Notes on the Society's Work in 1897-1918. lxvii. 



staple food and be so employed in continuously increasing amounts ; 

 should this be so British Guiana must become one of the recognised 

 sources of that staple. 



We have made no progress with the cultivation of other fruits. It is 

 exceedingly doubtful if there now are as many oranges, mangoes, avocado 

 pears, sapodillas, guavas, pineapples, and similar. fruits produced here as 

 they were in 1897. 



Fibres. 

 Although some attention has been given to the subjec t of fibres, in" 

 eluding cotton, during the period under review there is not any commer- 

 cial progress to report. 



During 1897 and the immediately succeeding years this Society 

 devoted some attention to the suitability of crowa fibre for rope-making 

 purposes. The fibre of the Crowa is known to the Indians and the river 

 people generally as the strongest obtainable, and the plant is therefore 

 grown by them in small quantities for the supply of hammock-ropes, bow- 

 ropes, fish-lines, and even for thread. Crowa is specifically identical with 

 the common pineapple Ananas sativus, but has been described under two 

 separate specific names, Ananas mordilona and Ananas glaber. It however 

 must be regarded as a well-marked variety of the common pine-apple. 

 The reports obtained from rope-manufacturers in England to whom con- 

 signments were sent more than confirmed its local reputation and proved 

 its fibre to be of very exceptionally high value. Some acres were planted 

 with it on behalf of the Society at Christianburg. It was found, however, 

 that the yields per acre were exceedingly low and hence the costs of pro- 

 duction were prohibitive. This is very regrettable as, if it could have 

 been produced at a price which would enable it to compete with Manilla 

 hemp, a leading firm of rope-makers in England were prepared to make 

 investments in land here for its cultivation. '1 he cultivation of crowa is a 

 possible asset for the future when the population has increased and means 

 of communication with the lands suitable for its growth have been 

 improved. 



Attention was next turned toward cotton and for several years a 

 great deal of intermittent interest was taken in the possibility of growing 

 Sea Island cotton on the coastlands of the colony. Field-trials made on 

 several plantations in Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice proved beyond 

 doubt that, owing to the heavy nature of the soil and the prevailing 

 meteorological conditions, it is not possible to commercially produce 

 on the coastlands of the Colony either Sea Island cotton or Egyptian 

 cotton. Attention has since been directed towards producing a hybrid 

 cotton, a cross between tbe Creole or Buck cotton and the Sea Island 

 cotton. This has been carried to a successful issue by the local 

 botanists. A perennial cotton of fixed character has been obtained 

 having the vigour and the resistant power to local meteorological condi- 

 tions of the Creole or Buck cotton, whilst producing lint closely approxi- 



