28 TRINIDAD. 



gaged in field work ; whilst, under temperate zones, vegetable 

 life is dormant for four or five months, during which recess the 

 labourer may be employed under shelter, and in various other 

 occupations. Moreover, under our zone, heavy rains or extreme 

 droughts act as an obstacle to certain agricultural operations. 

 Again, nearly all our crops require weeding, an operation which 

 is but seldom performed in Europe ; for, the cereals which form 

 the basis of European agriculture, once sown, are allowed to grow 

 and arrive at maturity undisturbed ; so that the same extent of 

 land requires, in the colonies, more constant care and attention 

 than, for instance, in England or France. Nearly all our culti- 

 vated plants are perennial : which makes it very difficult if not 

 impossible to establish a system of rotation of crops, as where 

 annuals are raised. Some of our plants even such as the cacao 

 and coffee do not commence yielding a regular crop, except 

 after a term of five or eight years' growth ; so that, even should 

 an agricultural article become almost valueless in the market, the 

 planter is still under the necessity of continuing its cultivation. 

 And with regard to a sugar estate, its entire management re- 

 sembles more that of a manufactory than of a farm ; and field 

 operations are suspended for five or six months, in order to manu- 

 facture the juice of the cane into sugar. Thus, the sugar planter 

 is subject, at the same time, to all the casualties attendant on the 

 pursuits both of the manufacturer and of the agriculturist. These 

 may be said to be natural conditions which cannot be changed ; 

 but there were others of an artificial kind, against which the 

 planter had incessantly to struggle. 



Under the system of slavery, man was regarded and employed 

 as a mere mechanical agent ; and the planter who, immediately 

 after emancipation, required skill in the tillage of the soil, and 

 intelligent labourers who could understand and profitably adopt 

 improved and efficient methods was compelled to rest satisfied 

 with the mechanical aid of the very class he had kept in a state of 

 ignorance and serfdom ; and, where initiated, active, and willing 

 agents were necessary, he found obtuse, indolent, and, above all, 

 capricious instruments. Was this the fault of the planters ? No 

 It was the bequest of slavery. 



Again, on what terms were proprietors compelled to employ 

 these agents ? It may be said that, during the existence of 

 slavery, there were but two distinct classes in the colonies the 

 slaveholders, and the slaves ; for, many who were not possessors 

 of estates, were nevertheless owners of slaves. Many of the 

 labourers, soon after obtaining their liberty, left their masters' 

 property and began to erect small cottages on unoccupied lands, 

 or on small portions purchased by themselves; the majority, 

 however, continued to live on the estates, actually occupying 

 houses and lands free from all rent, and yet exacting from their 



