396 TRINIDAD. 



It is more than probable that many who now hesitate to devote 

 time and attention to the culture of provisions, or who consider 

 such occupation as ruinous, and therefore not worth the attempt, 

 would gladly resort to it, if it were satisfactorily proved by au- 

 thentic data, that the raising of provisions is as profitable, perhaps 

 more so, on a proportionably smaller scale, than the cultivation of 

 the grand staples. The cultivation of the sugar-cane and other 

 plants, as also the manufacture of sugar itself, would be improved, 

 and all the branches of our agricultural industry would undoubt- 

 edly benefit by the establishment of model estates : also by dis- 

 pelling the prejudice that has given birth to, and still nourishes, 

 the aversion to agricultural occupations, that aversion would gra- 

 dually diminish, and agriculture would rise in public opinion to 

 the height its importance demands. 



I therefore suggest the establishment of two such model estates ; 

 one for the northern, and the other for the southern division of the 

 island. To that most important object the council might apply 

 part of the loan granted by the Home Government, for public 

 purposes : in my opinion, a better use of it could not be made. 

 To the agricultural establishment of Hoffwil, formed and con- 

 ducted by that distinguished philanthropist, Mr. de Fellenberg, 

 Switzerland owes its progress in the art of husbandry. To the 

 model farms of Roville and Grignon, France is greatly indebted 

 for the advance she has lately made, and the position she now 

 occupies as an agricultural country. I have known young gentle- 

 men of rank, fortune, and education, spending months at Roville, 

 under the tuition of M. Mathieu de Dombasle, in order to acquire 

 sound information on agricultural chemistry, and a practical 

 knowledge of farming operations, which they afterwards success- 

 fully applied in the conduct of their own properties. Our model 

 estates might be based on a plan submitted by me to His Excellency, 

 Lord Harris, in the year 1849, and the details of which are exposed 

 in the appendix. In the event of their being constituted on a 

 proper footing, the advantages which could not fail to accrue to 

 the colony at large, cannot be easily calculated ; and the benefit 

 to individuals would soon become apparent in an improved hus- 

 bandry and larger revenue. Such establishments could easily be 

 made self-supporting; and I have no doubt that, under proper 

 management, they would repay the original outlay in a short 

 time. 



