eleven plants ot Oacao, consisting of 

 about equal numbers ot the best six varieties cultivated 

 in Trinidad have been added to the plantation in the Ex- 

 perimental Garden. Here it was found necessary to plant 

 two hundred banana, sixty castor-oil bean, thirty guango 

 and sLx Erythriiia umhrosa to shade and otherwise protect 

 the Cacao plants. 



The exposed roots of the plants have been well covered 

 with good soil brought from other parts ot the estate, anil 

 all plants so treated now show a marked improvement on 

 their previous condition. 



CINCHONA PLANTATIONS. 



The Establishment buildings having suffered severely by 

 the hurricane of August, 1880, it was found necessary to 

 rebuild or repair the gre.ater number especially of the older 

 buildings. This work was carried on by Mr. Ed. Scott 

 Barber of the Public Works Department, aud has resulted 

 in a substantial and convenient set of Establishment build- 

 ings. 'Die chief works effected were: general repair.s to 

 the propagating houses ; rebuilding herbarium, and offices 

 for clerk and superinteudent ; rebuildiug tool shed and 

 potting house ; rebuUding upper and lower barracks ; new 

 shutters and internal repairs to Director's residence ; a new 

 back verandah ; rebuilding stable and outhouses, and new 

 shutters and gener.al repairs to the Superintendent's cot- 

 taoe. The buildings, entirely new, which did not come 

 uu'der hurricane damages were, a store-room for Cinchona 

 bark aud a small room as extra barrack accommodation ; 

 these were built by private contract. Most of tlie new 

 buildings at present require re-jiainting and furnishing with 

 gutters, and I am glad to find that a provision has already 

 been jpiaced ou the ourreut year's estimate for this pur- 



pose, as well as for rebuikUug tour plantation sheds, blown 

 dowu, but not included under hurricane damages. 



The tanks upon which the supply of water for the nur- 

 series and propagating houses depends are m good order. 

 The new tank built last year, as well as the old tank, 

 lately repaired, require to be fitted with pumps, both for 

 the sake of conveniently getting water, as also for protec- 

 tion in case of fire. 



I have already suggested for the latter purpose that 

 one of the pumps be a good force-pump capable of throw- 

 ing a jet of water over the residence and most ot the 

 establishment buildings in its immediate neighbourhood. 



AVhile the establishment buildings were being rebuilt, 

 advantage was taken of the circumstance to place them 

 in more convenient situafcious, and to form a series of ter- 

 races with turfed slopes, so that they might be protected 

 from the prevailing winds and be well drained. Thesa 

 slopes are now in good order, and they greatly add to the 

 neatness and general appearance of the place. 



AVith regard to the operations on the plantations, they may 

 be conveniently summarized under the following heads: — 



Nurseries. — In fulfilment of the promise made in my 

 last Annual Report, special attention has been devoted this 

 year to the establishment of suitable nurseries on each 

 plantation, from whence a sujiply of strong healthy plants 

 might be obtained tor distribution, as well as for supply- 

 ing and establi-shiug land already cleared. The nurseries 

 attached to the establishment buildings have been well 

 maintained, and at present they contain G0,000 plants of 

 C. Officinalis ready for distribution ; 8,000 Hybrid ; 5,000 

 C. Calisaya ; 3,000 C. Succiruhra and 3,000 C. Officimlis 

 var. nritusinya. Most of the Hybrid have been raised from 

 cuttings as also about 5,000 C, Officinalis. In the propa- 

 gating houses and frames are also about 20,000 C. Ledger- 

 iana raised from seed received from Java and India.* 



On the Latimer Plantation a large niu*sery has been 

 established containing about 80,000 plants of 0. Ojflcinalis 

 which will be ready for distribution in May next ; while 

 at the Bellevue nursery there are 15,000 plants of the 

 same species intended for supplying the vacancies on the 

 plantation in its immediate neighbourhood. The total 

 number of plants in the nurseries at present may be sum- 

 marized as follows : — C. Officinalis, 155,000 ; C. Officinalis 

 var uritusini/a, 2,000; O. Hybrid, 8,000 ; C. Calisaya, 5,000; 

 0. Succirubra, 3,000; 0. Ledgeriana, 5,000.— Total, 178,000. 



These numbers are irrespective of the plants distributed 

 during the past year which amounted to 330,100 seedlings 

 and 48,y(i7 plants, while 124,623 plants were put out on 

 the plantation themselves. 



The distribution of seeds and plants tor private plant- 

 ations on sale were as follows : — 

 Seeds. 

 C. Officinalis ... 58| ounces 

 C. Succirubra ... 24^ ounces 

 0. Hybrid ... § ounce 



Total. ..83j ounces 330,100 48,967 



Upper Buz-a Plmitation. — The operations at this plant- 

 ation have been confined to weeding and cleaning plants 

 established in 1879 and 1880, and supplying v.aeaucies. 

 The number of plants put out amount to 06,889 C. Offi- 

 cimdis, 4,747 C. Succiruhra, and 3,4i0 C. Hybrid. All 

 these plants are doing well at this elevation, 4,800 feet 

 to 5,400 feet, and the plantation, containing about 60 acres, 

 and an aggregate of 120,000 plants is well established and 

 in good order. Although the plants are only a little over 

 2 years old, they are, in many cases, between 5 feet and 

 6 feet high, and being planted 6 feet by 6 feet give a 

 uniform and unbroken appearance, which is in marked 

 contrast to the portions ot the plantations formerly planted 

 with trees at 10 feet aud 15 feet apart. 



Not only do the trees when closely plantedt cover the 

 ground more quickly, aud save considerable expenditure in 

 weeding, but they stand wind much better, and produce 

 straight clean stems of great value as regards yield of 

 trunk bark. 



* As these remarks relate to circumstances more than 

 nine months ago, it must be understood that the resources 

 of the nurseries, and, indeed, of the Plantations gener- 

 ally, at the present time (Sept. 1S82) are considerably 

 altered. [Note added.] 



t We do not call 6 M 6 closely planted. — Ed. 



