TfiE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
Nov. 1, 1900.] 
is never excessive. It varies from 53deg. to godeg., ac- 
cording to altitude and season. The rainfall is abun- 
dant while a vast number of streams afford water 
power. There are no venomous serpents, and mosqui- 
toes are not undulv obtrusive. The soil is remarkably 
fertile, and is admirablv suited to the cultivation of all 
tropical products notably that of fruit. There is a 
fair supply of labour, and wages vary from 8d to la 
3d a day. Taxation is light, and the cost of living 
moderate. , . , ■, 
The sugar industry, upon which the island once 
largely depended, has now become a minor industry, 
and its place has been taken by the cultivation of 
cocoa, limes, coffee, spices, oranges, and other fruits. 
All these products yield very handsome returns, and 
large areas have of late years been planted with them. 
The value of cultivated land in Dominica hasincreaaed 
very largely during the last two or three years, and it 
is a significant fact that very few owners of estates 
that have come into bearing are willing to sell their 
properties. 
The exports of the island during last year were 
worth nearly double those of five years ago. Very 
eoo& incomes are being yielded by comparatively 
small estates, and the output of the island will, in 
a few years, attain a large volume. Over 1,500 «0U 
lb. of cocoa are already exported annually, while 
Dominica has always been the chief producer of the 
lime juice which is nowadays so extensively adver- 
tised. The soil and climatic conditions of the island 
are specially adapted to the production of oranges, 
bananas, and pineapples, and a small experimental 
shipment of the last-named fruit proved recently to 
be the finest ever received from the West Indies. 
A CEYLOK PLANTER, OF GBEAT EXPERIENCE, 
has lately embarked in the cultivation of coffee in the 
higher altitudes,and the finest grades of the famous J am- 
aica " Blue lilouutain " bean are found to thrive re- 
markably in lands over 2,000 feet above the sea. This 
industry is about to be very extensively developed, 
Vanilla of very high quality is also being produced 
and will soon become an important article of export. 
There s no reason why tobacco of the best grades 
should i not be raised, and there are vast .areas suit- 
able for rubber. . . 
The island possesses a valuable botanic station under 
the direction of Dr. Morris, c.m.o., Commissioner of 
Agriculture for the West Indies. Vast numbers of 
seedling plants of all the best varieties of economic 
products are kept on hand and may be purchased at 
much under cost price. An intending planter can 
thus save a considerable space of time in the cultivation 
of his product, and the returns are proportionately 
earlier. The officers of the Agricultural Department 
are ready to give valuable assistance and instruction 
to inexperienced planters, and many costly mistakes 
may thus be avoided. 
CROWN LANDS MAT BE PURCHASED EOR lOs 
per acre, at present and facilities aregiven forpayment. 
A planter who proposes to cultivate virgin lands should 
be able todispose of a capital of not less than £1,000. n 
Given this sum there is every reason to believe that a 
energeti cman would ina few years realise a handsome 
income from his plantation. Pineaples a,nd bananas 
yield a crop in less than two years, coffee in less than 
three years, oranges and limes in four years. Cocoa 
lequires five to six years to give large crops, and nut- 
megs give a valuable return in eight years. The 
clearing and cultivation of virgin lands are very in- 
teresting operations, and, owing to the cool and clear 
atmosphere of the monntan lands, a white man can 
work as well there as if he were a couple of thousand 
miles further north of the equator. The forests abound 
in valuable woods, and a bachelor planter could build 
a comfortable cottage out of native materials for 
less than a hundred pounds. The rivers are teeming 
with fish, and some shooting can be had. 
Social life is very pleasant, and cricket, tennis and 
golf are played. There are good schools, an hotel, 
and several boarding houses. Dominica can be reached 
ia 13 days from Southampton by Royal Mail steamers 
33^ 
single fare, first class, £25. Nuraerons lines of steam* 
ships call at the island giving ample facilities for 
shipment of produce to the United Kingdom and to 
the States. 
If the foregoing induce any of your readers to con- 
sider seiionsly the prospect of becoming planters in 
Dominica I would be very happy to afford any further 
particulars that may be desired. I shall be returning 
to Dominica on October 16 next ; but in the mean- 
time any communications addressed to me, care of 
Messrs. Grindlay and Co., Parliament-street, will 
receive my best attention. 
With many thanks for the space you have been 
good enough to accord me,— I am, Sir, yours faithfully, 
H. HBSKETH BELL 
(Administrator of Dominica).'. 
GRAPHITE OR PLUMBAGO. 
The least erudite laymen are aware at the present 
time that charcoal, graphite, and the diamond are 
primarily nothing else but carbon, and that each 
of the three bodies named represents an allotrophio 
modification of that element. Not long ago these 
substances were not properly distinguished from one 
another, and it was the common belief that gra- 
phite, lead sulphite, molybdenite, atibnite, and pyro- 
lusite, on account of their similarity in appearance 
were identical, or at least belonged to the same 
family. To have cleared up this misunderstanding 
is the merit of Scheele, a Swedish chemist, originally 
an apothecary, who, imbued from youth with a spirit 
of investigation, developed into one of the most 
successful chemists of his time. To his exertions 
chemistry owes the discovery of some of the elementary 
gases then absolutely unknown, and the first distinc- 
tive features relating to the class of bodies enumer- 
ated above. Towards the year 1779 he found that 
graphite when warmed with nitric acid generated 
carbon dioxide ; while molybdenite which was re- 
garded as a kind of graphite owing to the ^ct that 
it produced a black streak on paper, changed nnder 
these conditions to a white oxide or earth, as these 
bodies were called at that time. From these observa- 
tions he drew the conclusion that graphite must bo 
a body related to carbon, a result which has since 
found ample confirmation. 
The mineral graphite is of special interest to the 
mining fraterinity, for the reason that deposits of this 
mineral are found in various parts of the world. A 
short description of its occurrence and properties 
seems, therefore, to be in place, the more so as the 
mineral is not always found in such a state of purity 
as to warrant its immediate application, and foreign 
admixtures or gangue must be eliminated in certain 
cases. 
Graphite received its name from the Greek term 
meaning " to write, an appellation which is quite 
appropriate and characteristic, so that other aesigna- 
tions, like plumbago, blacklead, and even " carburet 
of iron," which have passed over into the present 
nomenclature from less enlightened times, must neces- 
sarily appear as quite superfluous and improper. 
Almost every part of the civilised world having 
contributed its quota to the production of graphite 
to some extent, the enumeration of the most pro- 
minent mines of this kind only seems of importance. 
Thus the Borrowdale Mine, in Cumberland, which 
yielded during the sixteenth and seventeenth cent- 
uries an annual revenue of £40,000, and remained 
during that period the only producer, placed only 
45 tons on the market in a recent year. The pro- 
duct from this mine was formerly considered as 
the best material for manufacturing pencils, and 
it was worked only for a few weeks in the year, 
for fear of exhausting the deposit. This diffidence 
in the capacity of the mine was only too well justi- 
fied, for the Borrowdale Mine does not count any 
more with the producer of graphite at the pre* 
sent time, 
