ao ‘ , A ; , F . he ‘ ‘ + ’ ‘ ' . : ca ‘ we i ‘ : x ‘ io \ J ‘ : ' ‘ = ; a6 ‘ an ‘ — ‘ ’ vs ve ' ' So oes ‘ i re ‘ ’ oo ’ ‘ ‘ . ‘ ' ’ i ' “4 ' ' ' . ‘ ' ' . “ ¥ ’ ' - wv a . any “4 . . ' a) ' se . f - ‘ = +2 . 3 - : - vive : : ees hb? 7 , mH ‘ 5 ‘ ‘ ' Py : : id + #y ios iS 7 2 - ne ‘ ' . ; - > ‘ ' 4 ; . = - 1 ' * . , ee " : 4 i os ‘ ' ar ‘ rT Cal 1 +a i ai. - - : ‘ dons yi. : ‘ , oe ins : ' ‘ ‘ : ‘ . , ikove ‘ 4 . ‘ ie ' ‘ « ’ | . i A . . : : J ‘ ‘ ; Py : ‘ i boos ’ i ' . m1 . , ‘ 7 : ' ’ f ' ‘ ' ' , sia hg prone ‘ ' . ! . ‘ | : : F ‘4 - Diego a , ’ ‘ ‘ a ‘ ' a) . § —_ ae » ee al i} 7 d G mae , ; al x sa * Te 5 5 io = / a oe ras... ‘ o Ty Bs oD nt) 7 iy fF Pf ‘ 4 . eo Ps i 16, a eo a Vin iit SW) oy 2h ki) ae at ie Fy VM, ’ ware ream’ 4 me | . ‘ ae ‘ Shy op ud) "* a | : i ' U i 4 5 ‘ t . ? ' , . ) 4 4 i . - ‘ , \. ; ' , be a A } wy ee ia ; r ’ 4 pipe av ’ ' ; ) LP) wan ‘ , i tA ‘A , ‘ (i. aM i Kj f° ' bee! Te 2 p_® ? 4 ] uy ) ae \ hbe | e- 1 . @ D i) F ae ; : ee ; jy ant é : . ’ tind T ily Hi vi ; Rue " mae ; . ie at : ; ake WY) i \e- j y : Ply! Ane ey ; a i Me i i Hi if Mat ont Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Toronto i http://www.archive.org/details/nstimehri11 roya. TIMEHRI: —~ THE JOURNAL OF fhe Rov Aoviutura & fommercal Society OF BRITISH GUIANA. Edited by ... bas ..« JAMES Ropway, F.LS. VOL. XI. (New Series) 1897. Demerara: J. THOMSON, 1897. London Agent : E. STANFORD, 26 & 27 Cockspur Street, London. PRINTED AT THE “ARGOSY” PRESS, DEMERARA, Contents of Volume Xl.—(New Series.) Taits 750 tae am PAPERS. PAGE. Nesting of some Guiana Birds, C. A. Lioyp ... I Early English Colonies in Trinidad ‘Concluded), Hon. N. Darnett Davis, C.M.G. bu ed Il Agriculture in 1829, WitLt1am HiLHousEz as ws020, 249° AX First impressions of the Colony, W. ARTHUR SAWTELL 55 ¥ Tobacco and Cotton Cultivation in the British West India Colonies, Witt1am H. Burntey ... tae 64 Ruin, James Ropway, F.L.S,_... qe ie By 73a The Results of Recent Scientific Researches into the Agricultural Improvement of the Sugar Cane, J. B Harrison, M.A., &c. te e 84 The Life History of an East Indian in British Gaiden Rev. J. G. PzEARSon ree a as wcn’ ER ORRS Note on the Arrangement of Sugar Cae peters J. B. Harrison, M.A., &c. nas 4 aaah by Some Neotropical Birds, C. A. Lioyp ... ae 219 Abortive Colonial Publications, Jamzs Ropway, LS. 299 Our Peasant Population—Their Past Condition and Future Prospects, SEarorTH M. BELLaiIrs som =yaee ve The Boa-Constrictors, J. J. QuetcH, B.Sc... see Oe Among my Books, J. G. Sy eagle oes sxavith QRS OccasionaL Note,— Berbice Bats, Dr. C. G. Youne ... ae etl ae Reports oF MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY.— Addresses of President ... ais ae 154, 392 Agricultural Committee, Reports 161, 168,171, 183, 192 Books of Reference A ve ss ase: Lea Bye-Laws Amendments ... an we 177, 284, 196 Cane Cultivation ... ree Se a A ee F- Canes, Indian _,., a oc ay tie k 59S Cattle Disease... i as ... 166, 169, 181 Be Fh) se tages 1s ae 189, 209, 331, 336, 388 vi. Committee of Correspondence, Reports 166, 176, 196 328, 349 Diamond Jubilee .. Ye Re iat LOT, 287 Direétors’ Re caris sy By IgI, 382 Donations, 167, 170, 183, 191, 212, 215, 326, 334, 348, 381, 401 Ele&ions of Members, 155, 168, 170, 183, 191, 213, 33> 327) 335, 349, 382 Eleétions of Office-Bearers ne eS 160, 397 Babies: hu: oe 167, 213 Furniture Nocte 159, “a 182, 188, 197, 215, 323, 327, 330, 346 “ Faulty’ Rum ... ve i ae I7I, 329 Government Communications, fon 178, 181, 331, 386 Horticultural Show hoe Si vt 177, 196 Inlaid Tables... sia 166, 347 Jute me 167, a 180, dee 209, 339, 335, 338 Kirke (H.), Letter from BY Se Lawes (Sir J. B.), Letter from ... ooh es ea Manurial Experiments ... ae gs 162, 332 Maccitiivray (D.), Letter from.., a 331, 336 Members in arrear m. seat, SEQ Motions, 177, 186, 197, 214, 324, oe 328, 338, 380, 400 Oats aa Pt eee ee te, 2/0, BOS Office-Bearers ae 1898 seh ant Pe tae! BOB Papers aR wat ays soe (STR CR Oe, 998 Philadelphia Mfusctins pis bs ... 169, 176, 187 Rice ey se abe ae ws 192, 215, 386 Sugan im lidiay +790, eos mare wre 179, 184 Sutton (Ep.), Letter from sas pe oop Bad Timbers, see also Furniture Woods _... Seki RD “ Timehri ” Me «0177; 184,°323, 320, 300) a06 Tobacco ... ss os) 182,218, 9a ane Treasurer’s F fadeictal Pye. vee 161, 164, 168 Waters, Analyses of 3 es a gf aS aA { . ~ ee vr iat Nesting of some Guiana Birds. ae By C. A, Lloyd. HE following short notes on the nesting of some of our birds are based for the most part on g personal observations and partly on infor- mation obtained from Mr, THEODORE BARSHALL, a keen observer of Nature who has resided for over twenty years among the Indian tribes in the interior, Unfortunately, in many instances noted, I have been unable to examine the nests at close quarters so that I cannot always record the number of eggs in a clutch, nor their colour, : Several of our birds resort to the nests of wood ants (termites), in which to deposit their eggs, among them being Zztyra Cayana, one or two of the Trogons, anda small parrot, (Brotogerys sp.) ; others lay their eggs on the ground, in holes in the trunks of trees, and in the burrows of the paca and armadillo. The large “ Maam” Zinamus subcristatus, one of the commonest of our game birds, generally selects the bank of a small creek as the site for its nest, which it often places between the spurs of a Mora, Dimorphandra Mora. The nest simply consists of a slight depression A 2 TIMEHRI. in the ground lined with dead leaves. The eggs, which number from seven to eight, are almost spherical in shape, and of a beautiful bluish-green colour, having the glossy sheen peculiar to the eggs of the Tinamous, a character which distinguishes them at once from other eggs. According to the statements of many old bush men, this bird sometimes lays as many as ten eggs, but we never recolleét having taken more than eight at one time. Another of the Tinamous, the “ Mamoo Swagger” of the “ Bovianders,’’ Crypturus Variegatus, makes no attempt at a nest at all but deposits its single egy on the ground atrandom. This bird seems to have no particular breeding season as its eggs can be obtained throughout the year. In colour they are deep chocolate, washed with pinkish violet, and are so curious that when once seen they cannot easily be forgotten. Unlike its larger con- gener which roosts on trees, the Mamoo Swagger passes the night on the ground, and is never seen to perch, in fat its small weak feet preclude its being able to do so. It is asserted that this bird occasionally lays two eggs, but as we have never met with an instance, most likely the eggs of another small Maam have been mistaken for it. Some Indians once brought us four or five eggs of a delicate pink shade and about the size and shape of those of Zinamus subcristatus, but their contents had been badly extra&ted, and they were filled with maggots which had perforated the shell in several places, completely spoiling them as specimens. They were the eggs of one of the Tinamous, but of what species there was no means of ascertaining. Uf all our game birds the “ Duraquara,” Odontophorus NESTING OF SOME GUIANA BIRDS. 3 guianensis, seems to be the most prolific, as many as fourteen eggs being sometimes found in a nest, which, like that of the large Maam, is a shallow depression near to some tree root, having an arched approach of about a foot in length, formed by the bending inward of grass blades and twigs. The entrance to this is always care- fully concealed, and the eggs, which are white, are about the size of those of a domesticated pigeon. | For a long time we could gather no reliable informa- tion concerning the nesting habits of the Warracaba, Psophia crepitans, some persons stating that all the females in a flock of these birds laid together in a com- mon nest on the ground, others declaring they nested in trees and that the eggs were blue. At last we had the pleasure of taking a nest in the Savannah from a hole in the fork of a tree at a height of about twenty feet from _ the ground, It contained seven dirty white eggs, a trifle smaller than those of a common fowl, and as they were perfeétly fresh most likely the bird had not finished laying her full complement. . A singular thing about the Warracaba is its dislike for young ducks which it always destroys when it finds the opportunity. I am told thatit is impossible to rear ducks where any of them are kept. The pretty little ground dove, Chamzpelia passerina, deserves mention for the peculiar habit it has of pretend- ing to be wounded when it thinks its nest in danger of being robbed. The nest, which is small and flat, is usually placed on a low shrub or stump of a tree, and never contains more than two pearly white eggs. Should any one approach it, while the little bird is sitting on her charge, she immediately flutters to the ground and toddles ; A2 4 TIMEHRI. - SS eee ee along with an unsteady gait, at the same time drooping one of her wings as if broken. This feint is evidently intended to distraét the attention of any would-be enemy: The food of this dove consists chiefly of small seeds which it picks from low weeds on the ground. In the Islands the seeds of the Mexican poppy, Avgemone mexicana, and the pink fruit of the “ Turk’s head” or globe caétus, Melocactus communis, make up its principal fare. Two other members of the genus Chamepelza occur in the colony, C. ¢alpacot: is very common on the Savan- nah, but we know nothing of its habits. One of the roughest of struétures is the nest of the Powise, Crax alector, which is a platform arrangement; fixed in a tree and so loosely put together that its con- tents can be easily seen by anyone standing under it. The eggs of the Powise are white and larger than those of any other game bird. The shells are exceedingly thick and rough, looking as if they had been first gummed and then sprinkled with sand, or with the comfit known as “ thousands,” and allowed todry, The Powise usually lays two eggs, but it is stated that this number is some- times increased to four. This bird has the odd habit ba swallowing bright objeéts, such as pebbles of coloured quartz, and their giz- zards often contain large pieces of the stone. We have seen pieces of bottles and small bits of broken sheet glass said to have been taken from the gizzard of one of these birds—-a tame one most likely. The edges of the glass had been worn smooth by attrition, The “ Kiskadee,” Pitangus sulphuratus and the “ Pipi- turie,” Zodirostrum cinereum, are both remarkable for the manner in which they depart from the generality of the NESTING OF SOME GUIANA BIRDS. 