Nov.  I,  1895.]  THE  TROPICAL 
transmitted  into  not  cash.  Because  wheat  conld  be 
grown  without  cultivation  on  the  broken  sod,  and 
because  it  was  always  a cash  crop,  little  else  was 
grown  ; and  because  there  was  so  much  of  it,  and 
so  few  farm  animals,  the  straw,  which  is  worth  as 
much  in  England  as  the  whole  crop  is  here,  was 
burned  to  get  rid  of  it ; and  because  of  this 
repeating  of  a crop  without  cultivation,  weeds  much 
more  than  loss  of  fertility  reduced  the  rate  of  yield  ; 
until  at  last,  because  of  extension  of  wheat  area 
bevond  the  needs  of  consumption,  price  was  reduced 
and  profits  destroyed.  Thus  nature,  which  can  not 
be  trifled  with  safely,  has  been  avenged,  and  the 
wheat  erower  is  muddled  in  trying  to  lay  the  blame 
upon  the  currency  the  tariff,  or  anything  rather 
than  his  own  uneconomical  and  wasteful  practice. 
The  same  abandon  attended  early  efforts  in  animal 
industry.  Unimproved  breeds  were  kept  four  years 
or  more,  on  lush  grass  in  summer,  in  the  lea  of  a 
haystack  in  winter,  fattening  at  one  season  and 
existing  at  another,  favouring  the  production  of  fat 
and  lean,  in  layers,  to  be  sold  at  low  prices  to 
unsatisfied  consumers.  The  first  butter  dairies— for 
instance,  Pratt’s  in  New  York— required  forty  pounds 
of  milk  to  make  one  pound  of  butter.  He,  by 
selection  and  care,  reduced  the  requirement  almost 
one  half,  and  now  some  .Jerseys  produce  a pound  of 
butter  for  thirteen  pounds  of  milk.  The  “hogging 
down  ” of  corn  in  feeding  cattle  and  hogs  was 
another  wasteful  procedure  in  primitive  farming, 
It  was  the  same  with  cotton.  The  seed  was  wasted, 
or  only  used  for  manure.  Sometimes  stock  was 
killed  by  being  gorged  over  a pile  of  seel,  but 
systematic  feeding  was  unknown.  Now  forty  million 
of  dollars,  more  or  less,  represent  the  oil  of  the 
seed,  which  was  wasted  if  applied  to  the  soil,  and 
almost  as  much  more  should  be  got  from  feeding 
the  cake,  with  incidental  foods  to  constitute  a 
suitable  ration,  and  costing  almost  nothing.  In  this 
way  al  the  valuable  elements  of  the  seed  are  returned 
to  t e soil,  with  additional  manurial  value  of  other 
feedint^  material.  Pork,  if  not  beef,  can  be  produced 
in  the  mild  clima’e  of  the  south  with  cotton  seed 
cake,  cow  peas,  and  other  fall  and  winter  growing 
fora^’^e  plants,  even  cheaper  than  the  central  west, 
III”  wooded  sections  the  first  and  largest  opportu- 
nity for  waste  was  found  in  the  wanton  destruction 
of  wood  and  timber,  and  it  was  improved  until 
large  areas  have  become  de.'Crts.  In  every  rural 
industry,  exploration  has  been  depletion  and  des- 
truction. When  flax  became  an  auxiliary  or  successor 
to  wheat,  a million  of  acres  went  into  cultivation 
for  seed,  and  the  straw  was  thrown  away,  though 
coarse  fibre  worth  a hundred  dollars  per  ton  has  been 
made  of  the  straw  as  it  lies  from  the  mower ; while, 
by  a slight  change  of  method  of  culture  and  treat- 
ment, as  is  done  in  Europe,  far  more  valuable  fibre 
can  be  produced.  Flax-growers  will  say  it  cannot 
be  done  because  they  do  not  know  how  and  will 
not  learn,  but  it  has  been  done  and  is  done  suc- 
cessfully and  uniformlyin  other  flax-growing  countries. 
Pednction  in  prices  and  competition  in  production 
are  lowering  the  margin  of  profit  more  or  less, 
though  not  equally  or  by  regular  gradation  year  by 
yea'  The  most  careless  are  pinched  fearfully,  tlie 
more  systematic  only  feel  the  tightening  pressure  of 
reduction,  while  the  most  skillful  and  scientific  still 
find  a reasonable  profit  in  agriculture.  It  is  well 
that  these  wastes  in  their  primitive  recklessness  are 
HO  longer  possibl©.  The  lichest  soil  in  the  world 
never  made  an  incieasing  yield,  or  retained  a per- 
manent fertility  until  higher  values  of  land  and 
greater  cost  of  production  compelled  economy  and 
improved  methods.  England  once  made  smaller 
vields  than  the  United  States  upon  soils  naturally 
less  fertile.  Now  its  average  grain  yield  is  more 
than  double  that  of  this  country. 
