407 
we and they turned their attention mainly to the supply of what are 
led “ provisions” in Dominica, that is, cassava, arrowroot, plantains, 
bananas, yams, &e. In this way they raised sufficient fcod for their 
w in 
money, they praetically abandoned the cultivatiou of coffee altogether. 
8 the coffee cultivation decreased sugar cultivation was advancing, 
bat i never flourished like the old staple product of the island. Still 
solong as the price of sugar kept up there was a certain amount of 
und 
situation, many sugar estutes have been abandoned, large numbers of 
cople have been thrown out of employment, and the island is in a 
depressed condition. 
Many planters tn pin their faith to the cultivation of sugar, and 
hope against hope that brighter times are in store for this industry, out 
of which so many for tunes were made in the old days. ‘They contend 
that foreizn countries cannot always go on granting bounties, and that. 
besides, the consumer must, in — come to recognise the superiority of 
cane to beet t sugar, and t that when he does, prosperity in this industry 
will revive. 1 am not without » e in this direction, but Dominica has 
not much land relatively to her area suitable to the cultivation of canes, 
which can only be profitably grown in the valley beds and surfaces low 
down, or of moderate undulation. Hope for the future of Dominica, 
therefore, in my view, lies mainly in the extension of other cultivations. 
It is the adaptability of pet soil to the production of many different 
m 
- produce. It is quite true that no other cultivation affords the ria 
employment to the labouring population as the cultivation of sugar d 
but there is plenty of room and to spare in Dominica for the settlement 
on the land of all the labourers who are now out of employment. 
I think what I have said above accounts to a great extent for the 
backwardness of the island, when compared with the other West Indian 
Islands, a point to which special reference was made in the Secretary of 
State’s letter of instructions to me. But there is anoth also at 
but these I regard ra ather as a symptom than the seat of the disease. 
But, while it is admitted that discontent is not a congenial soil for the 
growth of the prosperity of the hie it re fo asked why, in spite of 
this, some improvement is not being effec ; 
of the island, and why, if Dominica is so fertile, the cofiee industry is 
not revived, and other remunerative industries introduced for which the 
island is suitable? y answer is that something is being done in this 
direction, The cultivation of limes and cocoa is now considerable in 
fluctuates from various causes, on the whole it annually increasing. 
The lime crop also is steadily increasing, and although some witnesses 
expressed a fear that the supply of this product might exceed the demand, 
when it is borne in mind that there are three distinet articles produced 
from the lime—citrie acid, lime juice, and essential oil of limes—I do 
A 29 
