Nov. r, 1897.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
307 
by the Government of Dominica to inquire into the 
capabilities of the latter island. Mr. Naftel is emi- 
nently qualified to perform such a task, having had 
more than 20 years’ experience of tropical agricul- 
ture in Ceylon, and his report is a most valuable 
and interesting document which, although it applies 
particularly to Dominica, may be found to furnish 
some useful general hiuts to planters in other parts 
of the West Indies. Mr. Naftel holds up the Ceylon 
system of cultivation as an example to Dominica, 
and, in writing this report, he has had before him 
the hope that means may be found to enlist the 
services of Ceylon men for Dominica. The question 
has been asked why the Dominicans do not take 
advantage of the natural resources of their island. 
The principal answer is that they have no capital, 
and though the planters are experimenting in new 
products to take the place of their old staple, sugar, 
they cannot do much without money. What are re- 
quired to bring out the resources of Dominica are 
capital, cheap money, and experience obtained in 
more prosperous fields of enterprise. Thei-e is no 
doubt that Dominica offers a profitable field for an 
agricultural company, and in addition to their being 
a good opening for such a company there is one for 
men with the necessary knowledge and capital. Plan- 
ters trained in Ceylon have gone to the Straits Settle- 
ments, Borneo, and East Africa, }o take up lands 
for Liberian or Arabian coffee. If others are medi- 
tating such a step Mr. Naftel advises them to look 
at Dominica first. There is no need to go so far 
afield and to bad climates, when, within a fortnight 
of England, there is this fertile island, possessing a 
climate difficult to equal, and certainly not to be 
surpassed by any place within the tropica. Mr. 
Naftel has seen enough of the island, and so com- 
pared its advantages with all that is considered 
essential for agricultural purposes in Ceylon, to 
induce him to confidently advise anyone with capital 
(which he can afford to invest without requiring an 
immediate return) and with knowledge of planting, 
or with confidence in some person whose services 
he can secure to plant for him, to invest in Dominica. 
It is to be hoped, therefore, that this report may 
bear fruit in the shape of attracting capital and 
fresh settlers to the island, the inhabitants of which, 
however, can greatly help to improve its condition 
by recognising and acting upon the recognition of 
the fact that what is worth doing at all is worth doing 
well, and that method counts for much, both in the 
eyes of c apitalists and in the successful carrying out 
of even the smallest enterprise. 
Not only coll'ee, hut cacao and nutmegs are re- 
ported to do well in the West Indian island 
administered hy the ex-Government Agent of the 
Central Province. 
TEA PLANTING IN FIJI. 
We find the following advertisement in the 
Fiji Times of 7 tli August : — 
For Sale. — ^The Wainunu Tea Estate, consisting of 
700 acres. 200 acres under tea, fully bearing, will 
produce 80,000 lb. of tea incoming season. The latest 
appliances for manufacturing and water power for 
driving. Estate thoroughly clean and all buildings 
in first-class order. Inspection invited. — Apply to, 
Robbie and Evans, Levuka. 
And an editorial note referring to it is as 
follow's 
The Wainunu tea estate, it will be noticed in this 
issue, is advertised for sale. The property consists 
of 700 acres, 200 acres of which are under tea and 
in full bearing, while it is estimated that the mill 
will produce 80,000 lb. of tea during the incoming 
season. The mill has all the latest and most im- 
proved appliances for manufacturing, being driven 
by water power. All the buildings are in first class 
order and the estate is thoroughly clean. The Wai- 
nunu tea is well known all over Fiji and finds a 
ready sale in the group, and as the demand here is 
nearly equal to the supply but very little has been 
exported, although what has been sent away has 
been reported on very favourably. Such an estate 
in Ceylon would be valued at from £80 to £100 per 
acre, for all the area under tea, so the planters in 
that island have evidently a high appreciation of 
tea property. The estate should prove a very pro- 
fitable investment with any one with the necessary 
capital to carry on operations, not that the amount 
required would to our mind need to be very large. 
We understand thi.s Wainunu tea estate is the only 
one now in Fiji. If it were situated in Ceylon .such 
a place would readily find a purchaser, but the 
scarcity and dearne.ss of labour in Fiji will militate 
against it being sold for anything approaching 
a decent figure. Local sales of tea are the only 
thing to keep an estate going in Fiji, until labour 
conditions alter greatly for the better. 
— 
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. 
From the report of Sir H. Jerniegham on the 
condition of 'Trinidad for the past year, it seems 
that the revenue was £618,332 — the largest figure 
reached for years past — and the expenditure £594,462, 
The public debt is £556,288, wholly incurred for 
railways and roads. The population is estimated at 
248,404, of which East Indians number 81,404. The 
imports amounted to £2,463,525 and the exports to 
£2,165,820, of which about half in each case belongs 
to British countries. Sugar and its products, cocoa, 
asphalte, and bitters are the chief exports. The 
area of the colony is estimated at 1,120,000 acres, of 
which more than half remains to the Crown. The area 
under sugar cane is 58,500 acres, and cocoa 97,000 
acres. 
The Tobago report is also satisfactory the re- 
venue exceeding the expenditure. The labourers, 
who are mostly peasant proprietors, are in compara- 
tive comfort. The larger landowners and merchants 
may feel the pinch of the times, but the labourer, 
with his small holding and his few head of stock, 
supplemented by occasional work on estates or public 
roads, finds his existence an easy one. — London Times, 
Sept. 3. 

THE RESOURCES OF ABYSSINIA. 
Ethiopia is a mountainous and very fertile 
country, the latter cliaracteristic being especially 
true of the plateau.s of moderate altitude (2,000 to 
3,000 feet). According to tlie Bulletin de la Ssciete 
de Geoaraphie Coninicrckde, the products are bar- 
ley, wheat, millet, maize, .sorghum, flax, various 
oils, medicinal plants, potatoes, coffee, tobacco, 
sugar-cane, &c. There are vast forests ; the sy- 
camore, the mimosa, the tamarind, a variety of 
wild olive (reaching thirty feet in height), the 
lemon, the orange, and the coffee tree are among 
the principal species. The domestic animals are 
horses, donkeys, cattle, sheen and goats. Birds 
and bees abound. The latter contribute largely 
in certain districts to the w’ealth of the country, 
their honey being used in the jireparation of 
hydromel, the favourite native drink, and the wax 
serving for candles. The mountains contain gold, 
copper, iron, and rock salt. Potter’s clay is 
common, and in many places very pure. The 
principal articles of export are coffee, gold, ivory, 
skins, gums, wax and medicinal plants. The im- 
ports consists of cottons, silks, cloths, carpets, 
fii’earms, cutlery, hardware, |5rovisions, and tools. 
The French colony at Obock has opened a route 
for commerce to Harrar aud various ju'ovinces 
of the Emi>ire. A [rostal service lias been est.ab- 
lished between Djibouti, Ilarrai', Addis Abalia, 
&c , and there is telegiaphic communication 
between the two latter places. In the interior, 
