REPORT OF SOCiETY’S MEETINGS. 181 
something good would have come out of it. His impres- 
sion was that with the present system of communication 
they were a little handicapped. They could not com- 
pete with Jamaica, Cuba, and Honduras, which were 
nearer and could supply as many bananas as the United - 
States required in the immediate future. He hardly 
thought any good could be achieved by the revival of the 
Commission. The view he now expressed was formed 
while the Commission was sitting, and he would be glad 
if any one could demonstrate it to be unsound. In 
regard to agriculture in the villages no one could fail 
to see that there was a want of interest. It had occurred 
to him that something might be done if a competent 
person should give lectures to the villagers on the cul- 
tivating of their small lots. He thought something might 
be done in that way, and although they might not see im- 
mediate results he felt sure that some good would come 
in the future. Such leCtures might also be printed and 
distributed so that they could be read at home. With 
regard to the cottages and buildings, if they went to the 
villages they would see these stood in need of great 
improvements and Chapter XIV of their bye-laws pro- 
vided for the granting of premiums to this end. 
He did not despair of the Society. They had an 
Agricultural Committee composed of eighteen gentlemen 
of standing in the community—gentlemen quite com- 
petent, if they took an interest in the matter, to deal 
with such problems as presented themselves in the in- 
terests of the colony. The Committee included Mr. B. 
Howell Jones and Professor Harrison, who were conver- 
sant with agriculture from a praétical as well as a scien- 
tific point of view. Mr. Jones had assured him that he 
