692 
THE TROPICA.L AGRICULTURIST. 
[April i, 1898. 
Royal Gardess, “ Kew Bulletin ” of Mis- 
cellaneous Information for Noveml)er 1897, has 
just reached us. Its contents We.st India 
Royal Commisson ; Micellaneous Notes ; Mr. J. H. 
Holland ; Mr W. Scott ; M Ipighi Celebration ; 
Botanical Magazine; Hop Hornbeam; Tropical 
Fern House ; Nepenthes House ; Durian in the 
West Indies ; Lily Culture in Natal.” The first 
article contains a great deal of very intere.st- 
ing information referring to the West India 
Islands visited and reported on. That of DOMI- 
NICA, administered by Mr. Philip Tenipler, is 
perhaps the most interesting to us. About it 
we read as follows : - 
It is with the development of the other industries 
that the Colony will be mainly concerned in future. 
In this direction there is no; only very good ground 
for hope, but considerable progress has already been 
made. The value of the exports of cocoa have risen 
from £6,^'!S in 1882, to £13,453 in 1896 ; of lime.s 
and lime juice from £5.102 to £14,851 ; of essential 
oils from £295 to £5,012; of fimit and vegetables 
from £607 to £1,348 ; and of c Ifeo from £321 to 
£967 in tiu same period. 
But this is not enough. If Dominica is to be 
self-supporting, if an efficient Government is to be 
provided for out of its revenue, and the people 
are to he prosperous, or even comfortable, these 
industries must extend still further ; and there 
is happily, no reason why this should not be the case. 
The great extent of the cultivable area of Crown 
lands has already been noticed. These lands are un- 
developed ; they are mostly covered with timber, much 
of which is said to be valuable. Care no doubt, 
ouglit to be taken not to create increased risks of land- 
slips or floods by allowing too much of tbe highest 
lands to be deforested, for the rainfall in Dominica 
is heavy ; but even allowing for the utmo-t caution 
in this respect, there is a great extent of land, 
especially in Layou and Sara flats, which may be 
cleared and cultivated. The soils of much of this 
is believed to be very rich and fertile, and the 
appearance of such patches as have been cultivated 
confirms the probability of its being so. 
Some of this land ought to be disposed of 
under proper regulations to peasant cultivators, 
and some of it may prove attractive to investors 
of capital or persons who are in a position to 
occupy and cultivate estates of their own. The 
Government of the Colony will have to be 
guided by circumstances in the disposal of it; it 
is not possible, under present conditions to say 
what opportunities will arise which may lead to its 
being occupied and cultivated. At the time of our 
visit all sale of Crown lands had been temporarily 
suspended owing to negotiations which were then 
pending for a large concession to a Company. We 
believe these negotiations have fallen through, but 
in any case the sale of Crown lands to cultivators 
in the suitable localities ought' to be resumed. 
3^ * « * 
There is enough labour in Dominica for its pre- 
sent industries, but it is to be hoped that these 
industries, will increase, and, if so, their needs 
will soon outgrow the capacity of the present labour 
supply. By the time, however, that this takes place 
there will, we fear, be only too many persons in 
other islands in want of employment, and it should 
be easy to import many labourers from them. 
3i( >K » * 
The present condition of Dominica is certainly one 
of depression, and it will need assistance from the 
Imperial Governm nt. Thi.s may be given as 
part of a general scheme for subsidised steam com- 
munication between the islands, and of a special 
scheme for opening direct commuiiicatiou between 
St. Vincent, Dorninoa, and New Yoik. 
Dominica will also share in any assistance which may 
be given to the system of botanic institutions in the 
West Indies. In addition to this the island should 
have some assistance from Imperial funds for making 
roads, which are essential to its progress. Such help 
need not be very costly, and need not be grudged, 
since Dominica may, if such assistance is given, 
be expected to attain a state of comfort, or even 
prosperity, and its capabilities and prospects are 
decidedly better than those of any other of the 
Leeward islands. 
Here again is a most iini'iortant chapter, full 
of warning to Ceylon as well as to any part of 
the West Indies : — 
DANGER or DEPENDING ON A SINGLE INDUSTRY. 
The recommendations involving expenditure by the 
mother country, which we have considered it our duty 
to make, are based primarily on the present and 
prospective depression of the sugar industry in the 
West Indies, but they are of such a nature that they 
should, in our opinion, be carried out even if the 
sugar industry were restored, temporarily, to a con- 
dition of prosperity. 
It is never satisfactory for any country to be entirely 
dependent upon one industry. Such a position is, 
from the very iiiture of the case, more or less pre- 
caiious, and must in the case of the West Indies 
result in a prepondering influence in one direction 
tending to restrict development in other ways. 
The representativ,^s of the sugar industry in the 
West Indies have had special means of influencing the 
Governments of the different i>loniea, and of putting 
pr, ssure on the home Governmc it to secure attention 
to their views and wishes. Their interests have been 
to a very great extent limited to the sugar iudustry, 
and they have seldom turned their attention to any 
other cultivation except when the sngar industry 
ceased to be profitable. The settlement of the labonr- 
ing population on the land, and the encouragement 
of the products and f'lrms of cultivation suitable for 
a class of peasant proprietors formed no part of their 
policy ; such measures were generally believed to be 
opposed to their interests, which they regarded, no 
doubt, as identical with the beat interests of the 
community, and in, at least, some of the Colonies met 
with opposition at their hands. If a different policy 
had found favour, the condition of the West Indies 
might have been much leas serious than it is at present 
in view of the probable failure of the sugar industry. 
The general statement regarding t le danger of 
depending on a single industry applies with very 
special force to the dependence of the West Indian 
Colonies upon the sugar industry, for the cultivatiou 
of sugar collects together a larger number of people 
upon the land than can be employed or supported iu 
the same area by any other form of cultivation. In 
addition to this it also unfits the people, or at any 
rate gives them no training, for the management or 
cultivation of tbe soil for any other purpose than that 
of growing sugar cane. The failure, therefore, of a 
sugar estate not only leaves destituie a larger number 
of labourers than can be supported upon the land in 
other ways, but leaves them also without either the 
knowledge, skill, or habits requisite for making a good 
use of the laud. In those Colonies where the sugar 
industry cannot be carried on without imported coolie 
labour the position of dependence upon this one 
industry is still more dangerous. In these cases not 
only is there a yearly charge upon the poblic revenue 
to meet the cost of immigration, but a liability for 
back passages is incurred, which a failure of the 
industry would leave the Colony without funds to meet. 
Whilst, therefore, the vital importance of the sugar 
industry to the present prosperity of nearly all the 
Colonies is beyond dispute, we wish to observe that 
so long as they remain dependent upon sugar their 
position can never be sound or secure. It has become 
a commonplace of criticism to remark npon the 
perpetual recurrence of crisis in the West Indian 
Colonies, and we submit that the repeated occurrence 
of such crisis, as well as the fact that the present 
crisis is more ominous tnan ny f the previous ones, 
illustrates ihe danger to which we have referred, and 
adds much force to onr recommendations for the 
adoption of special measures to facilitate the intro- 
duction of other industries. 
