THE AGllICULTUEAL NEWS. 



January 6, 190(5. 



previous exliibition in which they took so active apart, 

 that nothing has ever been done which has so 

 efiectnally brought the resources of the West Intlies 

 before the ])eople of Canada. 



This opinion is endorsed by all who are conversant 

 Avith the subject, and there can be no doubt that it 

 would be to the advantage of these colonies to avail 

 themselves fully of the offer made by Messrs. Pickford 

 & Black and place the West Indies in a prominent 

 position at both the exhibitions above referred to. 



\\c have recently had a very successful exhibition 

 of West Indian produce at the Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition in London, and in connexion with this the 

 West India Committee and its indefatigable Secretary 

 deserve great credit. There is to be a Colonial 

 Products Exhibition at Liverpool from January 30 to 

 February 8 next, and there are one or more exhibitions 

 of Colonial Fruit to be held daring 1906 by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society. 



At .'dl such exhibitions, it is the duty of the West 

 Indie.s, if they are to keep abreast of the times, to be 

 well repre.sented. It is not so much a question of 

 money as of efficient organization and taking advantage 

 of the simplest and be.st means for attaining the end in 

 view. L^sually, when a proposal to send exhibits to an 

 exhibition is brought before any of the colonies, the first 

 question asked is : Where is the mone}' to come from f 

 The reply is : We have no money. This is regarded 

 as final, and the matter is dropped. 



The only way in which an efficient and economical 

 representation of the products of these colonies can be 

 provided for is by the appointment of Permanent 

 Exhibition Committees. This has been frequentl}- 

 urged in the West India Committee Circular and it 

 has received the cordial support of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture. 



The present is a favoui'able time for the appoint- 

 ment of such committees, for it is the implicit belief of 

 the best friends of the West Indies that it is only by- 

 such means that their agricultural, mineral, and 

 manufacturing resources, of which, unfortunately, too 

 little is known either in the United Kingdom or the 

 Dominion of Canada, can be fully realized. 



It is suggested that the subject might be brought 

 forward for consideration by the Agricultural and 

 kindred Societies in the West Indies, and that 

 a recommendation to appoint a Permanent Exhibition 

 Committee in each colony be submitted for the 



approval <jf the Government. If the proposal be 

 approved, it would be desirable that sums varying 

 from £20 to £100, according to local circumstances, 

 be placed on the estimates for 1906-7 to meet 

 the incidental expenses connected with packing and 

 forwarding exhibits. 



By such means the necessary machinery for 

 dealing with exhibits offered in each colony would be 

 ready at hand and no time would be lost in waiting for 

 the appointment of Committees or for the money 

 i-equired to cover the cost of packing and transport. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The West Indies and the Canadian 

 Market. 



Sugar 



The following note in regard to West lu'lian 

 sugar in the Canadian market is extracted from 

 a report in the Montreal Herald, of Xovember H, of 

 the proceedings at the meetings of the Canadian Tariff" 

 Commissioners, a body of three members deputed by 

 the Dominion Government to inquire into the working 

 of the customs' tariff'- — 



'Ml-. lUissell Mui-ray, repre.se:iting the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for the West Indies, appeared in suiijiort 

 of a requisition in favour of concessions in the sugar tariff 

 which would benefit the West Indies. 



According to the tariff at present in force the duty 

 chargeable upon sugar of all classes over 16 IJutch standard is 

 nearly double that of sugar under 1(5 d.s. Sugars of 89 " 

 when under 10 d.s. pay a net duty of 41c. per 100 ft., and 

 for sugar above IG d.s. the net duty is 73c. In crystallized 

 sugars of 9G °, or under IG d.s., the net duty is 17c. and 

 for 96 ' crystal, over 16 d.s., the net duty is 80c. The 

 16 d.s., which is the dividing line, has the effect of 

 excluding from Canadian eimsumers a very large quantity of 

 grocery sugars which are not produced in Canada and there- 

 fore are not in competition with any Canadian productions. 

 In order further to develop the Canadian trade, be submitted 

 that the raising of the standard should be considered and 

 that it be raised from 16 d.s. to 19 or 'JO d.s., on the existing 

 basis of duty. 



This would admit, at a lower rate of duty, semi-refined 

 sugars, grades of yellow sugar which were now practically 

 excluded but which were largely used i)i Great Britain. 



^[r. fielding observed that a change in the standard 

 such as advocated, would bring some of the lower grades of 

 sugar into conijietition with the refined .sugars in the market. 



Mr. ^[urray admitted that this was probable. He also 

 Asked that molascuit, a product of the debris of ground sugar, 

 upon wliich there was a duty of 20 per cent., should be 

 placed on the free list. It was an ingredient used for tha 

 manufacture of stock food. 