Thus  there  are  compensations  in  reduced  profit 
in  agriculture.  It  is  a spur  to  improvement,  to  the 
ediicntion  of  the  farmer,  more  potent  than  any  he 
has  yet  felt,  and  it  is  all  the  more  valuable  because 
its  ;rewards  go  to  the  energetic  and  mentally  alert, 
while  [the  laggards  fall  behind  in  the  race,  and  the 
slothful  vegetate.— (J.  R.  Dodge,  in  rrairie  Farmer) 
AGRICULTURIST.  299 
THE  COFFEE,  CACAO,  KOLA,  &C- 
INDUSTRY  IN  JAMAICA. 
A PItACTICAL  PROPOSAL. 
The  Secretary  read  the  report  of  the  Committee 
appointed  by  the  Board  on  Coffee,  Kola,  Chocolate 
and  Pimento,  which  was  as  follows : — “ The  Com- 
mittee reports  that  it  has  met  and  considered  the 
matter  referred  to  it  and  now  submits  the  following 
ad  interim  report : — 
Our  remarks  on  coffee  do  not  apply  to  the  district 
of  Port  Iloyal  Mountains,  where  the  cultivation  and 
curing  of  coffee  is  well  iinderstood  and  also  the 
advantage  of  selling  coffee  in  the  cherry. 
1.  The  general  mode  of  “planting”  coffee  by  the 
easantry  is  as  follows : — The  land  is  cleared  and 
urnt  off ; plants  or  “ suckers  ” of  from  three  to 
four  feet  high  (which  have  been  roughly  uprooted) 
often  having  berries  on  them  sometimes  with  dis- 
eased roots,  are  procured  and  frequently  left  to 
quail  for  a day  or  two  b^ore  being  replanted.  As 
soon  as  the  rams  set  in  these  suckers  are  planted 
among  “ ground  provisions  ” without  regard  to  re- 
gularity or  distance  from  each  other.  After  the 
“ provisions  ” have  been  reaped  the  young  coffee  is 
often  neglected  and  consequently  when  the  trees 
arrive  at  maturity  the  yield  is  poor.  In  most  cases 
too  many  large  fruit  trees  are  allowed  to  grow  and 
overshadow  the  plants,  thus  depriving  them  of  suffi- 
cient light  and  air again  there  is  little  or  no  at- 
tention paid  to  the  invaluable  practice  of  pruning, 
forking,  &c„  which  is  not  yet  understood  by  the 
peasantry. 
Some  years  ago  when  the  market  price  of  coffee 
fell  very  low;  in  a great  many  instances  the  peasantry 
actually  abandoned  their  cultivations. 
2.  Tne  reasons  generally  given  why  so  much  ap- 
parently available  land  in  close  proximity  to  the 
dwellings  of  the  peasantry  is  allowed  to  remain 
uncultivated,  are,  first,  because  the  land  has  become 
impoverished  by  previous  crops  and  is  being  left  to 
nature  to  be  resuscitated.  Second,  because  they 
prefer  to  hold  their  own  land  in  reserve  against 
the  time  when  they  may  not  be  able  to  rent  land, 
and  often  the  soil  is  unsuitable  for  coffee,  such  as 
clay. 
3.  The  yield  of  coffee  may  be  increased  by  better 
cultivation,  proper  pruning,  and  the  use  of  manures. 
Cultivation  and  pruning  are  well  understood  by 
experts,  but  our  people  need  to  be  instructed  with 
regard  to  them,  this  we  think  may  gradually,  be 
done  by  leaflets,  lectures  and  demonstrations. 
4.  To  practically  demonstrate  to  our  people  the 
value  of  improved  methods  of  cultivation  such  as 
planting,  di-aining,  forking,  manuring,  pruning,  &c., 
it  is  advisable  that  the  President’s  suggestion  be 
carried  out  and  “ model  grounds  ” be  established  in 
certain  districts  at  the  expense  of  the  society,  and 
we  recommend  that  Mr.  H.  Cork’s  offer  in  Upper 
Clarendon  for  experimental  purposes  be  accepted 
and  that  the  Secretary  in  the  first  place  be  requested 
to  visit  the  spot  and  arrange  matters. 
.5.  The  inferior  quality  of  coffee  produced  by  the 
small  settlers  is  due  chiefly  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  article  is  prepared  for  the  market.  The  primitive 
style  (in  most  cases)  of  curing  the  coffee  on  the  bare 
earth  and  in  wet  seasons  actually  resorting  to  the 
use  of  iron  pots  as  a dryer,  must  affect  the  quality. 
Added  to  this  the  evil  resulting  from  the  reckless 
manner  in  which  this  article  is  purchased  by  the 
runner  or  buyer,  without  regard  to  quality  certainly 
does  not  tend  to  improve  matters.  In  our  opinion 
therefore  the  best  remedy  on  the  state  of  affairs 
is  the  establishment  of  Central  Factories  for  the 
purchase  of  coffee  in  the  cherry  and  the  proper 
curing  by  a good  set  of  works.  The  advantages  to 
be  g lined  by  these  central  factories  should  be  brought 
to  the  notice  of  our  people  by  leaflets  and  lectures. 
6.  We  have  carefully  ^considered  the  subject 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Board  of  Management 
by  the  Colonial  Secretary  from  a letter  from  the 
Collector  of  Taxes,  for  Manchester,  calling  attention 
to  the  poverty  of  the  peasantry  owing  to  the  im- 
poverishment of  laad  in  that  parish,  and  as  far  as 
