THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1895. 
get the dawn of that first of January (1892). A 
harbour like glass, a lovely little toy town-ship nest- 
ling attiongst the sweetest of flowering shrubs, noble 
magnolias, and quivering palms, the picturesque 
suburbs rising step by step, completes a picture such 
as I never expect to see surpassed on earth. Per- 
haps the hospitality of our reception has something to 
do with the pleasant recollections of this sweet spot. 
It certainly was very delightful on that balmy morn- 
ing to find the luxurious carriage of the Governor 
awaiting our arrival on the wharf, enabling us to 
make the most of our time, and particularly to pay 
a pleasant visit to Government House, upon the 
steps of which the Governor, Sir W. F. Hely- 
Hutchinson — to whom we had letters of introduction 
■ — received us very warmly. Sir Walter evidently 
takes a keen interest in the affairs of his islands — 
for he rules over several smaller isles, the Grena- 
dines — and altogether, according to common repute, 
makes a most conscientious Governor. Having been 
trained under that Nestor of successful administra- 
tors, Sir Hercules Robinson, to whom he acted as 
private secretary, we had something congenial to say 
about old Ceylon and its greatest Governor ere we 
passed on to the products of Grenada. These com- 
prise cocoa, nutmegs, sugar, cotton, coffee, and various 
minor industries. Although the total acreage in culti- 
vation is only 20,418, the exports of cocoa alone is 
four times that of Ceylon, or over 8,000,000 lb. The 
pet product of the Governor is, however, the nutmeg, 
and the picture he gave us of the beauty of these 
plantations, the pleasant, easy life, and profitable 
returns, made our mouths water. He ridiculed the 
pessimism of Mr. Froude, and had figures at his finger- 
ends to show how a careful man might soon have an 
income of ten shillings per tree from nutmegs, to 
say nothing of other products. Indeed, every tropi- 
cal plant worth growing seems to thrive on this 
favoured isle. 
One curious difficulty has cropped up with regard to 
nutmeg planting. The number of trees of the male 
sex are found to be too numerous, and as the pro- 
portion of male to female trees should not exceed 
one in thirty, planters have had to cut down a 
considerable number of the male sex, though one 
would think that budding or grafting might answer 
the purpose. The nutmeg requires a considerable 
depth of good soil. In Ceylon, owing to the ex- 
periments having been made in poor, shallow soil, 
the industry has proved a failure. Under favour- 
able circumstances, the tree comes into bearing in 
seven years. The rugged nature of this island has 
been its salvation ; preventing its being monopo- 
lised by the sugar-cane. The eggs are in different 
baskets, but, if anything the cocoa basket is rather 
heavy in proportion. The value of cocoa shipped 
last year was £200,267 ; of species, £12,598. 
Altogether, we found the Governor very sanguine 
as to future prospects, aud so enthusiastically fond 
of his beautiful isle that he sent a message to the 
captain, asking him if he would kindly take his 
steamer close inshore, and move along leisurely for 
the first few miles, so as to show us as much as 
possible of the plantations and scenery. 
On leaving Government House we were met by 
some of the leading planters, with whom we ad- 
journed to ^their very pretty little club, and drank 
success to Grenada — the gem of the West Indies 1 
And finally of the most highly cultivated island 
of all:— 
Barbadoes, to which we now returned, is less 
picturesque in appearance than any of the neighbur- 
ing islands, but it has the redeeming feature of 
being the best cultivated and most thickly populated 
colony of the group. Measuring only 106,470 acres, 
it contains a pupulation of 182,322 souls, or 1,100 to 
the square mile. The more I see of Barbadoes, the 
more I am puzzled at the disponding tone adopted 
by the great historian J. A. Froude with reference 
to this island in his recent work on the West In- 
dies. And to my untutored mind, it seems as if even 
our greatest meu may sometimes get beyond their 
last. Tiopical agriculture was evidently not the 
forte of Mr. Froude. Supposing the sugar-cane did 
come to utter grief — that all the sweetness we re- 
quire* be obtained from beet or extracted from coal ; 
suppose that natives should give up drinking ram 
and take to tea and cocoa — we have seen greater 
calamities — even though these might involve the 
ruin of a few dozen old conservative planters. Few 
colonies, indeed, have less to fear than this green 
little island of the glittering sea, with its good and 
easily-worked roil, forcing climate, and abundance of 
cheap labour. There are many products more needed 
trmn sugar ; and for the profitable cultivation of theee, 
Barbadoes offers, as far as it goes, a most favour- 
able field. 
It is scarcely needful that we should notice Mr. 
Sinclair's chapter on " Ceylon " although it is 
hy no means the least entertaining or instruc- 
tive pait of the book to the general reader. 
In noticing Aden and its water supply, our 
author forgets how greatly water is distilled 
now from the seawater, for domestic use. He 
makes a slip in putting the Straits of Babel- 
Mandeb between Aden and Colombo, while 
seven or even six days is now a rather full al- 
lowance for the voyage across. Mr. Sinclair 
il««:s justice to the vegetation, the scenery and 
hill climate of Ceylon and (although slipping 
twice in saying we are governed from the 
"Home" in place of the "Colonial" office) he 
writes very justly when he saj - s ; — 
Few countries have been more fortunate in their 
Governors than Ceylon. The long list of pre-emi- 
nently able and conscientious meu has added lustre 
to the British name, while contributing very much 
to the material prosperity of the island ; and none 
more- signally distinguished themselves in this respect 
than the late Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, who, find- 
ing the colony in a state of temporary depression 
bordering on chaos, by a few bold strokes averted 
disaster, and placed it once more on the path of 
prosperity, leaving it in a sounder condition than ever 
it was before. 
Then comes a graphic chapter on "The Coffee 
Era"; another on "New Products ";" The Era of 
Tea"— and then references to the old history of 
Ceylon with, finally, an amusing chapter op 
"Typical Failures" embodying much of the 
story given in the Observer of the seventies, 
in " How I lost my Wattie." Altogether we 
have now glanced over and sampled a notable, 
I entertaining and instructive as well as a well- 
illustrated volume, which every intelligent tro- 
pical planter ought to add to his library. 
Coffee Planting nf Nyassaland. — Mr. Percy Owen, 
of Wewekelle, Passara, has been appointed to take 
charge of Mr. Carson's newly acquired property in 
the Hartley District, Blantyre, Nyassaland, ancl he 
will leave for Africa at once. The estate consists of 
2,000 acres, and it is to be opened up entirely with 
coffee. The Nyassaland Coffee Company, Limited. 
In connection with this company, which Messrs. — 
Carson & Company are floating, we learn that the 
capital already subscribed goes a long way towards 
providing the sum required (BlO0,C0O), but that all 
the share<= were not yet taken up. A meeting of 
the Directors' will be held most probably early in 
April, and after that the company will advertise for 
a superintendent to work their property. Meanwhile, 
the promoters have had a most encouraging letter 
from Messrs. Lewis and Peat, the well-known London 
Coffee-brokers, who in a letter written to Mr. Carson 
say : " We have got some veay fine coffee to sell 
coming from Blantyre near the place where Hartley 
is. It is quite as good as the very best Ceylon coffee." 
