338 PLANTING ENTEBPBISE IN TEE WEST INDIES. [March, 



1848. 1878. 



Sugar 6,071 hhds 2,580 lihds. 



Cacao 3,995 bags 24,394 bags. 



Eum 2,156 phns 113 plins. 



Sjaices nil. ...... 50,800 lbs. 



From this it appears, that while ' the cane cultivation is rapidly 

 declining in Grenada, and less sugar is made from year to year,' the 

 cacao industry is being increased tenfold. By these means Grenada, 

 which was once in a languishing condition, has become one of the most 

 prosperous of the Windward Islands. Again, in Dominica, cacao 

 cultivation has been greatly extended, and the quality of the produce 

 improved by fermentation and better curing. This will appear from 

 the followin:^ : — While, in 1872, the export of cacao from Dominica 

 was 204,773 pounds, of the value of £2,546, in 1878 — that is, six 

 years afterwards — the exports had risen to 342,945 pounds, of the 

 value of i6 12,572. Dominica was once noted for its coffee industry, 

 and in 1833 it exported 1,612,528 pounds ; -in 1873 this had fallen to 

 13,319 pounds, and in some years it has even been less than this. 

 The impression has been prevalent that the abandonment of coffee 

 cultivation in Dominica was entirely caused by an insect blight ; 

 but according to Mr. Prestoe, who specially reported upon the sub- 

 ject, ' the blight had very little to do ' with the abandonment of 

 coffee estates, which was due chiefly to the low prices and to 

 the results attending the unsettled state of labour during the last 

 fifty or sixty years. Dominica has, however, so many valuable 

 resources, and enjoys so favourable a position, that it is destined to 

 become the home of numerous industries ; and I believe these only 

 require an energetic start and suitable shipping facilities to rival any 

 of those of the neighbouring islands. The late Dr. Imray, and his 

 successor. Dr. H. A. A. Nicholls, have successfully introduced the 

 cultivation of Liberian coffee, limes, india-rubber, and spices to 

 Dominica, and the results, published in the Annual Eeport of the 

 Eoyal Gardens at Kew, are full of interest, and most suggestive of 

 what may ultimately be accomplished in this highly productive 

 island. 



In Jamaica, cacao cultivation, where once it was a flourishing 

 industry, is now being revived and extended in connection with the 

 cultivation of bananas for the United States. 



It is estimated that about 1,000 acres are in course of being 

 planted with cacao in Jamaica ; and some 80,000 plants of the best 

 Trinidad and Caracas varieties have been distributed from the 

 Public Gardens. 



As bananas and cacao thrive in exactly similar situations, and 

 under the same system of cultivation, the returns yielded by the 