5 Tyrannidz in the construétion of their nests. The nests of the Tyrant Shrikes are usually flat open struc- tures, but the Kiskadee builds a large globular, and the Pipiturie a long purse-like nest in which to lay its two small white eggs. The former bird is the commonest of its family found in the colony. It lays three eggs spotted with blackish brown, the spots being concentrated towards the larger end. Young Kiskadees are often infested with the /arvz of a species of Aéstrus, Dermatobia noxtalis, known here as the “Mosquito Worm.” At times these parasites are present in such astonishing numbers that it is difficult to understand how the birds can live to arrive at maturity. We have seen a young Kiskadee so infested with these disgusting larvze that it was unable to close its wings, while its body was distorted to such an extent as to be hardly recog- nizable. The Mosquito Worm also attacks the young of the red and yellow-backed mocking birds (Cassicus affinis and C. persicus.) Mr. BARSHALL informs me that these birds are frequently made the viétims of another member of their family, Cassidix Oryztvora, which deposits its eggs in their nests, and imposes upon them the ‘ask of rearing its young. I have myself taken the eggs of this bird from the nests of the larze black “ Bunyah,” Oséz- nops decumanus, but never could ascertain anything further concerning their history. Most of our Cassigues resort to trees already occupied by colonies of wasps for the purpose of building their nests. I suppose this is for protective purposes, but then, | why have not all of our bird; developed the same habit ? A marauding monkey or snake would be just as likely to 6 TIMEHRI. attack and rob the nest of a pigeon or dove as it would that of a Casszque. | The little Spine-tail, Syxal/axis cinnamomea, or “ Roo- tie” as it is called here, also builds its cumbersome nest in close proximity to those of wasps, and singularly enough, as if not satisfied with the proteétion afforded by these pugnacious neighbours, it invariably attaches a portion of the cast skin of a snake on the outside, possibly as an additional warning to its enemies. The eggs of the Rootie are dull white and usually four in number. Sometimes one or two strange bluish eggs are found with them, but no one seems to be acquainted with the bird to which they belong. According to Mr. BARSHALL, the burrows of the Arma- dillo and Paca, Celogenys paca, are resorted to by the Red-billed Barbet, Monacha nigra, as a‘nesting place. | He has never seen their eggs, but all the nests examined by him have contained only two young birds. To the Caribesie Indians this Barbet is known from its cry as the *‘Ohekeeda,” which means in their diale&t, J hav'nt got tte | The seashore of the Waini Creek is one of the known breeding places of the Flamingo Phenicopterus ruber, in this country, The nest resembles a large yam heap, and is composed of vegetable substances thrown up by the sea. It is about two feet high and shaped like a trun- cated cone. The eggs <-e laid in August and have thick caialky-white shells. They are a little longer than those of a goose and seem to be from two to three in number. With few exceptions the entire family of parrots lay their eggs in holes in the limbs and trunks of trees, Sometimes these holes are natural, while at others they NESTING OF SOME GUIANA BirDs. 7 have apparently been excavated by the birds themselves, or are old woodpeckers’ holes ealarged. Very frequently two different species of parrots occupy the same nesting tree and if the accounts of the Indians are to be relied on will even lay in the same nest. Mr. BARSHALL states that he has seen on several occa- sions what he takes to be a hybrid between the ‘‘Scree- cher” parrot, Chrysotis amazonica, and the “ Saurama,” Chrysotis fartnosa. Whether he is correét in his diag nosis of the species I am unable to say, but it appears to be certain that hybrid parrots are occasionally met with. While on this subjeét it is worthy of note that a very small form of the Screecher parrot is found on the Rupununi River. There is no difference in colour be- tween it and the common C. amazonica, but the Rupununi birds are so much less in size that at first sight they appear to be a different species. We know nothing concerning the habits of the little love-birds, Pszttacula sf., in their wild state, but in captivity they are very prolific, breeding all the year round and laying as many as four eggs at a time. Although a common bird on the Savannah the nest of Ara macao—the finest of our Macaws—has never been seen by the Indians, who all agree in declaring its nesting place to be unknown. On the other hand the blue and yellow Macaw, 4. ararauana, breeds regularly in the trunks of old Eta palms and Ara chloroptera, the red and blue Macaws, on the tops of the tallest trees. This last bird, Mr. BARSHALL informs me, often makes its nest ata very moderate height from the ground, so that it can easily be reached by climbing, but in the Savan- g TIMEHRI. nah it always sele€ts the highest trees for the pur- pose. There is a legend among the Indians that the Macaws have a King, who lives on “ Makarapan,” a mountain a little below the Macoushi Village of Anahi, and that all the Macaws retire thither annually for the purpose of moulting their tail-feathers. The blue and yellow Macaw is known to the Macoushis as the “ Cararawa” not “ Warara” as was stated through mistake in a previous article entitled “Some Guiana Parrots.”* The name “ Warara’ should have been ap- plied to A. macao. It is a common belief both here and in the Islands that parrots with white tongues never learn to speak, and so far as I am aware this observation is correét. Decaying Eta palms are the nesting places of Ara hahni, and the wild Muscovy Duck, Catrina moschata, which the Indians call by the rather pretty name of ‘‘Miwah.” This duck is notable for the great disparity in the size of the sexes, the male bird being often nearly double the bulk of his mate. The complement of eggs is stated to be from eight to ten. When the young ducks are hatched, the mother bird is said to convey them in her beak to the nearest water. The Silk Cotton is the favourite tree of the Jabiru, Mycteria americana, and the Harpy, Thrasaetus harpyza, Both of these birds return yearly to the same nest to breed. I have never seen the eggs of the Harpy, but the Indians relate that their nests generally contain two young ones, and most probably this is the number of eggs» * See Timehri Vol. IX, N.S. 1895, Page 275. ee oe NESTING OF SOME GUIANA BIRDS. 9 i in a clutch. The Kanaku mountain range seem to be their chief breeding quarters on the Savannah. The Harpy preys largely on sloths and baboons, Mycetes sentculus,—especially on the former—and the ground about the nesting tree is sometimes literally strewn with the bones and hair of these animals. The little Scops Owl, Scops brasilianus, is also a com- mon Savannah bird. There appear to be two distin@ varieties of this little owl—one very dark and the other alight brown. This phenomenon in Zoology is known as dichromatism and is one of the most difficult problems to solve. It would seem that neither climate nor locality has much to do with it, since both varieties are met with on the Savannah, The Scops Owl breeds in holes in trees and is said to lay from one to two eggs. Most of our birds begin laying in May and June, but some have no particular breeding season. On the Savannah the Cock-of-the Rock, Rupzcola crocea, laysin March, the large white Egret, Ardea egretta, and the Hunurie, Ardea coco?, in June. Both birds lay light blue eggs, those of the Egret being somewhat more pointed than those of the Hunurves. The Eta parrot, Ara hahni, lays in December and January, Tityra cayana, in December, and, according to the In- dians, the Boat-bill, Cancroma cochlearia, in March. I have never seen the eggs of the last mentioned bird. It is known to the Macoushie Indians as the “ Warapapa.” Mr. D. E. MACKINTOSH, who has paid much attention to the Coast birds of Surinam, asserts that the scarlet Ibis or Currie-Currie, Eudocimus ruber never builds a nest of any sort, but takes forcible possession of those of the small white Egret, Ardea candidissima, for the purpose B ae) TIMEHRI. of depositing its eggs. He states that he has often wit- nessed this Ibis in the a€t of tumbling the young Egrets out of their nests. ; The small Egret breeds in vast “ rookeries” along the sea-coast, and Mr. MACKINTOSH has seen several square acres of low Courida bushes dotted with their nests, During the breeding season large numbers of young Egrets fall a prey to the black Carrion Vulture, Catharista atrata, which may be seen hovering around the breeding grounds, on the look out for a chance to swoop down on some unguarded nest and carry off its contents. The old birds vigorously defend their nests against the attacks of the Vulture, but as the scarlet Ibis appears on the scene, they immediately desert their charges and fly away, The eggs of the scarlet Ibis are three in number and very variable both in shape and markings. Usually they are spotted and splashed throughout with reddish-brown, but sometimes the markings are thickly distributed towards the larger end, where they often become confluent and form a large circular blotch. In shape, some of the eggs are markedly elongate and others quite oval. The small Egret makes a very frail platform nest of twigs, and its eggs, which are of a dull pale blue colour, are a little larger than a pigeon’s. Their breeding season in Surinam is in the months of February and March, but in this country it is said to be from July to August ; possibly there may be two seasons in the year. Early English Colonies in Trinidad. (Concluded ) THE DESCRIPTION OF TRINIDADA. (Sloane MSS. 3662, British Museum.) | | pa LIS Island is scittuate between the degrees g and to of Northerne Lattitude, and between 320 and 321 of Longitude, counting from ye first and sixt Meridian of St. Michael’s; one of ye Azoras Islands ; and distant from the mouth of ye River Oro- noque, twenty leagues North, its East end from Barbados fifty 8 leagues South-south-West ; halfe a point Westerly. Its Lenth is tourty leagues, East and West in circum- ference 120 English leagues, and is the largest of all the Carrebe Islands. This Island was first discovered by COLLUMBUS, Anno 1497 (8) in his Voyage from Cales, for his further dis- covery of ye West Indies, who sayling from thence to the Westward, through that narrow passage between a * The author of this manuscript was Major John Scot’, a Soldier- Planter of Barbados. He was appointed on the 29th of August 1668, to be the King’s Geographer. Of his chequered career much infor- mation will be found ‘n the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, in Rawlinson MSS. A175; A178 and A, 241. He seems to have been a thorn in the flesh of that curiosity of Humankind, Samuel Pepys, of Diary fame. Whatever Scott’s personal chara€ter may have been, he possessed an accurate knowledge of the English settlements in the West Indies, and the whole of the Sloane MSS. 3662 is a valuable contribution to the early History of Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and Guiana, B2 12 TIMEHRI. pointe of the maine land, and this Isle, named it for its dangerousness, Bocca del Drago.