SUGAR-CANE. 91 



colony can easily be drawn off from the estates by the higher 

 wages offered on mahogany works. 



If the suggestions offered by me under the head of labour 

 supply are adopted, and East India coolies are systematically 

 introduced by Government, there can be no hindrance to the 

 regular working of sugar estates on account of the competition 

 of mahogany works. Coolies are unfitted for the heavy work 

 of mahogany and logwood cutting, and consequently the whole 

 of this class of labour will be available for the planter. 



In connection with the class of sugars exported from the 

 colony it might be found an advantage to make Muscavado 

 rather than concrete sugar, as the demand for the former is 

 more extensive and more regular. 



With regard to the cultivation, I would suggest that a 

 regular supply of new canes be introduced to the colony, as the 

 continual culture of the same kind on the same land must, in 

 time, result in a deteriorated plant, with a lower yield per acre. 



At present it would appear that the Bourbon cane is exclu- 

 sively cultivated. 



As in all other sugar-producing colonies, with varying condi- 

 tions of soil and climate, it may naturally be expected that more 

 than one variety of cane is required to enable the planter to 

 obtain the best results with the means at his command. I 

 have every confidence that the establishment of nurseries of 

 new canes, such as the Lahina of the Sandwich Islands, the 

 Salangore, the ribbon and Java cane of Louisiana, and numerous 

 other rich and hardy canes, would afford planters an opportunity 

 for testing their merits, and of, eventually, greatly increasing the 

 returns of their plantations. 



As far as I could judge of the quality and nature of the soil, 

 there is no reason to doubt that sugar-cane cultivation will be 

 as profitable in British Honduras as in any other British colony. 



