73 



These seeds are rich in starch and digestible fibre, elements which 

 constitute valuable food, though the albuminoids are rather low. 

 They are produced in great abundance, and must contribute largely to 

 the food of fishes, and perhaps other water animals. 



Composition of a sample of Victoria regia seed a : 

 Flour 75.66 o/o ... Husks 24. 34 o/o 



Air dried flour. 



Water ... ... 18.03 



Fats ... ... 21 



a. Albuminoids ... ... 3.26 



Glucose ... ... 34 



Starch ... ... 1.71 



Tannin, Gum, etc. ... ... 54 



Degestible fibre ... ... 74.95 



Iudigestible fibre ... ... 44 



Mineral matter (ash) ... ... 52 



103.00 



a. Containing nitrogen ... ... .52 



The prominent feature in the flour of Victoria seed is the very 

 'high proportion of digestible cellulose they contain. The other con- 

 stituents are low. 



CAN E-F ARMING IN TRINIDAD.* 



Sugar, if not the chief product, is the chief manufacture of the 

 Oulony. A hundred years ago the boiling house was a mere adjunct 

 to the cane-fields ; but the modern usine represents an amount of 

 capital exceeding the value of the land from which it is supplied with 

 canes. To give an illustration : The usine of St. Augustine with its 

 groups of estates, comprising about 4,500 acres, lying near the old 

 .capital of St. Joseph, was closed last year; and though the usine con- 

 tained machinery which had cost, apart from buildings and tramways, 

 £ !>0 000, yet, as there was no demand for it as a going concern, the 

 Government was able to acquire the whole property for £9,100. Im- 

 provements in the process of manufacture, and the development of 

 machinery have led to concentration of capital, a reduction in the 

 ^n umber of factories and the consolidation of estates. Though last 

 year sugar was made at twenty-six factories, thirteen manufactured 

 less than a thousand tons. One usine was closed last year and one 

 this. Though the so-called planter has long been primarily a manu- 

 facturer, his factory has, until recent years, been fed entirely from his 

 own estates. Under this system the losses suffered in bad seasons 

 ^iave fallen on a small number of owners, and their capital and credit 

 has been often insufficient for the heavy calls upon them. Lately, 

 however, the cane-farmer has come into existence, and the rapid growth 

 of the industry is shown in the f blowing table, prepared by the Go- 

 vernment Analyst from returns published by the Agricultural Society. 



* Extract from Colonial Reports — Trinidad and Tobago, 1900. 