* This Island is in figure something Triangular and devided into three parts, by 3 distin nacions of Indians, vizt, The Carrebees, the Sapoyes, and Arowayoes, and those divisions are distin€tly sepperated, into three parts, * On Thursday the 31st of July 1498, Alonzo Perez, a mariner of Huelva, went aloft, upon the maintopsail of the Admiral’s ship, and suddenly saw land towards the South-west, about fifteen leagues off. The land seen was in the form of three lofty hills. This was in the way of a coincidence, for Columbus, who was navigating in the name of the sacred Trinity, had already resolved to give the name Trinidad to the first land he should discover. The sailors sang the Salve Regina, and other pious hymns, in honour of God and “ Our Lady.” Columbus now shaped his course for Trinidad: making for a Cape, which, from the likeness of a little rocky islet, near it, to a galley in full sail, he named La Galera, but which is now called Cape Galeota. He arrived at Cape Galeota “at the hour of complines.” Not finding the port sufficiently deep for his vessels, he sailed on Westwards. On the 1st of August he continued on his Westerly course, and came to deep soundings, somewhere near Point Alcatraz, where he brought to, and took in fresh water, of which he was in sore need. On the 2nd of August, he sailed on to the Westward, along the Southern part of Trinidad, to the Westward point, which he called La Punta de Arenal. Hence he beheld the Gulf of Paria, which he called La Balena, (the whale). Entering the Gulf by the Serpent's Mouth, just after the rainy season, his vessel was carried, on the confli€ting waters, so as to alarm even the stout- hearted Admiral. ‘‘ Even to-day I shudder lest the waters should have upset the vessel, when they came under its bows,” wrote Columbus to Queen Isabella. As he moved up the Gulf, the Admiral called the mainland to his left the island of Gracia. The name of Paria, he found already in use, when he reached that place. Agwuja, or Needle Point, was so named by Columbus, The Admiral sailed out of the Gulf by the Dragon’s Mouth. Zhe Spanish Conquest in America: by Sit Arthur Helps, Vol. II, pf 100 ¢0 106. EARLY ENGLISH COLONIES IN TRINIDAD. 13 by ridges of mountaines; and ’tis probable for these reasons it had its name.* This is a most fertile Island, hath severall fresh Rivers, and the accommodation of many excellent springs, and from the abundance and quallity of its woods and trees, the most excellent in all the world, might bee made great advantages, from some of them, issuing very rich Gumms, from others rich oyles, balsome and Odoriferous rossins, abundance of woods, proper fordyes. The very mountains covered wth, large cedars, white wood, and excellent timber for building, or sheathing of ships, especially in those parts of the world, where the worme eats both oake and firre, wc. in regard of ye bitternesse of the timber, they forbeare doeing injury, divers yeares abundance of excellent timber, for joyners use, for Cabi- netts, and all other kind of rare workes. The Cocoa, groweth heere in great plenty, and the best of the sort, in all the Indies, cotton and sugar-canes growe there very well and the Tobaccof of Trinidada is ye the best in the knowen world, from some of the * See Sir Walter Raleigh’s account of the distribution of the Indians, or § Naturals’ of Trinidad, as extraéted in Se Stion 16, Supra. t+ This praise of the quality of Trinidac Tobacco would seem to justify the opinion of those who hold that it is te Tobacco of that Island that reference is made when Captain 3obadill says : ’Tis your right Trinidado, (Scene 2 of Act Ill, of tvery man in his humour.) In the context, however, Ben Jonson seem to have had Cuba, or San Doming> in his mind. When Bobadill =~ AGRICULTURE IN “1829. 53 expense of labour, that it may almost be reckoned. spon- taneous. There are two: varieties, the black and the white, the former having a purple stem and the latter a pale browm one, being also rather taller, but there is hardly: any perceptible difference in the appearance or quality. of the fruit.: The white plantain is called by the natives the creole - plantain, and is reported to be indigenous, but neither of the kinds produce seed, fruétifying and ripening in the utmost perfe€tion. The pericarpium is only filled with a number of black grains, totally abortive. It is supposed that the male plantain has never been intro- duced, and that the one now grown is only the female, which, when impregnated by the male, produces a num- ber of hard black seeds very inconvenient in the masti- cation, and which has been the reason of the total eradication of the male plant. The plantain, in common with all broad palm-leaved plants, delights in moisture, both of soil and atmosphere. It must, however, be well drained in the rainy season, | though sparingly so in the dry. A succession of un- usually dry seasons and the extension of the sugar cultivation, which has denuded the plains of the Coast and destroyed those sheltering belts of trees that formerly proteéted the plantains from cold and high winds, with other minor and co-operating causes, have latterly introduced a kind of epidemic amongst the plantains which has filled the colony with well-founded alarm, Hundreds of acres in the most flourishing con- dition have sunk in a few weeks, as if fire or the wave had gone through them, and this without any distinétion of soil, circumstances or situation. 54 TIMEHRI. The prevention of this “disease,’’ as it is called, amongst the plantains, is a point of such high moment that we wonder high premiums have not been offered to that effe&t. A continuation of it to such an extent as to oblige the negroes to be fed on ground or imported provisions, would be a reduétion of the value of property 25 per cent. First Impressions of the Colony. By W. Arthur Savtell. ¥y I is usual to disparage first impressions. They | are deceitful, says the proverb, andthe majority y= oof mankind, being slaves to aphoristic dogma, have no good word to say of them. They are regarded as a kind of necessary evil, like the measles and other infantile disorders. Everybody gets them, but they are to be spoken of with an apology and never dwelt upon as an interesting or a profitable topic. And yet in a sense every impression that our minds receive is a first impres- sion. Each new conception, each fresh conclusion— though it may displace a train of others relating to the same objeét—is only another impression resulting from a previously undiscovered point of view. One stand- point ought to be as good as another, but it is the ac- cepted verdiét that the impressions gained from the earlier one are worthy of no consideration. Hence arise the exaggerated value placed upon the judgment of age, and the equally excessive disparagement of the opinions of youth. Most men are content to take all their philosephy second-hand from the copy-books, and Experentia docet has long been deemed an axiom far beyond the range of argument. Much, however, depends upon the scholar, and, further, the lessons of experience are frequently not worth learning. Many men lose all sap and vitality in that rigorous school, and have nothing more than vanitas vanitatum wherewith to cheer themselves at the end. The callow youth, with all his ignorance of 56 TIMEHRI. life, may often be at least more interesting, if not more useful, than the experienced dotard ;: and the adventurer setting out with swelling heart for El Dorado makes a more inspiriting sight than the tired way-farer nearing with relu€tant step the Valley of the Shadow. As with life in general, so withits particulars. | It is the generally received opinion that the stranger, if he would escape both resentment and derision, must keep his first impres- sions of a new acquaintance or a newly found locality striétly to himself. Yet I have known many men who could give at once a more intelligent and a more inter- esting account of a place to which they have paid merely a flying visit than others who have lived there all their lives. In each case the story probably will require seasoning with several grains of salt to make it fit for ordinary consumption. But with the world at large the “reminiscences” of the oldest inhabitant will weigh far heavier than the “impressions” of the fugitive visitor. Fully conscious of this bias against the opinions of the new comer, it is with some timidity that I take my pen to write my “First Impressions of the Colony.” The editor of Zimehri in suggesting to me this subje&, has presented me with a rare opportunity of “ giving my- self away.” But I hope to walk. warily and to give as few occasions as possible to the expe@ant critic. It will be well at the outset to emphasise the fa& that what I have to say in this paper will be striétly my first impres- sions, which I set down for what they may be worth, At the first sight Demerara is disappointing. To one who has never before passed beyond the temperate zone, and whose mind is aglow with piétures of the sunlit seas and golden harbours of the tropics, there is a FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COLONY. 57 great shock of disillusionment in the shallow muddy waters, and the low ugly wharves which stretch along the city side of the river. Even the stranger does not expeét mountains in Demerara. for the general chara€ter of the country is well-known, but the flatness of the place transcends all his anticipations. However prepared may be his mind for a low-lying dead-level landscape, he will say in his heart, “ Bless me, I did not think any place could possibly be as flat as this!” My first sensation on reaching the deck of the Eden ona cloudy morning in September was one of disappointment mingled with wonder. There was so little to look at that I did not experience even so much of the sense of novelty as when one crosses the English Channel and it was a great wonder where Georgetown was. After a while, from certain stumpy-looking spires appearing above the line of wharves, I judged there must be a con- siderable extent of town behind the inelegant sheds at the-waterside, On closer inspeétion, it seemed as though Georgetown, with its broad river and its shipping, might pass for a very poor imitation of Antwerp, if it were not for the absence of the dominating spire and the presence of the cabbage palms, which instantly labelled the place as'tropical, Onceashore, however, I soon lost my sense of disappointment in one of surprise at the broad re€tangu- lar streets, the creditable buildings, the lively stir of - Water Street and the orderly chara&er of the Stabroek market. I think these things strike one before one grows aware of the strange medley of races and the other peculiar features of the place. At any rate, they were what 1 noticed immediately in driving from the stelling. Next in order, if I remember aright, came the wealth H 58 TIMEHRI. of vegetation which distinguishes the town, and espe- cially the number of graceful palms constantly waving their green tops against the brilliant