40 TiMEHRI. 
and whose views on questions of soils are entitled to as 
much respe6l as that of Dr. Morris. The unanimous 
opinion of those who have spied out the interior of the 
Colony is, that although valleys and se6lions of land here 
and there are without doubt fertile, the major portion, 
more than 75 per cent of the soil, is not suited foreconomic 
agricultural purposes. The low lying lands of the Colony 
along the seashore and river banks, present difBculties in 
the way of drainage that entail considerable expendi- 
ture, and these soils are better suited for sugar cane and 
rice than other crops, but their fertility is exceptional, 
and in consequence they are likely to retain for all time 
the premier position as agricultural land. These low 
lying lands are often referred to as unhealthy, but where 
drainage and sanitary conditions are attended to, I ques- 
tion if, blessed as they are with an almost constant breeze 
from off the sea, they do not offer quite as healthy a 
residence as the upland forests and savannahs. 
There is every reason to hope that we are on the eve 
of seeing justice done to the British Colonial sugar 
industry, and I look forward to a time of prosperity for 
our sugar estates, and as a natural consequence, for the 
Colony generally. Whatever progress we may be able 
to make in future years in establishing other industries, 
our very existence as a civilised Colony depends at pre- 
sent on the maintenance of the sugar industry. The 
ruin of the coffee industry in Ceylon, and the prosperity 
since attained by establishing tea in its place, has often 
been cited as an example that might be followed in this 
Colony. But a calm consideration of the fa6ls will show 
that the conditions are entirely different. It was pos- 
sible for the Ceylon Planters to substitute tea, without 
