August, 1009.] 



131 



Edible Products, 



The estate owners would provide the 

 manures shown by experience to pro^ 

 duce the best results on their land. 

 The cane farmer can only provide pen 

 manure, and very little of that. H> has 

 neither the money to purchase artificial 

 manures nor the knowledge to apply 

 them to the best advantage. 



The money advances now made by 

 estate owners, presumably for the above 

 purposes, would be of more advantage 

 if the expenditure were made in the 

 ways above indicated, under proper 

 direction and supervision. 



An enormous advantage under the 

 share system is the continuous control 

 which the owiier retains during the whole 

 period of the crop. The return for Sc. 

 Augustine estates ^hows that only seven- 

 teen out of 323 farmers could be ex- 

 empted from control uuder any good 

 system of cane cultivation, and the 

 timely assistance which the manager of 

 an estate could give in order to bring 

 neglected cultivations up to a reasonable 

 standard would be certain to increase 

 the productive capacity of the laud, and 

 to serve as a valuable object-lesson in 

 the advantages to be derived from 

 intelligent and experienced supervi- 

 sion. 



At one of the district Agricultural 

 Shows, held last November, the estate 

 owners voluntarily contributed font 

 prizes, to which the judges added a fifth 

 prize, for the best farmers ' canes then 

 growing in the district. The result of 

 this spontaneous evidence of the interest 

 taken in good cane farming is reported 

 to have been most beneficial, and as 

 these prizes are likely to be offered in 

 future years, there is every reason to 

 expect a marked improvement in the 

 small cultivations in that district. 



In order to bring up to date previous 

 records, I present the following table 

 compiled from returns made to the Agri- 

 cultural Society. 



From this it will be seen that the num- 

 ber of cane farmers is still increasing 

 and has more than doubled in the last 

 ten years, and that notwithstanding 

 this increase, the cane production on the 

 estates has not diminished, except in the 

 bad year 1905. 



It can also be estimated (on the basis 

 that the average yield per acre is ten 

 tons of canes) that from 17,000 to 20,000 

 acres of land are under cane cultivation 

 by farmers. Under proper cultivation 

 this acreage ought to yield at least 400,000 

 tons of cane, or double the present 

 output :— 



Cane and Sugar Production, Tri- 

 nidad. 



Year. 



1895 

 1896 

 1897 

 1898 

 1899 

 1900 

 1901 

 1902 

 190:? 

 1901 

 1905 

 1903 

 1907 



c3 , 



3 3- 



- o.2 

 o 



-2 g 3 



£ C Q 



a a 



Ph Cane Fai-niers. 



Number and 

 Nationality 



Tons. Tons. § 



5\noo 

 59,000 

 55,000 

 58,000 

 58,800 

 46,000 

 61,0 »0 

 57,83' > 

 47,000 

 48,0 )0 

 38,210 

 62,975 

 50,564 



No 

 return. 



426,000 

 364,000 

 434 000 

 338,000 

 337,000 

 385,010 

 244,418 

 3 '7,912 

 395,8 >3 



('35,010 

 1 75,000 



lOsOno 203, 

 106,000 219, 

 106,000 228 

 17O,0H0 369, 

 185,000 327 

 166,000 348, 

 172,000 360. 

 144.88S 4S2 

 217,814 469, 

 168,993 340, 



West 

 Indian. 



East 

 Indian. 



3,744 — 



000 

 00 i 

 ,00) 

 ,000 

 000 

 000 

 000 



3 



1 '2 

 527 



3,824 

 3,870 

 3,591 

 4,737 

 4,850 

 4,440 

 4.685 

 5,462 

 5,446 

 5 777 



Discussion. 



2,326 

 2,826 

 2 826 

 3,819 

 4,50S 

 4,443 

 4,646 

 5, 21 

 6,127 

 6,557 



Mr. J. R. B >yell (B irbados) asked 

 whe'her the land referred to by Profes- 

 sor Carmody had not been out of culti- 

 vation for some time, As far as he could 

 rememoer, the Government took over 

 estate lands which had been out of culti- 

 vation for some time, and if this was 

 part of the land referred to by Professor 

 Carmody, that might account for the 

 difference in yield. 



Professor Carmody said that was not 

 the case. Although the land was out of 

 cultivation so far as the manufacture of 

 sugar by the proprietors was concerned, 

 yet it had been let by Govern-ment to 

 tenants, and had been used for the pur- 

 poses of cane farming ever since. It might 

 be taken, therefore, as fairly representa- 

 tive of the cane lands of Trinidad. 



Hon. Mr. H. Howell Jones (British 

 Guiana) said that very little cane farm- 

 ing was carried on in British Guiana, the 

 difficulty being the means of transport 

 between the various villages and the 

 estates. The development of the rice 

 industry, therefore, does not in any way 

 affect cane farming. 



Dr. Praucis Watts (Antigua) said that 

 the basis of trading at Antigua was dif - 

 ferent to that described by Professor 

 Carmody for Trinidad, although the 

 effect might be somewhat similar. Pea- 

 sants' canes were bought at the rate of 

 U lb. sugar per 100 lb. cane, which during 

 last year realised 8s. 7id. per ton of 

 canes. He was unable to say how many 

 acres there were in farmers' canes. 



Hon. W. Fawcett (Jamaica) said there 

 was a small amount of cane farming going 

 on in Jamaica at Westmoreland, where 

 one or two small estates had abandoned 

 their machinery and were selling their 

 canes to large estates. But there were 

 no peasant farmers as in Trinidad, 



