316 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July i, 1906. 



rights, and it is only fair to the black race to sa}- that Ihcy 

 have progressed remarkably; as well, perhaps, as whites 

 would have done under the 

 same circumstances. To 

 show the proportion of whites 

 and blacks on the island, there 

 were at the last census 14,- 

 692 whites, 121,955 colored 

 people, 4SS,ri24 blacks and 

 14,000 East Indians, Chi- 

 nese, etc. 



The "Jamaica nigger " at 

 home is not a ver}- hard 

 worker, hut he is good na- 

 tured, self respecting, and in 

 many cases thrifty. The 

 island does not afford enough 

 work for him, and so they 

 are to be found all up and 

 down the coast of Central 

 America, where they are very 

 proud of the fact that they 



speak English and that they are free men. 



It is doubtless a surprise to many people when the)' dis- 

 cover how far south Jamaica really is. The island lies 

 directly opposite Cape Gracias a Uios on the IMosquito coast 

 of Nicaragua, and it is so situated that when the Panama 

 canal is finished it will be a mo.st important strategic point. 

 The chief business of the i.sland is planting sugar, coffee, 

 bananas, etc. The natives work as a rule from seven in the 

 morning until four in the afternoon, with an hour out for 

 noon breakfast. They rarelj- work Saturda3S. The aver- 

 age pay for field labor is 50 cents a daj-. The island, al- 

 though only 144 miles long and 49 miles wide, has a climate 

 varying from tropical to temperate. The mean rainfall for 

 the whole island annually is 66 inches. The northeastern 

 end, however, has an area where the rainfall is 100 inches 

 and over, and northwest of this there is quite a tract where 

 it is from 75 to 95 inches. The western central portion has 

 a large area that runs from 75 to 95 inches, while all along 

 the coast and a strip through the middle of the island, there 

 is only 40 to 50 inches, and in places 30 to 35. It will thus 



be seen that the planter can get almost any rainfall his 

 crops may need. The island is of volcanic origin and indeed, 

 has been, within the memory of man, visited by severe earth- 

 quakes. The formation is coral, white and yellow lime- 

 stone, and in some places, trap rock. In the river valleys 

 there are some quite rich alluvial areas where excellent 

 crops are produced. There are many thousands of acres of 

 crown lands not yet taken up, which are disposed of to set- 

 tlers under exceedingly favorable terms. 



Very early in the morning we passed the old Spanish fort 

 at Port Royal, entered the harbor, and at seven o'clock were 

 tied u]) at the pier in Kingston. The wharf was crowded 

 with ebony-colored " Ivnglishmen, " who bore themselves 

 with much dignity. Pushing through them we made our 

 way to the Myrtle Hank Hotel where a good breakfast was 

 discus.sed, and then we did the town ; that is, until the sun 

 got a bit too hot for vi'alking. As I wanted to get all the 

 official information possible, we looked up the Department 

 of Agriculture. In a short time we were furnished by the 

 very capalile secretary, with maps, rain charts, reports and 

 practical information that told pretty nearlj' all we wished 

 to know. The officials were most prompt and polite and 



realU' saved us days of hard 

 work in what thej' furnished 

 us. 



The printed matter was 

 good, but we wanted to see 

 rubber growing, and there- 

 fore took the nineteen-mile 

 trip to Castleton Gardens. 

 These gardens, established 

 some forty years ago in what 

 was supposed to be a shel- 

 tered valley, would, if more 

 nionej' were spent upon 

 them, be of great value to 

 the whole of the West Indies. 

 The average temperature at 

 the gardens is 76 Fah. and 

 the rainfall 114.07 inches, 

 annually. The first ten 



ENTRANCE TO HOPE BOTANICAL GARDENS. UlileS of the jOUmC}- WaS by 



excellent trolley cars, and gave us a fine chance to view the 

 country. The product most abundant was of course the 



PORT ANTONIO. 



