!)2 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



KUBBER ON JAMAICA : BS IT A 

 FAILURE? 



i'lho usual 'mb.itfa'ly meeting of the Board of 

 Management of the Jamaica Agricultural Society 

 was held at the office of the Society, No. 11, 

 North Parade, Kingston, on Thursday, 21st 

 October, 1909, at 11-40 a.m. Present :— fl. E. 

 Sir Sydney Olivier, in the chair, His Grace 

 the Archbishop, Bishop Collins, Hons. L J 

 Bertram, Geo. McGrath, the Director of Agricul- 

 ture, Messrs D Campbell, K Craig, A W Douet, 

 ACL Martin and the Secretary, Jno. Barclay. 



Mr Craig— said he had given notice to the 

 Secretary to place on the agenda that he would 

 bring up the question of the 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE ON 

 COTTON AND RUBBER 



in Jamaica, as published in the Gazette. He 

 did not say, as he did not know, that Mr 

 Cousins might not be perfectly right in making 

 the statements he did, but he happened to 

 know that large sums of money had been 

 invested here in rubber planting. It was 

 only within the last four or five years that 

 there had been rubber-planting to any extent 

 done here, and three of these years were 

 years of drought. Mr Cousins might be quite 

 right in giving off these ex cathedra statements, 

 but he would ask him to give them some data. 



The Secretary also submitted two further 

 letters he had received on the subject : — 



Mr A B Ventresse wrote of date : On pages 261 and 2G2 of 

 the Agricultural Journal for July, 1 read : We can supply 

 cotton seed, etc. The Society is prepared to supply seed 

 and pay cost of cultivation, etc. We have districts to which 

 cotton would be a valuable asset if it were grown. This 

 year a few cultivations of cotton in Jamaica have done 

 well. In the supplement to the Jamaica Gazette, Septem- 

 ber 2nd, p. 272 : I would add cotton to the Index Expur- 

 gatorius of economic crops for Jamaica. . , . Cotton culti- 

 vation is one of the most speculative and uncertain agri- 

 cultural enterprises ever attempted in Jamaica, This by 

 the Director of Agriculture. 



Will the Board be good enough to reconcile these state- 

 ments. If not, why not? And what is the economic effect 

 on the Island? And in the opinion of the Board, should 

 cotton be condemned in this manner ? And is it to the 

 general interests of the country that such statements should 

 be issued with the authority of the Director of Agriculture ? 



On page 271 Supplement to Jamaica Gazette, September 

 2nd, the Director of Agriculture says : I am unable to re- 

 commend the cultivation of any rubber-producing tree yet 

 tested in Jamaica. Is it not to be inferred from this that 

 all the rubber planted will be a failure? If not, why is it 

 written ? On page 292 same issue : Planters have been ill- 

 advised to spend money thereon. Who advised this planting? 

 Same page: Castilloa is apt to die if tapped at all severely. 

 Is there good evidence of this, and if so, why is it not pub- 

 lished, and is it from Jamaica experience ? Same page: 

 Bubber as a shade for cocoa has proved most pernicious ? 

 Does this apply to Tobago, and in what way is it pernicious? 



Is this wholesale condemnation of rubber a good policy 

 for the Director of Agriculture to pursue at present ? And 

 what is the effect on the value of properties? 



Sir Edward Cornwall, Chairman of the Jamaica Estates 

 Company, says :— Arrangements will at once be made for 

 the supply of rubber plants. . . . We have instructed Mr 

 Farquharson to proceed with the planting forthwith. 



Whose duty is it to tell these outside investors that they 

 don't know what they are doing ? Surely they should be 

 protected against themselves ! Will the Society advise ? 



I address this to the Board because I think the Society 

 should make some move in the matter. 



Mr R E Gillespie ofClyremont, Falmouth, wrote of date 

 lfltli October. 1909, saying he had determined to give up 

 cotton growing for two reasons— (1) that no one in his 

 district would take up the industry, though to be success- 

 fulitneeded a certain amount of co-operation and (2) be 

 was disgusted with the report of the Director of Agriculture 



on cotton, as published in the Gleaner of September 3rd. 

 It might be correct for other parts of Jamaica, but he 

 believed from experience that cotton was a most useful, 

 safe and profitable crop in his district. However, the 

 above-mentioned report will effectually damn all hope of 

 anybody trying it, so I must drop it also. I shall give off 

 my September crop in a few days and shall then be ready 

 to hand over the gin. 



The Director— in reply — said Hevea plants 

 had been regularly issued to the public from 

 his Department for over 25 years, but there 

 were no large trees to be found anywhere, 

 although Castilloa trees were growing freely 

 from similar means of distribution. The 

 largest Para rubber tree in Jamaica was at 

 Castleton Gardens and is now 30 years old. 

 It should yield at least 10 lb. of rubber 

 per annum, if Hevea was a normal tree 

 for growth in this island. Castleton has the 

 closest approximation to a Brazilian rubber 

 climate of any district in the island. This tree 

 yields latex with great difficulty and refuses to 

 give an appreciable yield of rubber. The man- 

 ager of some very large Para plantations in the 

 East, inspected growing Para rubber trees in 

 various parishes of Jamaica in March last. He 

 told him (Mr Cousins) that our six-year-old 

 trees were only equal in size to 16 months' 

 trees on his plantations. He also stated that 

 lack of rain for 10 days is a serious set-back to 

 Hevea as grown on modern lines for rubber 

 production. His conclusion was given to him : 

 " Jamaica is quite unsuitable for Para rubber." 

 A Belgium syndicate went in largely for Para 

 rubber plantations near Port-au-Prince 

 in havti, 



some eight years ago. The manager was per- 

 sonally known to him, and on a recent visit to 

 Jamaica, he informed him that this rubber tree 

 failed to produce a normal bark and latex in 

 Hayti, and the Para rubber had been given up 

 for cocoa, which was doing well. The greatest 

 interest in rubber-production in the SVest 

 Indies, had been evinced 



IN TRINIDAD, 



The climatic conditions in Trinidad were 

 more favourable for Para rubber than those 

 of Jamaica. The managing partner of one of 

 the largest properties in Trinidad, was good 

 enough to tell him of their experience of 

 Hevea and Castilloa when this gentleman visited 

 Jamaica last Spring. He stated that he was 

 quite satisfied that the Hevea they had planted, 

 on quite a large scale, could not be a commercial 

 success and he regretted the money expended 

 on this exterprise. He also informed him of 

 the serious injury to his cocoa trees by planting 

 Castilloa rubber as shade. The climate of 

 Jamaica had too low a mean temperature and 

 too great fluctuations in humidity and rainfall 

 to reproduce the conditions in which Hevea 

 brasiliensis grows naturally in the Valley of the 

 Amazon and those in the East, where cultivated 

 Para rubber is at this moment coining money 

 for the enterprising planters who had created 

 this industry. The mere growth of a rubber 

 tree and its ability to yield latex capable of 

 giving rubber in a commercially profitable 

 quantity, are two different things; and there was 

 every reason to believe that while we could grow 

 Para rubber trees here of poor and stunted 

 dimensions, that it was not possible in Jamaica 



