Agricultural and Commercial Society. 11 
will let one section of the Empire be held down and 
throttled as it were, simply because they dare not put on 
countervailing duties, which, perhaps, would aft'ect the 
price of sugar to the British taxpayer to the extent of 
half a cent per pound. If that duty could be applied 
as a lever, there would be no doubt of the success of 
the Conference. 
Proceeding, the speaker referred to the work of the 
Society during the past year in connection with Fruit 
shipments, the Fisheries Commission and Cane-farming. 
The experimental fruit shipments had, unfortunately, 
been most discouraging. They were hoping that the 
Fisheries Commission would lead to some better result. 
There w^as no doubt that inquiry was necessary in order 
to prevent the great waste of food supply in the shape of 
edible fish, which went on in the waters of British Guiana. 
Cane -farming, which had occupied the attention of 
the Agricultural Counnittee, w^ould possibly undergo 
some development this year, but they need not be dis- 
couraged if it did not immediately do so, in view of the 
present low prices of sugar, as farmers would hesitate 
to farm canes with such poor prospects before them. 
They had read a great deal lately in the newspapers 
as to the development of the hinterland. It seemed 
to him that tliere was nothing to be hoped for from 
the hinterland from an agricultural standpoint, but 
only from a mineral point of view, in the direction of 
gold and diamonds. If it was successful in that respec^ 
there would be hope for the colony. 
The Muse'um and Reading Room were very success- 
ful adjuncts of the Society, but the meetiugs were 
B 2 
