PHYSICAL RESOURCES OF JAMAICA. 65 



here is not suspended by the approach of winter, which 

 averages a temperature only ten or fifteen degrees lower 

 than that of summer. Planting and harvesting go on 

 throughout the year. 



The richness of the soil may be inferred from a usage 

 which has existed since long previous to the abolition of 

 slavery, of setting apart to the negroes one day in seven for 

 the cultivation of their own little grounds from which they 

 gather nearly their entire support. On Saturdays, they 

 are never expected to work for any one but themselves. 

 They devote that day to tilling their grounds and market- 

 ting their produce. This one day's labor in each week is 

 all they require to keep up to the highest power of pro- 

 duction, from three to five, and sometimes ten acres of pro- 

 vision grounds. 



The fruits of the island are of infinite variety, and most 

 of them grow spontaneously, or with very little culture ; 

 each month having its own peculiar harvest. Among 

 those fruits which grow in greatest abundance and per- 

 fection, are the pine apple, shadduck, orange, pomegranate, 

 fig, grenedillo, cashew apple, banana, star apple, chirimoya, 

 tamarind, cocoa nut, olive, date, plantain, mulberry, akee, 

 jack fruit, bread fruit, and every variety of melons, grapes, 

 pears, plums, mangos, &c. 



Among vegetables most easy of cultivation, are potatoes, 

 yams, cassava, peas and beans of every variety, all the com- 



