215 



A largely attended meeting of the Board and others was held at, the 

 end of January, and the general outlines of a scheme were agreed to. 



The scheme was finally submitted to the Governor in February, 

 and published later for the information of the Legislative Council. The 

 following is a copy : — 



Kingston, 18th February, 1899. 



Sib, 



Acting upon the instructions conveyed in your letter No. 9995-13280 of 

 29th December, we have the honour to submit, for the consideration of His 

 Excellency the Governor, a scheme for the establishment of an Experiment 

 Station and for the employment and instruction thereat of boys from the In- 

 dustrial Schools and also of boys whose maintenance would be paid for by 

 their parents. 



2. The demand for agricultural instruction and training has recently found 

 expression in a number of ways, and on the part of almost all classes of the com- 

 munity, and we therefore bring forward proposals, not only for the establish- 

 ment of an experiment station for the study of agricultural problems and the 

 training of boys from the Industrial Schools, but also for giving, in connec- 

 tion with the station, systematic and organised instruction in Agriculture, in 

 a practical as well as a theoretical manner, in a form suited to the require- 

 ments of various other classes of the community. 



3. Following the verbal instructions of H. E. the Governor at an inter- 

 view accorded to a deputation from the Schools Commission, on December 

 28th, at which we were present, we have associated with us in the prepara- 

 tion of this scheme, the Rev. W. Simms, M.A. 



4. It is well to record here the fact that we three were representatives of 

 Jamaica at the Agricultural Conference held in Barbados under the auspices 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies, on January 

 7th and 9th and that at this conference considerable attention was devoted to 

 the consideration of the question of agricultural instruction in various forms. 

 When in Barbados we had also an opportunity of consulting with Dr. 

 Morris, the Commissioner of Agriculture and President of the Conference. 



5. We are of opinion that the requirements of the Colony may be best 

 met by the establishment of a station where first agricultural problems, with 

 which the practical planter and penkeeper are constantly confronted, may be 

 systematically studied ; and where secondly, the services of those engaged in 

 the management, as well as the material and the appliances of the station, 

 may be utilised to great advantage in giving instruction to pupils drawn from 

 the various classes of the community interested in agricutural pursuits. 



6. It is unnecessary to dwell at great length on the advantages which 

 should follow from the formation of an Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 but we may point out that institutions of this character have proved to be the 

 most useful means yet devised for aiding the practical agriculturists in the 

 United States and Canada in which countries these stations have done much 

 to promote and foster agricultural advancement. 



7. Such a station for Jamaica should have for its object the study of the 

 staple crops of the colony, the consideration of the conditions under which 

 these are grown, and demonstrations of the results of different methods of 

 cultivating, fertilising or manuring, or any operation connected with the crop 



8. In addition to the study of crops s^rown largely for export, attention 

 should be given to the products grown for local use, particularly, those used 

 for food. 



9. Improvements in the kind of plants grown and the study of improved 

 varieties which may be introduced from without should also occupy the atten- 

 tion of the station workers. 



