PEODUCTIONS OP THE SOIL, 109 



The flax plants are the most important of all the 

 neglected products of Bermuda. The banana, the 

 plantain, Spanish dagger, the okra, and the wild 

 aloe, all produce flax and hemp of different textures ; 

 but no steady or systematic attempt has been made 

 to turn them to account. The chief diflSculty lies 

 in separating the vegetable matter from the flax; 

 this might easily be done, as it is elsewhere, by 

 mechanical pressure, and the cleansing be effected by 

 chemical agents. 



The cotton raised in Bermuda is accounted very 

 firm and substantial. I feel confident that cloth 

 made from this cotton would almost vie with linen 

 in value. 



The opuntia, or prickly pear, grows luxuriantly in 

 the most barren places of the Island. It is not turned 

 to the same account by the cultivation of the cochineal 

 insect on it, as in Teneriffe, from whence upwards 

 of 60,000Z. worth of this valuable dye is annually 

 exported. 



Drugs are here in great abundance. The firuits 

 could be cultivated with much advantage; the 

 strawberry, the grape, the fig, the guava, the 

 shaddock, and many other tropical fruits, ripen 

 without assistance fi:om art. Many European vege- 

 tables grow to perfection. 



