Miscellaneous. 



346 



[October, 1911. 



Some of these men do not always deal 

 fairly with the people, and it is no un- 

 common thing for sums to be paid which 

 are far below those actually realized. It 

 should be possible to put this intercolo- 

 nial trade on a better footing;, provided 

 that the small holders could be got to 

 work together on co-operative lines. At 

 the present time, however, the cultiv- 

 ation of cotton is being rapidly extended, 

 which circumstance, with the possible 

 increase, also, of arrowroot planting will 

 no doubt lead to a reduction in the area 

 cultivated in ground provision crops. 

 With a smaller output and an iacrease 

 in the local demand, it appears unlikely 

 that those who continue to grow 

 ground provisions will have to rely so 

 much on the intercolonial markets in 

 order to dispose of tneir crops at a 

 profit. 



Arrowroot is another product which 

 is produced on a fairly large scale on 

 some estates, more particularly New 

 Adelphi and Park Hill, and is shipped to 

 neighbouring colonies. At New Adelphi 

 the Government has erected a central 

 arrowroot mill to assist the growers 

 there, but on several of the other estates 

 there are small mills owned and worked 

 by the holders themselves. The arrow- 

 root industry has for many years been 

 in a depressed condition ; so much so, 

 that neither the estate owners nor the 

 peasantry of the island have been able 

 to obtain paying prices for the starch, 

 but recently an Arrowroot Growers' and 

 Exporters' Association had been formed, 

 to which nearly all the owners of pri- 

 vate estates belong. The members of 

 the Association have agreed not to sell 

 arrcwroot in the United Kingdom below 

 2d. per lb. — a figure which allows a fair 

 profit to be made. One result of this is 

 that the price now being obtained for 

 arrowroot in the intercolonial markets 

 is higher than the average price previ- 

 ously realized. Taken altogether, the 

 outlook for arrowroot at the present 

 time is much brighter, and it appears 

 likely that its production will prove 

 more remunerative in future than it 

 has been for several years past. 



Sugar-cane is grown chiefly at New 

 Adelphi ; here a sugar mill is also main- 

 tained by the Government. A small 

 charge of 2s. per barrel of sugar and Id. 

 per gallon of syrup is made to the people 

 for the use and upkeep of the works. 

 These comprise an old muscovado sugar 

 plant, and the loss of sugar through 

 defective crushing of the cane, and in 

 the handling of the juice is consider- 

 able ; still, the system of manufacture 

 is one which the small holders under- 

 stand fairly well. It is doubtful the 



industry has proved very remunerative, 

 however during the past three or four 

 years owing to the extension of cotton 

 planting throughout the island, and 

 the consequent redaction in the acreage 

 planted in sngar-cane. The producers 

 at New Adelphi have been able to 

 dispose of their sugar and syrup, locally, 

 at fairly good prices. 



Prom the time the scheme was started 

 it was thought desirable to encourage 

 the small growers to establish per- 

 manent crops on portions of their lands 

 in order that they might not have to 

 depend so much on ground provision 

 crops, sugar and arrowroot, and with 

 this object in view, as has been men- 

 tioned before, a large number of cacao 

 and other plants, but chiefly cacao, have 

 been annually raised by the Agricultural 

 Department and distributed free to 

 them. 



In order to ascertain the progress 

 made, and to inspect the condition of 

 the permanent economic plants cultiv- 

 ated, the Agricultural Superintendent 

 made a complete tour through the dis- 

 tricts toward the end of 1906, and the 

 following extracts are taken from a 

 report submitted by him to tbe Adminis- 

 trator :— 



The chief permanent plant cultivated 

 is cacao. Other permanent types grown 

 in small numbers are coffee, nutmegs, 

 coconuts, and cinnamon, but they do 

 not form an important feature, and the 

 produce is practically all consumed 

 locally. 



When the estates were acquired by 

 the Government, a number of established 

 cacao trees were already growing on 

 them, more particularly on those in the 

 Linley and Cumberland Valleys. The 

 total number of trees was probably 

 about 6,250, but many were in an unsatis- 

 factory condition. Since 1900, tne Impe- 

 rial Department of Agriculture has 

 encouraged the planting of cacao in 

 places where it was thought it would do 

 well. The Agricultural Instructor has 

 selected suitable lands, and the small 

 holders have planted them up according 

 to instructions given. 



The Agricultural Department's nur- 

 series for raising cacao and other plants 

 were situated at the Botanic Station 

 and the Georgetown Experiment Sta- 

 tion. Besides, small nurseries have been 

 formed in the Linley and Cumberland 

 Valleys for raising plants for the small 

 holdings there. The latter were main- 

 tained from Land Settlement funds. 

 In addition to the plants raised by the 

 Department, a good many have been 

 raised by the small holders themselves 

 and planted out on their lands. 



