Stewai't^s Present 



the canes may be carted, scarcely re- 

 quires any mules. 



The four ajreat desiderata in settling 

 a sugar plautation are, goodness of soil, 

 easiness of access, convenience of dis- 

 tance from the shipping jilace, and a 

 stream of water running through the 

 premises. Al'.hongh an estate may 

 prove very productive williout a union 

 of all these advantages, it would he folly 

 to settle upon a tract of land that pos- 

 sessed neither of them. 



An estate producing 200 hogsheads 

 of sugar, averaging 16 ewt., may be 

 thus valued : — 



500 acres of land, at 20?. per acre, on an 



average,* 10,000/. 



(Of which 130 acres, if tlie land be 



good, is sufficient for cane.», the 



rest being in grass and piovisious.) 



200 ilaves,avera;;ing 100?. each, 20,000/. 



110 horned stock, and 50 mules, • • 5,000 



Buildings and utensils, 8,000 



Jamaica currency,- 



•43,000/. 



COFfEE. 



The cofFee-plantcr is more fortunate 

 than the sugar- planter, having not half 

 so large a capital at stake, and the 

 commodity he cultivates fctching,though 

 not a large, at least a saving price. 

 About six or seven years ago, and for 

 several years antecedent, this article 

 had fallen so low in price, that the cul- 

 tivators were nearly ruined, and many 

 of the plantations were thrown up. 

 One man, more wise and patient than 

 others, kept his stock on hand, borrow- 

 ing money on it and un his plantation in 

 the meantime, until a sudden and ex- 

 traordinary rise took place, the price 

 hciii^ more than quadrupled ; by which 

 means he realized a considerable fortune. 

 A colloe plantation does not require 

 above half the number of slaves and 

 stock that a sugar estate does, neither 

 is the labour so severe. The soil best 

 adapted for the coflce-trce is a deep 

 brown loam : the trees are planted at 

 the distance of about six feet, and are 

 carefully kept clean and pruned. The 

 season for gathering the berries is from 

 October to January. It is pulped, &c. 

 and dried on terraced platforms, called 

 barbecues. 



PIMENTO. 



The season for gathering the pimento 

 •is from August to Oeloi)er. The ex- 

 tremities of tho branchos bearing the 



* Land in this ihlaud sclU at various 

 prices, according to (piality and situation. 

 Fertile land in a good i-ituation will fetch 

 70/. or 80/. per acie; but in tlie remote 

 niountuii|ii it may be bouf-ht fur 3/. 



Slate of Jamaica. 60$: 



spice are broken off when nearly of 

 the full size, but green ; for if suffered 

 to become rijio it loses its aromatic 

 quality, and is of no use. It is then 

 picked olf tVotn the stems, and dried 

 in the sun, in the same manner as cof- 

 fee. Jamaica is the only West India 

 island which produces this spice in sucli 

 abundance as to render it an important 

 article of commerce. 



COMMERCE. 



The commerce ot Jamaica may be 

 classed under the following heads : — 

 TJte trade with the mother country— 

 which is far more considerable than all 

 the otiicr branches together ; the trade 

 with British North America ; and tho 

 trade vvitlttiie island of Cuba and other 

 Spanish islands, the Spanish Main, or 

 Terra Firma, and other territories ou 

 the American continent formerly be- 

 longing to Spain. 



Exported from 



Sept, 30, 1819, to 



Sept. 30, 1S20. 



I-fhds. of sugar (aver. 16 cwt.) 115,065 

 Tierces of do. (averaging 11 cwt.) 11,322 

 Barrels of ditto - - -2,474 



Puncheons o*^ rum - - 45,361 



Hogsheads of ditto - -1,783 



Barrels of ditto - - 566 



Casks of molasses - - - 252 



Casks of ginger - - 1,159 



Bags of ditto - . - Si6 



Casks of pimento - - 673 



Bags of ditto (averaging 112 lbs.) 12,880 

 Pounds of Coffee - 22,127,44* 



In 1816 the import into the united 

 kingdom of some of the above-mention- 

 ed articles was as follows: — Cotton 

 wool, 1,021,674 lbs. ; cocoa, 260 cwt.; 

 indigo, 32,011 lbs.; fustic, 21,080 tons; 

 logwood, 9638 tons ; mahogany, 1396 

 tons. 



besides the articles enumerated iti 

 the foregoing accounts, Jamaica ex- 

 ports a considerable quantity of cotton 

 wool, chiefly imported from the foreign 

 islands, under the free-port law; also 

 indigo, cocoa, tortoise-shell, mahogany 

 (mostly of foreign import), dye-woods, 

 hides, and various other articles of minor 

 imporlance. Considerable quantities of 

 bullion (chiefly dollars) were exported 

 to Great liiitain during the late war; 

 but very little is now sent, the fall in 

 the price rendering it an unprofitable 

 rcuiitlanor. 



The annual exports to Great Britain 

 and Ireland may amount, one year with 

 another, to about live millicms ; and 

 those to other parts to about ;e400,000. 

 in return for its comiuoditics, Jamaica 

 receives from Gieat i5ritaiii an annual 

 supply of almost all lur maniifacturen. 

 Tlie exclusive riglit which she claims of 

 snppb'"S 



