l6 WEST INDIES - CO-OPERATION AND ASSOCIATION 



a pioneer or experimental project. Its promotion involved heav>' respon- 

 sibilities on the part of the originators. It proved a success, however, with 

 the result that a few years after its establishment another and similar fac- 

 tory was erected in the neighbouring island of St. Kitts. These factories 

 in their turn have served to encurage greater centrahzation of recent 

 years in Barbados. 



Turning to the Antigua Onion Growers' Association we are able to re- 

 cord a most striking external effect. Last year an affiliated association was 

 formed in Montserrat and a similar one in the Virgin Islands, while Nevis, 

 if it has not an association, is endeavouring to develop its onion industry on 

 similar co-operative Hues to those followed in Antigua. 



It will be seen therefore that a great deal of importance attaches to the 

 study of the economic conditions obtaining in Antigua. It is an island which, 

 though its prospects now are good, has been subject to adversities; but 

 combined action in the right direction has won. Even the fortunes of the 

 most flourishing colonies may suddenly take a turn in the wrong direction — 

 it may be through unavoidable causes or from unpreparedness to meet avoid- 

 able ones : in any case co-operation in Antigua provides a useful object 

 lesson that should not be neglected even by the most affluent of agricultural 

 communities. 



