TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



269 



only of a good but well finished article, equal to 

 the best, and as the material from which it is made 

 is of our well seasoned wood, it is more lasting and 

 impervious to native insects than imported furniture. 

 The chief manufacturers are Smith Brothers & Co., 

 (The Bonanza), Miller's Stores, Davidson & Todd, 

 (The Arcade), and Wilsons Limited. 1 pass every 

 day by the large factory of Smith Brothers & Co., 

 and have been so struck with the largeness of their 

 workshops, that I frequently stopped to look and ad- 

 mire the finish given to the articles made there and 

 the soundness of the material used. It must not be 

 thought that I specially select this firm, but as it was 

 constantly seeing their large workshops that induced 

 me to write the latter part of this chapter I particu- 

 larly allude to them. 



St. Joseph Nursery. — In glancing over a recent 

 West Indian Circular I was reminded of a very im- 

 portant economic industry of late years inaugurated 

 in Trinidad and it struck me that an account of it 

 ought not to be omitted in this book as it forms a 

 very important item in what is being done to bring 

 Trinidad to the front. The paragraph to which I 

 have alluded goes on to give a nice description of this 

 Nursery, but as it is one of the institutions started 

 within my time I prefer giving my plain unvarnished 

 account of it. 



It was inaugurated a few years back by Mr. 

 Henry Caracciolo, who, for some years previous, had 

 taken a vivid interest in Natural History and Agri- 



