268 PLANTING ENTEBPBISE^IN THE WEST INDIES, [Feb., 



by our possessions in the West Indies : the remainder, or 3,136,059 

 cvvts., being the produce of Mauritius, India, Natal, Fiji, «S:c. 



The chief sugar-producing Colonies in the West Indies are British 

 Guiana, where sugar, molasses, and rum form 92 per cent of the 

 annual value of the exports ; Barbados, where sugar and molasses 

 contribute nearly 94 per cent, of the exports ; Jamaica, where sugar 

 and rum form 62 per cent, of the exports ; and Trinidad, where sugar 

 and molasses contribute about 56 per cent, of the exports. 



The best appliances and the largest sugar estates are found in 

 British Guiana and Trinidad ; and the establishment of icslnes, or 

 central factories in these Colonies, has not only greatly improved the 

 rjuality of the sugar, but it has placed planting operations on a more 

 elaborate and extensive scale. 



In Barbados the estates are small, but so highly cultivated that 

 the whole island looks like a beautiful garden. In Jamaica the sugar 

 estates may not compare favourably, either in culture or in mechanical 

 appliances, with those of its neighbours, but the Jamaica sugar-planter 

 has a considerable advantage over all others in the superior quality 

 and high prices obtained for his rum, which reaches an annual export 

 value nearly equal to one-half of that of sugar. 



Although, owing to a succession of bad seasons and drought, other 

 crops had not done so well iu Jamaica, the sugar crop of 1881-82 

 was the largest for many years. The exports were : sugar, 38,392 

 hhds., of the value of £614,283 ; and rum, 22,742 phns,, of the value 

 of £295,645 ; the total value of sugar and rum being i;*909,928. 

 This is an increase on the exported value of these articles, as com- 

 pared with 1880-1, to the extent of £398,621, It is possible, as 

 claimed by some, that the reduction in the number of rat-eaten canes, 

 brought about by the acclimatization of the mungoosc in Jamaica, 

 may have contributed something to this large increase ; 1 )ut the bulk 

 of the increase is no doubt due to a combination of circumstances 

 favourable for the moment to the sugar estates, but not so favourable 

 to other industries. 



During the last few years many efforts have been made to econo- 

 mize the cost of the production of sugar, and so bring it into favour- 

 able competition with beet and other sugars. Possibly, next to 

 improved machinery and a more rational and scientific treatment of 

 the soil, nothing can be more conducive to the success of our West 

 Indian sugar estates than the introduction of new varieties of canes, 

 to replace or supplement those which have been so long and so 

 persistently cultivated within the same areas. With such varying 

 conditions of soil and climate as exist in the West Indies, it may 

 naturally be expected that numerous varieties of canes are required 

 to enable the planter to obtain the best results. In other words, it is 



