ii8 DISEASES OF CROP-PLANTS 



suitable districts, and partly in the hands of peasants. The 

 production has never reached large proportions. There is one 

 working lime estate, situated on the eastern slopes near English 

 Harbour. Coconut palms occur in small patches round the 

 coast. Pineapples are produced with some success on the slopes 

 of ridges in the volcanic area, and where there is good natural 

 shelter the humidity is sufficient for orange trees to exist and for 

 scale insects to be fairly well controlled by the common species 

 of entomogenous fungi. 



MONTSERRAT 



Montserrat is one of the smaller islands, about ranking with 

 Nevis. It has a central district of rather bold mountains (highest 

 elevation 3,000 feet), steep and rocky near their summits, falling 

 off in cultivable and often gentle slopes to coastal flats or to the 

 sea. Its streams are few and inconsiderable in size but have 

 cut considerable ravines (guts) in places. 



The higher slopes are in forest, secondary bush, or vegetable 

 gardens where these are feasible. Three small cane estates 

 survive, making muscovado sugar, of which a small quantity is 

 exported. Montserrat is the island that has benefitted most of 

 all from the introduction of Sea Island cotton, the growing of 

 which is now the staple industry, engaging both the estates and 

 numerous small holders. Near Plymouth there is about 1,000 

 acres of land in scattered lime cultivation, under climatic con- 

 ditions marginal for this crop, which shorten the duration of 

 bearing fields and make their re-establishment difficult. There 

 is another 50 acres of limes at Roaches, in a gut from the sea to 

 the hills. About 50-60 acres of hill land is planted with bay 

 trees, and the area is extending. A peculiarity of Montserrat 

 is its peasant industry in the gathering of papain. There is no 

 papaw cultivation, but in certain districts the plants spring up 

 abundantly when the bush is cut. The milk is collected daily 

 from fruiting trees by women and children, and the coagulum 

 dried in ovens. The annual value of this material is about 

 £2,000, but the industry has been receiving less attention with 

 cotton at its recent high prices. With this stimulus the latter crop 

 is planted even on rocky slopes where little cultivation beyond 

 the cutting of the bush is possible, and does very well under these 

 conditions. 



Not much of the cotton land is as yet manured, even on 

 estates. Occasionally a field is put in a green manure crop, 

 grazed, or given pen manure. The seed is exported to Barbados, 

 and excepting the produce of one group of estates only a small 

 proportion of the meal, for use as stock food, is returned to the 

 island. 



Windbreaks, temporary or permanent, are desirable for many 

 cotton fields, but as a rule their provision is neglected. 



The provision crop consists mainly of sweet potatoes. Yams, 



