408 
rot think there is any cause for alarm that the production of limes of 
ihe quality grown in Dominica, whieh is the best in the world, will 
ever cease to be a EE e industry. 
Coffee, too, is being — opem not to the extent it ought. The 
kind known as Liberian, which is never affected by blight, and which 
has the advantage of bein easily ud ed, asit ripens gradually instead 
of all at once like the Arabian coffee, i is being introduced o n the lower 
grounds, while Arabian coffee, the old coffee of the isla nd, i is being 
introduced at the higher elevations, where the effect of the blight upon 
it is never serious. "The substitution of one a t of cultivation for 
another, however, is a matter of time. Cocoa trees are not in full 
bearing until seven years after they are planted, sre until ten years, 
and coffee until from four to six years, according to the elevation at 
which the trees are planted, and, to some extent, inel to their exposure. 
ealtivations, but i 8 orne in mind that minica 
inly of small proprietors, who owe their origin to the circumstances 
in her history th bave deseribed, and that a great barrier to her 
progrere exists in the want of knowledge of the people. aoe. — a 
small money wants by selling any yeso beyond pus was Saya 
by themselves and ae families. There never was much of a market 
for * provisions," but now that many sugar estates have gone out of 
cultivation, and few papie have any money to spend, there is scarcely 
any market at all. Obviously what these small holders should do, and 
what they are beginning to do, is also to cultivate some of those other 
produets I have referred to, for which there is always a market. But 
it takes time for these poor ‘people to appreciate the necessity of doing 
this. Then, again, they know little of the best methods of cultivating 
cocoa, limes, and ppe n have any effective steps been taken to 
instruct them on this er. It is true that the present Governor of 
the Leeward Islands, ‘Sir William Barock Smith, has established a 
botanical station at Roseau, at which plants of these trees can b 
trade with England might be developed, kola nuts, spices of various 
sorts, and medical herbs, for the cultivation of which mauy parts of the 
island are peculiarly suitable. This I regard as a matter for which he 
is most highly to be commended. 
It is impossible to over estimate the value of the assistance which our 
colonies in such matters receive from the authorities at Kew Gardens. 
In fact, but for their action in directing attention to the benefits to be 
derived from the establishment of botanical stations, I doubt whether 
any of those stations would be in existence at all. Kew, moreover, not 
only lends her powerful aid in inducing Colonial Governments to intro- 
duce such stations, but she also finds curators for them, supplies them 
with plants, and is always ready to give counsel and advice, from ex- 
perience collected from all parts of the world, as to the descriptions and 
methods of cultivation most suitable for the different colonies, and the 
most approved ways of preparing the various products and ie them 
into their most marketable shape. e colonies themse l 
alive to the value of the services that Kew renders to "ilios in the 
: etre of their resources, but I doubt whether the important part 
that she plays in such matters is fully known in this country, or is 
appreciated as it ought to 
