AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY, 



WEST INDIA ISLANDS; 



BENEFIT TO THE CULTURE OF THE ISLANDS FROM A DUE 

 ATTENTION TO THE OXYGENATION OF VEGETABLE 

 MATTER, AND THE SUBSEQUENT SOLUTION OF IT, BY 

 ALKALIS AND OTHER SALINE BODIES. 



THESE Islands, when first known, were covered 

 with wood j the lands have since been cleared, and the 

 soil has- been brought under the culture of the sugar* 

 cane, indigo, and cotton. The crops of sugar, for many 

 years, after clearing and cultivating the ground, were 

 very great. At length, by repeatedly cropping and ex- 

 hausting the soil, the planters are now under the 

 necessity either of manuring for sugar crops, or of 

 substituting others of a less exhausting nature for a 

 certain number of years, until the ground shall recover. 

 The very abundant crops of sugar at first produced, were 

 undoubtedly owing to the accumulation of vegetable 

 matter, in consequence of the Islands having been co- 

 vered with wood for many centuries previous to th,eir 

 ' settlement and cultivation .. 



The 