blue of the tropical sky. Then, of course, the trenches strike one with a sense of strangeness, and the presence amidst these unaccus- tomed environments of such familiar objeés as tele- phone wires and tram-cars enhance rather than diminish the effeét of novelty. The sight of poultry, goats and other live-stock picking up their living in some of the most frequented streets, is at first somewhat comical to those who have always associated such things with farm-yards or suburban back gardens, and the almost. entire absence of smoke is another thing which the Englishman finds a difficulty in reconciling with the faé& that he is in a large and busy town. These are trivial matters, but I write them merely to show what first strikes the visitor in the capital city of the Colony. After you have once mentally assimilated the trees and the trenches, and the terra-cotta coloured roadways, there is not much in the town itself to arrest the fancy or to please the eye. It lacks that distin€tiveness of local colour which one expects on coming for the first time to the tropics, and one is soon thrown back upon the study of the human document. Here there is enough novelty to satisfy the most observant traveller. I suppose that few cities in the world can equal George- town in the variety of races représented amongst its inhabitants—that is to say, in proportion to its population. Although I had prepared myself by a perusal of Rop- wAy’s “West Indies and the Spanish Main,” and with information from such other sources as were at command, the aétual sight of the racial mélange which may be daily. oa — FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COLONY. 59 encountered in Water Street was surprising and be- wildering far beyond my pre-conceptions. The infinite gradations of colour, the association of African, Asiatic, European and American types, the variety of costume, and the intermingling of at least three different tongues, arouse an interest which survives many other novel sensations. He whose ideas of the Negroes have chiefly been derived on the one side from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and on the other from the “ Minstrel” entertainments of Messrs. MOORE and BURGESS, finds at first sight of the black man 2m propria persona that there is much to learn and to unlearn, The free and independent air of the black labourer and the imperial carriage of his woman- kind are, to say the least, unexpeéted, and at the same time one cannot but remark how easily the veneer, at least, of civilisation is borne by a people, who, you will quickly be assured, are incapable of genuine moral, or intelleétual advance. This paper must not become an argumentative dissertation on the possibilities and limi- tations of the West Indian Black, but I may observe in passing that those who hasten to apprise you of his inherent and incorrigible degradation not only expeét too much of a race not more than two generations re- moved from slavery, but also implicitly belittle the achievements of English civilisation as a reforming influ- ence. From a merely impressionist point of view, it must be admitted, there is very little that is attra€tive in the Blacks. They appear to the observer as a people which, having lost its own language, traditions and every distin€&tive feature except, of course, its physical type, has borrowed the outward chara€teristics of an entirely different race, and, superficially at least, the borrowed Hi 2 60 TIMEHRI. plumage is hardly becoming. They appear to have, if J may so phrase it, a certain rustic vulgarity which, to the stranger, is far from prepossessing, while. their extrava- gant apeing of their superiors in dress and so forth is grotesque without being amusing. Their esthetic value is exceedingly small, and in this respeét they stand in contrast to their East Indian neighbours. In the gout ensemble of a Demerara crowd, the Coolies strike a distin@tive and a pleasing note. It is interesting to see a band of estates Coolies on a visit to town wandering, gravely desipient, through the streets—the men, in. their white, gracefully folded garments, the women in flam- boyant muslins, their bare arms loaded with bangles, and the pretty children trotting alongside, pi€tures of childish content. Their incongruity with their environ- ments and their apparent consciousness of being stran- gers in a strange land give them an attra€tive and somewhat pathetic aspe&t. From a pi€turesque stand- point it will be a sad loss to Demerara if ever the Coolies are taken from the colony, or if, as is not:im- possible, in course of time they are Anglicised out of their superficial charaéteristics. And here I may.address a word to Ministers and others pursuing the praiseworthy aim of converting our East Indians to Christianity. Do not insist upon a change of wardrobe with a change of heart, I have yet to learn that the wearing of trousers necessarily implies a special degree of moral excellence, or that, whosoever will be saved before all things it is necessary that he provide himself with a shirt and.a pair of braces. There is a tendency to regard trousers as an essential article of faith; but consider, I pray you, the unloveliness of that funicular apparel, pause and contem- FIRST IMPRESSIONS “OF THE COLONY. 61 plate the dread possibility. of all mankind passing through this mortal vale with their legs encased in absurd cylin- ders:of cloth, Spare the Coolie at least from being com- pelled to conform to the sartorial ugliness of “ civilisation.” Speaking of clothes, one soon learns to envy the Chinese of the colony their eminently rational costumes, which seem to represent the beau-ideal of tropical dress, so far as the tunics are concerned, at allevents. It is astonish- ing to the new comer to notice the extremely English appearance of the business and professiona! classes of the colony. Except for the head-gear—which itself is as a rule quite insufficient to proteét the head unless supple- mented by an umbrella—there is little to distinguish nine out of every ten of the whites of the colony from their brethren oversea. Here and there you occa- sionally .see a man in a drill suit, and he is only a little less conspicuous than Mr. T. G. BOWLES, M.P., in the House: of Commons during the Dog Days. But on the whole cloth, frequently dark and heavy-looking, prevails. I. am,told that there has.been a considerable decline recently in the popularity of the top hat and frock coat. One would not imagine so after watching the streams of top-hatted black gentlemen who fill the streets on a Sunday morning; but if there is a revolt in the colony against: this preposterous style of headgear, fam inclined to congratulate the people of British Guiana upon the fact. I did not set out upon this article with the purpose of telling all I saw and did within the first few weeks of my arrival in the colony, so that I: cannot stay to speak of visits to sugar estates and other little experiences, which, though-entirely novel to me, would seem very 62 TIMEHRI. common-place to my readers. There are many things that one might mention—such as the curious Creole into- nation, with all the emphasis thrown forward instead of backward, according to the English tendency—but time and space impose their inevitable limitations. Suffice it to say, that after the momentary disappointment on arrival, of which I have spoken, I found Demerara by no means the least agreeable of places to which fortune or adventure has conducted me. The first impressions of the place are certainly pleasant, and for some months after arrival the new comer is apt to congratulate him- self daily that he has not yet been carried off by yellow fever or yet expired in a swift and horrid death fromthe bite of some venomous serpent. Tbe absence of these immi- nent risks to life, which live so vividly in the English- man’s conceptions of Demerara, is not without its penalty. Existence has a certain zest when one knows, or fears, that his footsteps are dogged by disease, that poisonous reptiles lurk for him in the bath-room, and that desperate — men lie in wait round every corner. Take away these sources of excitement, leave a man in the normal security of a sedentary career, and colonial life necessarily grows somewhat monotonous, Lack of interest follows on familiarity, and custom soon stales the variety and novelty of a new environment. Places gradually appear different and less attractive as we know them well, and things are not what they seemed in the first flush of new acquaintance. Ah, if we could only retain all our first impressions, what a goodly world this would appear! “It might be thought,” says DAUDET, “‘ that there is some colouring matter in a child’s eyes which lasts as long as the ignorance of his early glance; but which, as FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE COLONY, 63 he grows up, tarnishes and dims all that he formerly ad- mired. Poets are men who have kept the eyes of their childhood.” We cannot remain children, and few of us are poets, Gradually we lose the rose coloured spec- tacles, through which our first impressions come, and smoked glasses seem better adapted to our sight. Tobacco and Cotton Cultivation in the British West India Colonies. By William H. Burnley. [The following letter from the Guiana Chronicle of May 4th, 1840, gives a planter’s views on what was then a burning question in the West Indies. Cotton has been virtually driven out of cultivation for want of a little assistance at the right time; sugar may be ruined in a similar manner. Would it not be possible for the British Government to give the sugar colonies a little help for a term of years as here proposed ? ] ‘HE following letter from Mr. BURNLEY was written in reply to a communication from Mr. VERNON SMITH, Under Secretary for the Colo- “ Paris, 18th January, 1840. Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 6th instant, in which you express Lord JOHN RUSSELL’S desire to know what encouragement I consider it advisable that the Govern- ment or the Legislature should extend to the cultivation of cotton and tobacco in the West Indies, and whether I am under an impression that any difficulty is opposed by the law as at present in force to the introdu€tion of these articles into the markets of Great Britain. The chief difficulty which in this last respeét presents itself, arises from the imposition of an export duty of 34 per cent. on all articles, the growth and produce of the island of Trinidad, which being paid in advance at the time of shipment, may be considered as fully equal to 5 » * . 4 ie he | ile hee, A wy aie Amends TOBACCO AND COTTON CULTIVATION. 