Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



the Government as a means of saving what is 

 still the island's staple export. 



Under the system of land tenure which pre- 

 vails here, the landowner takes by way of rent 

 half the produce of the soil, the remaining half 

 being the tenant's share. The cultivation of 

 sugar-cane under the artificial conditions de- 

 scribed is no doubt advantageous to the land- 

 lord. Not only does the crop produce a good 

 return to him at a fixed price, but it is easy to 

 check the amount received for it, and petty 

 frauds by the tenant are rendered impossible. 

 And at first sight it is also beneficial to the 

 tenant ; at any rate he receives in money an 

 amount which he could not otherwise hope for. 

 But against this must be set the fact that little 

 else can be grown with sugar-cane : that the 

 beans, and sweet potatoes and yams, the sup- 

 port of the tenant's family, must be bought and 

 paid for instead of, as was formerly the case, 

 being grown on the farm. Some of the 

 opponents of the sugar cultivation assert (I 

 cannot say with how much reason) that the 

 tenants are gradually being impoverished, and 

 that the outcome will probably be a widespread 

 revolt against the landlords, whose present 



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