78 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Makch 3, 1906.. 



TRAINING IN AGRICULTURE. 



Ill an editorial on this t^ulject, the Porl-o/-Sj'(i!)i Ga:ctte, 

 iu its issue of Januar}- 21 last, lu-ged on the Government of 

 Trinidad the duty of further pressing the cause of agricultural 

 education in the island, and of relieving the town of 

 Port-of-Spain of its large inunher of able-bodied loafers. 



It is not, says the (rayfte, that the reason for this state 

 of luiemployment is due to the absence of any demand for 

 the labour of these men, but rather that the men ■nill not 

 meet the demand. They prefer to idle in the town to working 

 iu the fields. And not only does this state of affairs refer 

 to the town, but to the country districts as well. Work can 

 be had, and had in abundance, if ordy the need for more 

 agricultural labour be recognized, and insisted upon. Let 

 the vvoi'k of these men be secured for the estates, and the 

 planter's grievance as to the shortness of the supply ■will be 

 removed. 



But is such a scheme practicable ' That is the ciue>tion. 

 The <<'a:ette answers it by echoing the suggestion made by 

 tlie Demerara Daih/ C/croiiic/r- at the time of the recent riots 

 in that colony — that some scheme of forced labour, such as is 

 to be met with in >Sw'itzerland, should be adopted. What 

 that plan is, the following extract will exjilain : — 



• If an able-bodied man be without means and is 

 genuinely out of work, he is supplied by the police or by the 

 Inter-Cantonal Union with food and lodging and will have 

 work, or where to get it, indicated to him. If he does not take 

 advantage of the opportunity for honest employment under 

 ordinary circumstances, or if he prove, iu the expressive jihrase, 

 a work-shy, he may be sent for a term varying from three 

 months to two years to a forced labour institution. A forced 

 labour farm has been in existence at Witzwyl since 1)S95. 

 The site was a jiiece of waste land 2,000 acres in extent, 

 consisting mainly of water-logged soil subject to inundations. 

 Extensive works of reclamation have been carried out. with 

 the result that about two-thirds are already in beneficial 

 occupation bearing considerable crops. There is accommoda- 

 tion on the farm for 200 hands, but seldom are there more 

 than 150 able-bodied men employed at one time. All 

 inmates on their first entry are set to work on the farm, and 

 after some experience, they are retained there, or sent to 

 some other occupation in connexion with the farm. AVork 

 commences at 5.30 a.m., and concludes at 7 p.m., and 

 substantial rations are i>rovided. In addition to agriculture, 

 there are workshops for tailoring, shoemaking, smith's wc)rk, 

 a::d carpentering, but only men brought up to those trades 

 are allowed to work at them, agriculture being the mainstay. 

 A Chaplain makes weekly visit.s, and the Inspector of Tri-sons 

 interviews each prisoner previous to his discharge. In the 

 winter evenings, there is a school for any who may volunteer 

 to attend, and on Sunday after service, singing is allowed. 

 Satisfactory conduct entitles a prisoner to a remi.ssion of part 

 of his sentence, and hard lione.-t work enables a man to obtain 

 a bonus, which he receives on his discharge. The report of 

 Jlr. H. Preston-Thomas, of the English Local Government 

 Board, to which we are indebted for these fact.s, states that the 

 guiding [irinciple of the management is to "improve the land by 

 man, and man by the land." The fiist of these i)bjccti;, at any 

 rate, is secured in a conspicuous degree. A huge mar.sh has been 

 converted into a fertile farm, traversed by newly-constructed 

 roads, and supplied with sutiicient buildings. More and 



more land has been reclaimed each year, and while the peat 

 has been sold at satisfactory prices, the soil, by scientific- 

 treatment and the judicious use of chemical manures, has 

 been made to produce abundant crops, the establishment 

 being now actually self-supiKirting. Farm work affords the 

 best opportunity for dealing with those in whom laziness ha.s^ 

 become ingrained, as they are placed in the middle of 

 a gang of labourers, and have to exert themselves whether 

 they like it or not.' 



Some such .scheme as this might be attempted, the 

 details being worked out to suit local circumstances. The 

 result would be two-fold. The gain wouhl be lasting. In 

 the first instance, large tracts of fertile, but hitherto uncultivated 

 land, would be worked at a low cost, and the foundation laid 

 for more general cultivation than at present. In the second 

 instance, instead of the bands of idlers now to be seen in 

 Trinidad's city and villages, there would grow up a class of 

 really industrious and reliable workmen. 



THE MAHUA TREE. 



The Louiskina l-'krnfer ami Suyar Manafac- 

 tt'rer for January 27, 1900, contains an interesting 

 report of a lecture on the Mahua tree {Bassia latifolia), 

 delivered by Professor Voight before the Natural Science 

 Society of Hamburg, (ierniany, front w hieh the following 

 is taken : — ■ 



The mahua, as a nut-bearing tree, ha> been known for 

 many ages. In the laws of Manu, the priesthood of India- 

 are forbidden to indulge in 'madhvi,' a fiery liquor made from 

 the fruit, and in the ' Collection of Indian Ueniedies,' by 

 Susruta, we are told that the tree yields a sugary paste, from 

 which a fermented drink is made. 



It belongs to the star-ajijile family (Sapotaceae), the 

 family to which belongs the very imjiortant gutta-percha 

 tree of the Malay Archipelago, and is found only in the 

 northern border of India, where it grows clear to the foot of 

 the mighty Himalayas. It grows from 50 to 65 feet high, 

 and is one of the few deciduous trees of that region. Its 

 blooming [leriod lasts from the end of February till April, 

 t^uickly after the pollen is formed, the whitish tubular 

 flowers swell to balls about as large as a cherry, which 

 contain a large amount of invert sugar (honey). The flower 

 tubes fall, covering the ground in the greatest i)rofu.sion. 

 They are eagerly gathered by the natives and eaten, A tree 

 yields from 250 to 300 It), of flowers, which, when dry, weigh 

 about half as nuich, and occupy about one-fourth as much 

 .space. The land is leased to the natives, and as the region 

 where it grows is of a poor and stony soil, the treecon-stitutes 

 an important source of food. The fruit is usually mixeil with 

 rice and thus eaten. The dried flowers have very nnich the 

 taste and aiipearance of raisins. They are exjiorted to Europe 

 as a curiosity, and are also used as food for animals. Distil- 

 lation yields a large percentage of spirits, which diluted with 

 water makes ' darn,' a native v\hisky very much used. It 

 comes on the market in oaken barrels, and is highly esteemed 

 by Europeans, who claim that it equals the best whisky^ 

 Almost every village has its distillery. In the island Carougo,. 

 just outside of ]>ombay, some 60,000 to bO.OOO rupees (about 

 £4,000 to £5,333) are invested in stills alone, 



lle.sides the Howers, the seeds are of considerable use. 

 Thej" contain a fat c>f butter-like consistency, which serve.s- 

 as a food.-tuff. It is called ' mowra,' and the crude stuff is 

 known as 'illipi,' and is used by the Europeans largely for 

 making candle.s, soaps, etc. The wood is very hard and 

 lasting, and is much used for making the wheels of the: 

 native bullock carts. 