65 per cent if levied upon the same articles when delivered for home consumption, and sometimes to considerably more, when it is liable to diminution in quantity and weight during the voyage. In the United States of America no duty is paid upon the export of any articles of native growth, and the continuance of the import des- cribed in our colonies will almost amount to a prohibition of their produétions in the British market, and decidedly interfere with any considerable extersion of the cultiva- tion of cotton, or of any other article in which an aétive and industrious population, exempt from that burden, can enter into competition with us. The removal of this colonial duty would place us so far on a footing, and enable us fairly to contend with any competitors starting from the same point of departure. But unfortunately this is not our a€tual position. The planters of the United States have long furnished the chief supply of cotton and tobacco for the European markets, and have acquired, by time and praétice, so much skill in their cultivation, and dexterity in the best modes of preparing them for consumption, that a mere equality of duty will not now enable us to enter into successful competition. In faét, we are altogether ignorant of the cultivation and curing of tobacco for exportation in our West India colonies ; and although a constantly diminishing quantity of cotton is still exported, the mode of cultivation and cleansing of the wool from the seed remain in the same unimproved state in which they existed twenty-five years ago ; anda new system and new machinery must now be introduced at considerable trouble and expense before we can hope to compete with foreign growers. After much consideration, and with the strongest reluétance to come to such a con- I 66 TIMEHRI. clusion, I am decidedly of opinion that no powerful and successful competition can be established on our part, un- less a temporary bounty on both these articles, the produce of our colonies, is allowed in Great Britain ; and by the term “bounty,” I mean an extra price afforded to the planter over and above the market value, whether given in the shape of a differential duty, or in any other mode produétive of the same effeét. I am quite aware of the general unpopularity of boun- ties at the present day, and that the simple proposal of such a measure may, in some quarters, be scarcely tole- rated; but the investigation I have necessarily been led into, induces me to believe that this indiscriminate repro- bation of a once favourite policy, is only a reaétion of the public mind, disgusted at the frequent abuse and misapplication of bounties during the last century, which, rushing into the contrary extreme and denouncing all bounties as injurious, may be produétive of equally mis- chievous errors, for it seems difficult to conceive how any of our manufa&turing processes, at present so essential to our national existence, could ever have been created or supported in their early stages, without some great advantages conferred upon them over their rivals. Our cotton manufa€turers could never have commenced with a chance even of limited existence, if they had not been protefted against the competition of India by heavy duty on foreign cloths ; and even without this legislative aid a proximity to the home market and centre of con- sumption, gives to our produétions generally an immense pecuniary advantage over foreign competitors, with which few of them could dispense. If we possessed in the the colonies only this advantage—if the cotton fields of TOBACCO AND COTTON CULTIVATION. 67 Trinidad could be brought into the neighbourhood of Manchester—I should probably have no occasion to point out to his Lordship the necessity of legislative proteétion ; but we, unhappily further removed from the home market than the rival we wish to supplant, which, added to ac- quired skill and previous possession of channels of supply makes the odds so great against us, that success, I fear, is hopeless, unless the legislative aid I pray for is granted. So far from such a measure being at variance with the soundest principles of national economy, it appears scarcely possible not to see and admit the immense advan- tages to be derived by a mercantile and manufa€turing nation like Great Britain granting a sufficient protection in infancy to any colonial raw produétion, manifestly capable, when at maturity, of successfully competing with similar articles from foreign countries. That the cultivation of cotton and tobacco in our West Indian colonies is subjeét to this description, no one ac- quainted with the latter can doubt. In the article of cotton the West Indian staple is decidedly supe- rior to that of the United States, under all the dis- advantages of rude cultivation, and still ruder machinery, with the single exception of the quality termed “Sea Island,” which is entirely confined to the limited dis- triét in which it is produced: it is certainly there- fore no unreasonable expeCtation to look forward to the produétion of something equal if not superior to “Sea Island,” when British capital and enterprize are fully employed on the varied soils and situations which our wide extended range of colonies present. Of their perfect adaption to the growth of tobacco, although at present exporting none, I have not the slightest doubt, la 68 TIMEHRI. for the plant rises almost spontaneously in every negro garden, The tobacco of Varinas, a prevince on the River Orinoco, and that of Cuba (both growing in widely distant latitudes, throughout which from North to South our colo- nies lie) have long been considered superior in their re- spective qualities to those of the United States. At the Indian Mission of Siparia in Trinidad, the Aborigines have immemorially been in the habit of growing and manufaéturing for their own usea quality fit for segars, of so high a flavour, that those who profess to be judges assert that they require only to be known to be held in equai estimation with those of the Havana. By every rule of analogy, therefore, we have a right to conclude that our West India Colonies are capable of producing every variety of tobacco of the most approved quality. Upon a review, therefore, of the whole subjeét, I beg respe€tfully to express to his Lordship my opinion, that the removal of every description of duty, or public charge, upon the exportation of cotton or tobacco from our colonies, would enable the British planter to grow these articles on equal terms with the people of the Southern States of the American Union . and that their cultivation may be carried on advantageously by the aid of emigrants from thence, which, at the expiration of some period of time, may become a valuable branch of colonial trade; but that no riper growth and extension of these produ€tions, or successful competition with foreigners in the European supply, can be expeéted, unless a temporary bounty in their favour is granted by Government, sufficient in amount to induce capitalists to take such an interest in their cultivation as may render it immediately both profitable and popular. TOBACCO AND COTTON CULTIVATION. 69 But I beg clearly to be understood, as to the descrip- tion of bounty which [ venture to recommend, also, to the nature of the difference between a prote€tion granted permanently, or for an indefinite period of time, and a protection granted only for a limited and specified number of years, which difference I conceive to be so important, as to place them in totally different classes, both in principle and in effe&t. By the operation of a bounty granted for an indefinite period of time, almost all the errors hitherto committed have been produced ; for under such circumstances the capitalist is invariably tempted to extend cultivation to improper soil, and to create unnecessarily expensive establishments. He calculates, naturally, not upon what he could profitably do if the bounty did not exist, but upon what he is able to do during its continuance, which he believes will be permanent, but under the operation of a temporary bounty limited by the aét to an affixed period of time, his calculations will necessarily be formed upon a different basis. He will see before him the exaét period when all legislative prote€tion will be withdrawn, when he will be left to his own resources, and the profits of hisspecu- lations must depend upon their own intrinsic merits. No new lands will consequently be broken up, orestablishments ereéted, which do not hold out a sure promise of a profi- table return when exposed to the future competition of the most formidable rivals. In the case, moreover, under consideration, it would give him time and facilities to search for and convey to our colonies persons skilled in the cultivation of cotton and tobacco, with proper tools and machinery necessary to prepare them for exporta- tion ; and the losses consequent upon all first efforts and 40 TIMEHRL. experiments would be fairly compensated, until the best process became familiar and easy of execution. A most important point would also be gained by the Legislature being bound to nothing, direétly or indire€tly, but the payment of the bounty for the limited period assigned, at the expiration of which it would be in possession of all the experience and information derived from the experiment, and at full liberty to continue, modify, or conclude it, as of due consideration might be deemed most desirable; no vested interests could possibly be created with power to embarrass the decision, and no individual could raise the shadow of a claim for compen- sation, under the plea of having embarked property in expensive pursuits on faith of legislative promises, subsequently broken. I am not aware of any bounty or protection having been granted by Government in the limited and restri€ted mode I have described. A measure analogous to it in principle, exists in the American Tariff of Duties on imported manufa€tures, which varied annually in a decreasing scale until 1842, when, by the letter of the aé&t in force, it assumes the form of a fixed and permanent proteétion. But no one acquainted with the charaéter of the people, or the spirit of their institutions, imagine that the progress of redu€tion will then cease, and this general impression is equivalent in its results to a positive provision in the present Aét of Congress for its continuance. New manufacturing establishment are, notwithstanding, rising in various parts of the Union, founded upon no idea of permanent legislative protec- tion, but upon a considerate calculation that, in a few years, they will be able alone and unassisted to support themselves; and in no instances whatever from the TOBACCO AND COTTON CULTIVATION. 