208 



the whole of the settlers' coffee in a large district and cures it in one 

 set of works. But the greater number of settlers, instead of selling 

 their coffee in cherry, prefer to cure it themselves, however imperfectly, 

 the result being that " ordinary" Jamaica coffee has a bad name. To 

 remedy this state of things, not only has an Instructor been sent into 

 some districts to show what might be done to improve the quality, but 

 good machinery suitable for small settlers has been sought out, and 

 recommended in the Bulletin. 



Coffee, Liberian. — In the Bulletin for January, 1894, information 

 on this subject was supplied to planters, and as a consequence, mariy 

 have commenced planting, and I look forward to a very large area be- 

 ing planted with this strong and free-bearing coffee shrub. 



I am experimenting with the budding of Arabian or common coffee 

 on Liberian, If this experiment prove a success, it would be the 

 means of greatly extending the area on which it is profitable to grow 

 common coffee. Over 12,000 plants have been distributed, besides 

 large quantities of seeds. 



Eucalyptus. — I consider that the planting of Eucalyptus through- 

 out the Island, so far as it has gone, has b^en fairly successful. More 

 than two thousand plants have been distributed during the year. These 

 trees prove useful in malarial districts. Reports on plants supplied 

 from the Gardens are given in Appendix II, page 235. 



Fodder Plants. — Sacaline. — Experiments have been made both at 

 Hope and at the Hill Garden in growing the plant called here Sacaline 

 {Polygonum Sachalinense), which was said to be so promising in Europe 

 as a fodder plant. Whatever may be its value elsewhere, I cannot re- 

 commend it for cultivation here. 



Alfalfa. — Alfalfa has been successful at Hope Gardens, and with 

 several who have carefully attended to its cultivation. The following 

 letter from a correspondent is a contribution that may be useful. "I 

 notice in your last Report accounts of a good many trials of Alfalfa 

 (Lucerne), and the majority of them appear to be failures. Now, I 

 have found it a remarkable success, and consider it a most invaluable 

 fodder plant. I believe the chief reason for its failure in so many 

 cases is the imperfect preparation of the land, for I believe that if the 

 soil is well worked so as to make a good seed bed, and the subsoil is 

 fairly porous, it is certain to do well. I have cut from the same bed 

 three times within four months from sowing. 



" I prefer to sow it broadcast, as in every instance when I have sown 

 it in drills, it has been more or less a failure, in fact, I have seen it a 

 total failure. My plan is to get the land ready in large square beds, 

 when the weather is showery, and when I notice the rain setting up, I 

 hurriedly go over the beds with a coarse rake and scatter the seed. I 

 think most people in Jamaica, if told to sow in drills, make their drills 

 too deep, and so the seed rots instead of growing. 



" Several of the places mentioned in your Report are well known to 

 me, and I am sure, provided the seed was good, that Alfalfa would 

 grow well there if properly sown. 



"I am daily expecting a supply of seed from America, and intend 

 sowing it in two places in St. Andrews, three miles from Kingston, 

 in opposite directions. I will let you know the result." 



In the Argentine Republic it has for many years been known as a 



