June i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AtSmCiSLTUmST. 
851 
PLANTING AND PROGRESS IN JAMAICA. 
During the mouths that liavo elupsetl siiioo onr 
last meeting I have again visited several par'.she.s 
Bud everywnere I have touud evidences of awakened 
energy, of hopeful elfort in the present, and of con- 
fidence in the future. The Island shows signs ot a 
rapid recovery from the depression of tho perion 
immediately preceding tho yrar 1869. There is a 
large increase in the value of real property ; the fruit 
trade is cxpaudiug with extraordinary rapidity, and 
with the daily improving means of communication v/ill 
still further expand. 
The a reage under sugar canes has decreased, bat 
tho decrease is more than counterbalanced by the 
increased acreage devoted to the cultivation of 
bananas, coffee, cocoa, tobacco and ground provisioLS. 
The improvement in the dwellings of the people 
is a fair teat of their prosperity, and I find that the 
number of houses paying rates at an assessed value, 
increased during the year ending 30fch Septemoer, 
1890, by 24 per cent. 
The Selection has been made of the R- ads to be 
taken over by the Dirtctor of Public AVorks under 
the Parochial Roads Law of 1890, and as the sekcled 
roads aro beirg transferred to tho Public Works De- 
partment as quickly ns circumstances will permit, I 
hope that tho end of the present year will see over 
960 miles added to the 800 aiile.5 already included in 
the Main Road system. 
The first section of twelve and a half miles of rail- 
way extension has been made and opened for traffic; 
and telegraph extensions have been carried out from 
Half-way-Tree to Anuotto Bay; from Brown’s Town 
through B .rnstaple to Ulster Spring ; from Shooter’s 
Hill to Balaclava, and from Sauta Oruz to Malvero, 
w'hi’e to faci itate tho timely signalliog of vessels 
telephonic communication has been esiablished bet- 
ween Moraut Point Light House and Plantain Garden 
River Telegraph Staiious. 
The Exbitii ion was opened by Ilis Royal Highness 
Prince George of Wales on the 27th of January, 
on tho day and at the hour decided upon in October 
1889. 
It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance 
of the Exhibition to Jamaica. Carried out as this 
great work has been by the heatty co-operation of 
every class of the community it has demonstrated 1 ow 
much can be done when all work together for the 
common good ; it has stimulated intelltcruai activity 
among the people, ami has brought Jamaica with her 
possibilities and attractions before the world with a 
prouiinei-co unequalled daring the present century. 
The con equeucc is to be seen in the keen competition 
for her trade, and there are already indications that 
the close of the Exhibition will find the Island endowed 
with more than one valuable industry, hitherto 
undeveloped, while markets will be found for pro- 
ducts till now i.eglectad. Nor will the beneiit be 
cjutiued to Jamaica for the products of the Bahamas, 
B.arbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, and Turks Is'auds are 
exhibited in thsir respective Courts and aro being 
noted by observant eyes. The nurab.'f registi red as 
having visited the Exhibition up to the pi (sent is 
78,308, and I have no doubt that before its close a 
very large proportion of the people of Jamaica will 
have availed themselves of tho opportuuiiy of im- 
provemeut and advai. cement afforded by it. 
Two subjects have occupied my larutsfc attention — 
the introduction of new products, and the adoption 
of some practical means ot induatri d training. 