71 opponents of a fixed Tariff did I hear any doubts expressed of the correétness of the principle of granting a tempo rary protection to their infant manufaétures to enablethem in due time to compete with the mature skill and decided superiority of ourestablishment. For attempting, there- fore, a wide and extensive cultivation of cotton in the West India Colonies, it happens that our relative situa- tions are exaétly reversed ; for in this respeét, their great superiority has long been acknowledged and felt almost to our entire exclusion. It will not be unfair, therefore, to follow their example, and, if careful consideration be given to the subjeét, | think it will be found to be a wise and advantageous course. Should his Lordship be of opinion that the reasons I have alleged are insufficient to propitiate the pure economists in favour of the measure proposed, I have then only to urge that the whole question relating to labour and cultivation in the West Indies, from the com- mencement of the discussion on the subjeét of the extinétion of slavery, have, by general consent, been thrown out of the economical into the moral class: and that no measure can ever command success, which does not maintain a consistent course. The economists certainly never assented to the payment of twenty millions for the emancipation of 800,000 slaves ; and if the enfranchisement of eight millions more, with the eradication of the cause which still continues to support slavery and the slave-trade, can be effe&ted at an addi- tional expense, I humbly suggest that it may be attempted, even without their concurrence. It appears, indeed, that public feeling has already declared itself decidedly in favour of this proceeding ;—a high resolve has evidently 92 TIMEHRI. been adopted, that slavery shall be put down in its strong hold, by rendering the nation independent of its present sources of supply for cotton and tobacco ; and the expense attending this great moral effort is viewed by its promoters only as a secondary considera- tion. The means, whether from public or private funds; will assuredly not be wanting, and I firmly believe that it remains only for Her Majesty’s Government to reap the glory of properly dire€ting this irresistible national feeling into the safest and surest channel through which the desired objeét can be most advantageously and economically accomplished. ; I have, &c., WILLIAM H. BURNLEY.” Ruin! By the Editor, \ "iT the present time when ruin stares the sugar | planter in the face, it may be perhaps useful to look back and see if any encouragement can be gathered from the past history of the colony. For, this is by no means the first time that the cry has been raised ; at intervals it has been heard for a century and a half. In most cases the causes for the depression were well known, and generally the planters also well knew what they wanted, as they do at the present time. Yet, although in some cases their petitions to the authori- ties were not granted, they still recovered after a longer or shorter time, or if one set of planters fell, others rose in their place, the general result being slow progress of the colony as a whole. The first downfall took place after the discovery that the soil on the upper banks of the rivers was barren. Coffee gave but a small return, cotton could not be grown at all, and sugar paid for but three years at the most. Then, there was the want of labour; slaves were imported in but small numbers, for the system of giving long credit made the West India Company very cautious. Almost before the estates on the banks of the river were properly surveyed, the grantees began to see that they would not pay, and when the cautious Amsterdam mer- chants, who had liens upon them, saw that their money was virtually lost, every attempt to raise capital failed. Some of the Barbadians, who had been lured over by K 74 TIMEHRI. the offer of free grants of land and freedom from head taxes for ten years, then retired; others came down to the coast and were more successful. They had bought their experience at a great cost and the migration turned out well, only the want of a full labour supply standing in their way. | The next disaster was the result of war. In 1781 the colony was taken by the British; large quantities of produce on board vessels in the rivers were confiscated and everything put topsy-turvy. As if this were not enough the French allies of the Dutch recaptured the three rivers just as the British were getting straight, and a new confiscation took place. The planters, however, did not despair, but, notwithstanding many difficulties, from the arbitrary rule of the Company, gradually brought their estates into a flourishing condition. Then came the second British capture of 1796, which, however painful to a few Dutch planters, was by no means an evil. Capital flowed into the colonies from all sides, grants of land were taken up everywhere, until the whole coast line from Pomeroon to Corentyne, and even over to Nickerie, became one great stretch of cotton fields. With cotton along the coast and sugar and coffee in the lower parts of the rivers, and perhaps above all with the increased supply of slaves, the estates enlarged their cultivation annually, Then, produce went up to magnifi- cent prices and the British thought that Guiana was indeed an “E] Dorado.” In five vears of British rule the ex- ports had more then trebled, and it seemed as if, not- withstanding high freights and insurances, all would become “ Nabobs.” But the peace of Amiens and the restoration to the RUIN. 75 Batavian Republic put an end to all these fine prospetts. The British planters were ordered to sell out and leave ; then they could only ship their produce to Holland if the _estates were put under Dutch management. ‘There were plenty of sellers but few buyers, and, as a consequence, those who prepared to leave were ruined. All their hard labour went for nothing. It was then that Pln. Turkeyen was said to have been sold for a turkey. Fortunately, before all had disposed of their properties the British again arrived, but by this time produce had gone down and the best days of the planter were over. Down to 1812 the markets continued to be depressed, and the “ groans of the plantations” were heard through- out the West Indies. Cotton and coffee were even more depressed than sugar, and consequently became much negleéted, but as yet were not abandoned altogether. The Southern States entered largely into cotton planting, and having fewer restrictions upon their labour supply, could beat the West Indies. How bitter were the com- plaints of the restri€tions put upon the removal of slaves from the islands to Guiana after the abolition of the Afri- can trade, is well shewn later by HILHOUSE.* With re- gard to sugar the drawback in the opinion of the planters was the high duty. It was over-produétion then as it is to-day, and the panacea was reduced duties, which, they believed, would produce the natural result, increased con- sumption. Ata Meeting held at MARSHALL’S Hotel on the 30th of November, 1811, it was stated that the produce of the colony had decreased in value from £1,860,000 to £1,200,000. This they attributed to the destruétve system of warfare adopted by the great enemy, NAPOLEON, * See p. 45 ante, Kz 76 TIMEHRI. who, controlling almost the whole of Europe, shut out British sugars, They thought that the situation might be improved by permission to export to the United States and to use sugar in distilleries. Things began to look better as NAPOLEON’S fall ap- proached. In 1812 sugar went up, and for a short period prosperity was restored, the British Government doing but little to promote this end. But, cotton never re- turned to its old price, with the result that sugar came to the front more and more, Coffee also was in a similar position, and no doubt would have gone out of cultiva- tion had it required planting every year. The downfall of cotton was most disastrous to those concerned in its planting. Three-fourths of the coast estates were abandoned altogether and have remained uncultivated ever since. All that long stretch between the Berbice River and the Corentyne, as well as the Mahaicony Coast, once glowed with the flowers of that handsome shrub, and some cotton estates turned into cattle farms on the East Coast have remained uncultivated since its downfall. Berbice suffered more than Demerara, as may be easily seen from the number of abandoned coast plantations. The Governor and some Members of the Council, as well as many others of less note, were obliged to compound with their creditors. Between the years 1809 and 1824, one hundred and eleven cotton estates were given up and only fourteen of these were replaced by sugar. The ultimate result was that cotton was given up throughout the West Indies and that the British manu- faéturer became dependent on the Southern States. What happened during the American Civil War should ————S le ee eee! Lh ee EE a RUIN. 77 be a lesson, for it is probable that the cotton famine would have been averted, or at least rendered much less disastrous, had the West Indies received a little help at the right moment. It was most fortunate that sugar could be made to pay when the other produéts fell—this redeemed the coasts of Demerara. Down to about 1820 this produét realised good returns, and it almost seemed as if the colony would recover from the effeéts of the downfall of the other produéts. It was a case of the “ survival of the fittest ;” sugar had been proved and found successful—coffee and cotton lagged behind. But, prices again fell, and again the planters com- plained that sugar could not pay. The cost of produc- tion varied ; a few estates managed to keep the expenses of produ€tion below the market price, but others lost money. Then began those attempts to economise which have been continued down to the present day. Syste- matic cultivation, steam engines, organisation of labour, and finally the vacuum-pan, helped to reduce the cost. It must be remembered that all the Demerara sugar made at the beginning of the present century wag mus- covado, and it is enough to make the modern planters’ mouth water to hear of a hundred shillings per cwt. for such muck as was shipped at thattime, Is it any wonder that when it went down to about thirty shillings, every- one said they would be ruined, Petitions to Parliament were drawn up, a Committee appointed, and a loan to the West Indies recommended. But, the great slavery question had now come to the front. Orders in Council limiting the hours of labour and giving civil rights to the negro produced great dis- 978 TIMEHRI. satisfaétion, which continued down to the emancipation. Estate owners who could obtain capital to ere& machi- nery, succeeded in making their properties pay, but the poor man with his mill driven by mules went to the wall. Those who remained raised money on mortgages which took into account not only the land, buildings and machinery, but the human property as well—in faét the last was of more value than all the rest. This produced so much trouble at the final emancipation that it may be considered as the main cause of the strong opposition. For, if a mortgage were given to the amount of two- thirds of the value of the negroes alone, without anything else, and the compensation was only one-third, or half the amount, the money lender had no hopes of ever getting the remainder. Then, the rumour of negro freedom shut up the purse of the capitalist, for what was the use of a plantation without labour. ‘‘Oh!”’ said the planter, ‘the British Government