Colonial Exhibition, 1886. 13 
Mr. Bannister's report on WINES, SPIRITS, BEER 
and other fermented liquors, is comparatively lengthy — 
much space being devoted to colonial wines which 
attracted a good deal of notice during the Exhibition. 
Of these, as of beer, we in British Guiana are consumers, 
not producers ; but we learn that in New South Wales 
an acre of vines, the cost of cultivation of which varies 
from £6 to £10, produces from 250 to 600 gallons, the 
lowest price being 4/ a gallon for new wine, which ap- 
parently gives a large profit. It is to be regretted that 
there are difficulties in the way of making wine in the 
tropics where grapes grow so readily. An experiment 
made many years ago in St. Vincent, w T here German 
immigrants were obtained for the purpose, utterly failed. 
Of the spirits exhibited, those derived from the sugar 
cane, were the most numerous. The West Indies and 
Guiana are reported to have had very varied and excel- 
lent collections of rum and other spirits used as beverages 
or medicines. Mr. BANNISTER remarks that why Jamaica 
rum should differ in quality and chara6ler from that 
made from the same material in adjoining islands, is a 
problem not yet solved. One reason mentioned in the 
report is that the Jamaica distiller, by using in fermenting 
and distilling operations, a portion of the lees obtained 
from previous operations, secures for his rum a special 
character which develops by keeping. Distillers are 
accused of extravagance, resulting in a loss of 40 per 
cent, of the sugar used, in permitting the diluted 
molasses &c, to ferment spontaneously instead of 
assisting the operation by means of yeast. 
No comparison of the products of the several 
colonies contributing, appears to have been made, 
