228 TEINIDAD. 



amount of 8,988 bushels, value £5,906 sterling. The price of 

 United States corn varies from 1 dollar 80 cents to 3 dollars per 

 bag of two bushels, and that of meal from 4 dollars to 6 dollars 

 per barrel. 



In the present position of the colony, and with a very scanty 

 agricultural population, it cannot be expected that corn should 

 be cultivated for exportation ; but it certainly might and ought 

 to be produced in a sufficient quantity for home consumption. 



Rice (Oryza sativa). — This grain grows very well in Trinidad* 

 and yields from six to seven barrels per acre. The culture of rice, 

 as conducted here, does not require any great amount of labour 

 or care ; whereas, the land should be well and thoroughly pre- 

 pared before the seed is committed to the soil. Rice is either 

 sown or planted : planting is a more tedious but much more 

 profitable operation. It should be planted at intervals of eight 

 inches, from three to five grains being put in each hole. Trans- 

 planting is unknown. Rice is sown or planted at the beginning 

 of the wet season, and may grow without the aid of artificial 

 irrigation. It is cultivated either in high or low grounds ; in 

 the latter it grows more vigorous, and is very prolific. There 

 are two distinct varieties of rice cultivated here. The one (nelou 

 kar, Ind.) is of a reddish colour, and small in size ; it seems to 

 be hardier than the other sort, but is not so prolific, and grows 

 in the worst soil, provided the latter has been thoroughly 

 burned. The other species (nelou samba) is more vigorous, but 

 requires a better soil, and thrives in low lands, where it shoots 

 up, at times, to the height of from five to six feet ; its grain is 

 as large and white as that of the Carolinas. 



Rice comes to maturity within three months and a half; 

 heavy showers prostrate it to the ground, and, in that state, if 

 not cut within a few days, it germinates. 



The inhabitants cultivate this grain generally for their own 

 use ; they reap and preserve it in the straw till required for 

 use, and then bruise it in a wooden mortar to separate the grains 

 from the husk — a very tedious, imperfect, and consequently, a 

 very expensive process. 



The proportion of starch in prepared rice is 89*15 per cent.; 

 of gluten and other nitrogenous substances, 7*05; of fatty 

 matter, 0*80; bran, only 1*10 — (Payen) — and yet it forms the 

 basis of the alimentary diet of the eastern populations. We 