The question of Ii.dustrial Training for tho young 
people of the Cohmy is of primary importance; while 
I yield to no man in my appivc atio.i of lli-r benefits 
of Education, I am by no means satisfied that a 
literary education to the exclusion of Industrial Tr.dn- 
ing is an unniixed blessing to the inhabitants of 
this Island. I bavo granted a License to tho Girls’ 
Industrial Sohnol at Alpha Oottago. The liuiuslrial 
School at llopo lias been built, and is now occu- 
pied by twenty boys. The work of build.iig the Indus- 
trial Girls to'iJOl ill conucctiou wi ll the Govcnmioi t 
Training Uoilege for Female Ttacliors at bhoitwood 
Iw be undertaken without delay, ani I hope that 
during the present year that School will also be in 
operation. I am sensible how little can be accom- 
pli.shtfd by the.se three Schools to supply the want of 
tt'Cbiiic.ii training, and I am conscious that tho Iii- 
dustiial School system, as at present established, will 
not re icli the children of re.speckable culcivatora who 
form the class to whom technical education is of 
especial importance, I shall ask you to place at my 
disposal a sum sufficient to eiiicle me to try trie ex- 
periment of sending competent instructors to certain 
distiict.s, whose teaching may so improve the cultivation 
and preparation of certain of our products as to largely 
increase the value of our Exports. 
A CHEAP SUBSTITUTE FOR TODDY. 
The gentle native who, according to Mr. Caine, 
has been taught by the Englishman to love strong 
drink, has also apparently taken lessons in the art of 
dodging the attempts made to check his propensity in 
this direction. Mr. Subba Row Punt recently brought 
to the notice of tho Abkari Oommissioner the manu- 
factuio and sale by some people in Tondiarpettah 
of an iutoxicatisg spirit which was being largely 
used by the lower classes, especially the boatmen. 
The Abkari Sub-Inspector of tho locality was asked 
to obtain samples and all piriioulars regarding the 
preparation. From Mr. Lowe’s report it appears that 
tue intoxicant is called sonti soru and that it i.s 
prepared and sold clandestinely in the locality and 
has greatly displaced toddy, os its intoxicating pro- 
perties aro much greater than those of tho former 
while it is much cheaper, half an anna worth of 
soiiti soru being eepial to three annas worth of 
toddy, it is prepared iiom rice, which is boiled and 
spread on a mar., and, when cooled, a substance call- 
(d shoudu is powdered and sprinkled on it; both 
are then gently and well mixed together with the 
bare hands, over which glngelly oil is well smeared, 
Ihe mixed mass is thou pub into pots, the mouths 
of which aro tied over with cloth. The pots are 
then allowed to stand for three days. On the fourth 
morning water is boiled and allowed to cool, and a 
quantity is poured into each pot. The mourhs of the 
pots are again tied up with a cloth and kept till the 
evening, when the liquor is fit for consumption and 
sale. Shoudu is believed to be a gam which exude.s 
from soma plants which grow in Moulmein, from 
which place it is obtained. Tbe liquor cannot bo 
kept long, as it undergoes very rapid fermentation 
and decompositioo. The Chemical Examiner on an- 
alysing the liquor found it to be a fermenting rice 
liquor containing alcohol, and a mixed sample con- 
tained 5 39 per cent, of absolu'e alcohol by v'olume. 
I’he preparation is, therefore, an intoxicating liquor 
of nearly the same strength as ordinary beer. Sieps 
are being taken to bring this liquor under the Abkari 
laws . — Madras Times, 
a. 
Japanese Enxeeprise. — The idea of “going dow^ 
to the sea in shipi’’ is evidently beginning to exor- 
cise upon the minds of the Japanese a chtr-u such 
as it exercised in the days when their corsairs 
swept the neighbouring waters, and hairiid the 
unhappy shore-dweilers of China. The latest phase 
of the impulse ii closely associated with the names 
of Viscount Yenomoto and Mr. Arai Ikunosuke. A 
large association has b.eii formed, huviug for its 
object the exploration of the seas south of the 
Bonin lalands, with the hope of finding some fer- 
tile spot invitatiug coloniz.itioii, or some new market 
for Japanese goods. We do not possess sufficiently 
aoourate information about the plans of the com- 
pany — it, indeed, a company has been formed— to 
speak in detail of its procoidings, but rumour says 
that a large numbm- of naval offieers on tho retired 
list, or who have resigned their posts, are associated 
with the scheme, ana that a sailing ship will soon 
ho equipped and despatched to tlio distriots south 
ard of Ogasawarajima .— Weekly Mail. 
