II 



SEICTION^ I. 



INTRODUCTION 



TRINIDA.D AND ITS SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE Island of Trinidad is the most southerly of the West Indian 

 Islands and is geographically and biologically practically a part of 

 the South American Continent, from which at the narrowest part it 

 is only separated by a strip of water about eight miles wide. 



Its total area is 1,862 square miles and its population about 

 360,000. It is situated between 10° and 10^ 50' N. latitude and the 

 climate is tropical. There are two distinct seasons, a dry season from 

 January to the middle of May with an average of about 3 inches of rain 

 per month, and a wet season from June to December ^ith about eight 

 inches per month {see Fig. 1). The total yearly rainfall is about sixty- 

 four inches. 



Trinidad Rainfall. Average for Fifty-Three Years— 1862-1914. 



2-80 1-53 1-88 1-89 3-76 8-08 8-85 9-80 7-26 6-64 6-93 4-73 

 .Jan. Feb. Mar. Apl. May June July Xwg. Sep. (3ct. Nov. Dec. 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 1.— Monthly rainfall, Trinidad Botanic Gardens, average- of fifty-three years. 



The island is traversed by three parallel ranges of hills running 

 approximately east and west. The first, which rises to over 3,000 feet, 

 borders the northern coast ; the second, rising only in one spot to 

 1,000 feet, runs slightly diagonally across the centre of the Island ; 

 and the third seldom rising above a few hundred feet, occupies a broad 

 belt near the southern coast. 