cannot interfere with private property; they might just as well take away your land and buildings.” But, the cautious financier shook his head and the would-be mortgager had to do the best he could. This uncertainty continued for about twenty years, producing such anxiety as is hardly conceivable now-a- days. The incomes of widows and orphans, besides those of planters, merchants and capitalists, were depen- dent upon a system which had been undermined, At last it fell, and with it came disasters hitherto unknown. Those who have talked with old people, both white and black, will remember what they said of the troubles which fell upon both. There were white people in Georgetown who sunk so low that they had to depend upon their ~. RUIN. 49 former slaves for daily bread. People talk of the cruelty of the slave system, but we may safely affirm that the negro on a plantation was far better off before the emanci- pation than now. The change was made too suddenly, and in an unnatural way. Serfdom in European coun- tries went out slowly and its downfall caused few diffi- culties ; the slave emancipation on the contrary produced awful consequences which are seen and felt down to the present day. The great downfall came in 1838 and trouble fell at once upon the planter. The mortgagees came down like a flock of carrion crows and in most cases secured the compensation money as instalments on account, Only on account, however, for few estates had liens so small as a third of the value of their negroes. Wages had now to be paid and those who could pay got labour of a sort—others were perforce obliged to give up. Fortunate indeed were those who sold their estates to the freedmen, for they escaped the further difficulties pro- duced by the abolition of the differential sugar duties, Eight years passed after the emancipation before those _duties were abolished. Those planters who had not been ruined by the first revolution were struck down by the second. Only here and there was an exception ; for example WILLIAM (afterwards Sir WILLIAM) ARRINDELL kept on Zeelandia by money gained in his legal praétise. Lawyers of course did very well, for there were so many foreclosures and suits, but everybody eise suffered more or less. Merchants failed, progress on every line was checked, the public roads were in many places quag- mires, and in some quite impassable, and altogether every prospect of recovery was gone. 80 TIMEHRI. But, a few British capitalists stuck to the sinking ship ; at last by almost herculean efforts they pumped it dry and mended the leak. Coolie immigration and machi- nery were the panaceas; the former was only conceded after a hard struggle with the Government. We have to thank JOHN GLADSTONE for initiating the system, and though his first introductions may be consideredas failures, they paved the way for something better. . Slowly but surely the colony recovered. Presently the sugar export went up to an amount beyond that of the old times and the new estate owners began to breathe more freely. Although fewer plantations were in culti- vation the acreage under canes was much increased, and then, a better kind of sugar was almost universally manufactured. Little fortunes were spent on machinery and buildings, with the result that the cost of manufac- ture was reduced as well as that of labour. The largest export of sugar in the old time was that of 1827, amount- ing to 71,168 hhds. and in 1838 it was 54,583 hhds. After the emancipation it fell gradually until in 1846 the total was only 26,211 hhds., the lowest point, after which it slowly but gradually began to creep up again, reaching 725347 hhds. in 1861. Ten years later it crept up to 104,204 hhds, and got to its highest point in 1887 with 149,860 hhds., since which it has again declined. The present crisis, like that of the beginning of the century, is the result of over-produétion, but whereas then it was only of cane sugar, now, owing to the bounty system, that from the beet rules the market. The Deme- rara planters think they might be able to keep on their estates if bounties did not exist, but the difficulties in the way of their abolition seem to be insurmountable, RuIN. 81 merely on account of national jealousy. ‘‘ JOHN BULL” is hardly likely to give up his free-trade principles for the benefit of the sugar planter, when he has consis- tently refused to do so for the British wheat grower. What can be done? A great deal has been written about taking up other things, but the difficulties are almost insurmountable, Cotton is so low in price that a return tosits cultivation would be useless ; coffee is possible, but if this were taken up on the coast it would thrive only on the back lands of the estates, and even then would require Erythrinas or other shade trees. This means the total abandonment of all the front lands, and the loss of all the capital—in some cases amounting to about 2 hundred thousand pounds—invested in Sugar machinery. Mr. HILHOUSE* suggested that, given an equal remunerating value, the first 500 roods of a coast estate should be planted with cotton, the second with canes and the back with coffee and plantains. Canes being inadmissible and the prospeéts of cotton by no means encouraging, the only cultivable produét to be adopted is coffee, and this as he says will only do well on the back lands, There would be no real difficulty in growing coffee provided the capital could be raised, but it is doubtful whether it would not be better and cheaper in the-end to abandon the coast altogether, and buy land on the Canals or within ten miles of the mouths of the rivers, on their banks. At all events it would mean ruin to the present estate-owners. Under the old system the planting of a sugar estate with cotton or coffee meant but a small loss, for the horse-power mill and coppers were of little value com- * Page 33 ante. 82 TIMEHRI. pared with the plant of such an estate as Diamond and Nonpariel to-day. ‘The very faé that perfeétion in sugar making has been the goal of the planter for many years past will make the downfall all the greater. Those capital- ists who have lost on sugar are not likely, even if they had the money, to try another investment in coffee, which might be ruined if Brazil chose to adopt a bounty system. What then can be done? Let the colony gd to ruin or give it a little assistance? The free trade principle is undoubtedly right in theory, but can one country adopt it indiscriminately while others all round are bolstering up their industries to be able to compete with the free traders? It is an old adage that there is no rule without exception, and we believe that the present crisis of the sugar colonies indicates a condition which makes a measure of prote€tion desirable to save them from im- pending ruin. The British voter, no doubt, cares little or nothing for the West Indian, as long as he gets cheap sugar, and anything that will raise the price of that neces- sary article will naturally be opposed. If the British Government however would only relax the free-trade principle little, to save the sugar colonies from.perishing, we believe that a bounty could be given without difficulty. In round numbers the imports of sugar into the United Kingdom amount to about one and a half million tons per annum, of which supply we may credit the British Colonies with one-fourth. Now, to prevent diffi- culties in conne&tion with commercial treaties it would be necessary, were a duty imposed at all, that it be unti- form, and we would suggest that eightpence per hundred- weight be imposed for the purpose of raising the fund necessary to give the sugar colonies a bounty. This im- RUIN. 83 post would be so small as to be hardly felt by the con- sumer, yet it might be sufficient to give our planters a bounty of two shillings per cwt., or even 2s. 8d., z.¢., a return of the duty paid as well, In warfare it is some- times necessary to fight the enemy with his own weapons ; the fiscal arrangements of most countries take this into account. The above would certainly be quite a fair arrangement, and we cannot see how any of the con- tinental nations could objeét to it, although they cer- tainly would oppose anything like a countervailing duty. Unless something is done British Guiana will probably pass through a similar crisis to that experienced. in the decade between 1840 and 1850. The ultimate results may not be altogether evil, yet the pain, trouble and misery of such a downfall will be most distressing. When we remember that after the emancipation some of the roads became so impassable that the mails were often stopped, and see what a drawback the want of regular communi- cation throughout the colony would be now, it almost makes us despair. From the rise of sugar we can date all progress, and, although some are inclined to expeét great things from gold, it is doubtful whether any- thing like permanent benefit can be derived from it. The industry may perhaps assist the colony for some time to come, but, without some agricultural produét, there can be nothing like prosperity. Is it not a faét that most of the capital used in that industry was ob- tained through sugar? And, is it not also a faét that _ the late depression in our staple is being felt in the diggings and is largely responsible for their stagnant condition ? L2 The Results of Recent Scientific Researches into the Agricultural Improvement of the Sugar Cane. By $. B. Harrison, M.A., FI.C., F.GS., F.CS., Etc., Government Analyst. 3, NTIL within the last fifteen years all attempts to improve the agricultural yield of the sugar cane by the application of modern methods of scientific research appear in English Colonies to have been limited to the growth of varieties of sugar cane in the Government Botanic Gardens ot Mauritius, Jamaica, Trinidad and Queensland. The Botanists in charge of these institutions based their recommendations to plan- ters as to the adoption of one or other variety, simply on the appearance of the growth of the plant, its freedom from visible signs of certain diseases, and its greater or less immunity from attacks by moth borers and other inseét pests. Occasionally we find that the degree Baumé or the degree Arnaboldi or some other equally vague mode of recording the specific gravity of the ex- pressed juice of the cane was employed, whilst the highest requirements of science appear to have been considered as fully met when, in addition to the colour and other morphological charaéteristics of the canes, the percent- age of expressed juice together with its specific gravity was recorded. In foreign countries and colonies a very similar state of affairs existed, although in some of them, for instance Java, the scientific knowlege of the agricul- tural requirements of the sugar cane and of the agricul- tural value of many of its varieties was considerably in IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 85 advance of that in the British colonies; although our colonies working on the classical British system of agri- culture;—profiting by the expensive mistakes and the accumulat.d experience of our forefathers, whilst ne- gleéting or not fully profiting by the results of modern agricultural research,—produced probably higher yields of canes per acre than did any of their competitors, with the exception of the extraordinary yields of from seven to ten tons of sugar per acre reported from time to time as being attained by the cultivation of the Lahaina (Bourbon) cane in the Sandwich Islands. I purpose this afternoon, as far as I can in the brief limit of a paper, to bring before the members of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, in a popular form, the results obtained in recent years by applications of science in the field and the laboratory towards increasing the agricultural yield of the sugar- cane. I shall confine myself wholly to the agricultural side of the question, this society possessing many mem- bers far better qualified to speak upon the manufaéture than | can be, and | will bring before you the subjeé& which we are about to discuss arranged under the fol- lowing heads :— I. The search for Senate i varieties of sugar cane. (a) by the examination of varieties obtained from other countries. (6) by “ bud variation.’’ (c) by “ grafting.” (da) by sele&tion of tops for planting from canes of high saccharine strength. (e) by raising new varieties by means of the seed. of the cane, 8&6 TIMEHRI. 2. The improvement of the agricultural yield by means of manures. 1. The search for improved varieties of sugar cane. By improved varieties are meant varieties yielding more sugar per acre than does the Bourbon, the White Trans- parent, the Purple Transparent or the Red Ribbon cane in the countries where either of them is the staple variety, and this may be attained in the following ways :— istly, by increase in the tons of canes produced per acre. 2ndly, by increased contents of sucrose in the canes, 3rdly, by both increased saccharine contents and in- creased weight of canes produced per acre. 4thly, by freedom of the canes from the diseases attacking them in the different countries. M. J. KRAJENBRINK, in Java, in 1860, pointed out some of these desiderata in terms well worthy of repro- duétion, and which are as follows :— ist. Can we increase the richness of the cane juice represented by the proportion of crystallisable sugar con- tained in one gallon, without at the same time diminish- ing the proportionate quantity of juice yielded ? 2nd, Can’ we obtain finer and stronger canes without diminishing the quantity of the juice or its saccharine richness ? } 3rd. Can we obtain a larger number of canes to each stool without injury to their development, and without injuring their richness in juice or sugar ? Before entering into this branch of our subjeét it will be as well to consider what are the amounts of sucrose present in sugar canes of normal growth, as it is to the highly exaggerated ideas prevalent regarding the IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 87 saccharine contents of the sugar cane, and which, although well known to be incorreét by the great majority of planters engaged in the sugar industry in places where modern methods have been adopted, are still frequently given as correét in works claiming to be authoritative, and form the basis of newspaper articles which state, as though giving faéts beyond the possibility of contradic- tion, that we are only getting from one-third to one-half of the sugar out of the cane which it contains. About 1790, DUTRONE iu his Azstotre de la Canne pointed out that the sugar cane contained three kinds of juice, “ one aqueous, another saccharine and the third mucous,” and with this statement the matter rested for very many years, The next enquirer into the saccharine contents of the sugar cane, as far as I can find recorded, was Mr. THOMAS KERR, then a planter in Barbados, afterwards Governor of the Falkland Islands, who carried out a series of experi- ments on fra€tional crushings of sugar canes in March 1852, in which he found that the sugar contents of the residual juices was always less than that of the expressed juice ; and these results were explained by Dr. J. D. MAy- COCK, as due to the juice in the sap vessels probably not being so richin sugar as that in the cellular tissue, and that the walls of the former being very much stronger than those of the latter resist a power which crushes the latter and expresses the juice from it. Dr. ICERY of Mauritius in his well known “ Researches on the juice of the Sugar Cane,” apparently unaware of the investigations which I have alluded to, after stating that the question had never been studied, gives figures which he obtained in O@ober, 1864, showing that the additional juice yielded 88 TIMEHRI. by an increase of pressure contained distinétly less sucrose than did the juice first expressed, and explains this on practically the same grounds as those on which Dr. MAYCOCK had in 1852. Inthe early eighties, Dr. WILEY, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture of the United States, again noticed and drew attention to this fa&t. But in the face of these repeatedly published results, the normal composition of the sugar cane re- mained in the text books at 18 per cent. of sucrose with occasional wanderings of from 16 to 24 per cent. It was ‘reserved for the able chemist who was my predecessor in my present post to first appreciate the bearing of these fa&ts on the true saccharine contents of the sugar cane, to be, in his Annual Report for the year 1883, the first to publish accurate analyses of sugar canes, and to supply in his paper read before this society on June 11th, 1885, unimpeachable data showing that the sugar cane does not contain anything like the proportions of sucrose it had usually been credited with, and that, instead of containing from 18 to 21 per cent,, it seldoms contains 16 per cent., whilst thc average amount of total sugars present in canes grown in this colony is only 14 per cent. or even less, We now know that the Bourbon canes of this colony contain on an average about 13 per cent. of sucrose, that Bourbon canes grown in Barbados contain on an average 14°5 per cent. of sucrose, and that the varieties White Transparent, Purple Transparent and Red Ribbon Canes may contain from half to one per cent. more than the Bourbon does when grown under similar conditions, and that there are no satisfaétory reasons, for considering that these results are widely departed from in excess in any part of the world. ' a IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 89 (a) Varieties obtained from other countries. This line of research is doubtless the earliest one which | was followed, for we find that as far back as the time of the mutiny of the Bounty, the West Indian Planters were on the outlook for better varieties, and imported into the West Indies, the Bourbon, the Purple Transparent, the White Transparent, the Red Ribbon, the Green Ribbon and probably the Violet Ribbon varieties from the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans to replace the old Brazi- lian cane, a few of which latter still linger in our cane- fields and are knownas Creole or as Native canes. We find it recorded that from time to time interest in these and other varieties increased and decreased in the West Indies, but that more interest in this matter was appa- rently always taken in Java, in Mauritius and in Queens- land than in these western colonies. In Java for instance, in 1860, M, J. KRAJENBRINK made a careful series of ex- periments with nine varieties of canes, a report of which is to be found on P. 193 of Vol. ii. of the Sugar Cane. In the British West Indies, Jamaica set the example of systematic cultivation of varieties of canes in the Govern- ment Botanic Gardens, followed by Trinidad, then by this colony and later by Barbados. But, as I have already mentioned, in the first two of these colonies the interest taken in the varieties by the Government Botanists merely extended to their morphological charaéters and occasionally to the yield of juice; an excellent example of which system may be found in Dr. MORRIS’ report on his Department in Jamaica for 1884. The planter was left to ascertain by experiment on a large and costly scale as to whether or not some variety would give as good results with his former staple kind and necessarily M go TIMEHRI. in the great majority of cases, the planters’ experiments proved not only costly but unsatisfa€tory in the extreme. Some of us will doubtless recolleét the times when Mr. A. would plant a few acres of Salangor canes in the hopes of getting better field returns and richer cane juice ; how these Salangor in some years flourished and raised hopes of heavy returns of sugar; how in others they unaccountably languished; but how, whether they flourished or languished, one thing invariably charac- terised them—miserably poor juice and consequent loss of money. Or again mislead by their size plan- ters grew a few acres of the Elephant cane, or of the Po-a-ole under one or other of its synonyms ; results the same,—juice of low saccharine strength some- times less than 1 Ib of sucrose to the gallon, loss of money and time to the planters, and of faith in attempt- ing to improve his returns by planting improved varieties ; all of which would have been saved if to the aid of the purely botanical experiments theassistance had been called of the chemist and of the scientific agricultural expert. But in this colony and in Barbados from the com- mencements of the experiments with varieties different systems were adopted. Here systematic analyses were made each year and published in either the report of the Government Laboratory or in that of the Botanic Gar- dens, and as I| have already pointed out, these analyses were the first published showing the aétually truecompo- sition of sugar canes. Until 1888 only the composition of the canes were determined, but in that year and since the yield per acre of each variety has been ascertained, and we now have recorded and published the complete results of nine crops. In Barbados, the varieties under examina- IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. g! tion have always been grown in such a manner that the yields per acte and the compositions have been ascer- tained. In addition, in this Colony, MR. IENMAN set himself the task of reducing to some order the state of confusion which then prevailed and which still in most cane grow- ing countries charaCterises the nomenclature of varieties of canes. This has been done so successfully that r20 so- called varieties received at the Botanic Gardens have been gradually resolved into forty-two a€tual varieties. Un- fortunately. a similar course has not been adopted in the other English sugar producing colonies. In Louisiana, however, attempts have been made by DR. STUBBS with some success to elucidate the synonyms of varieties of canes in use in different countries. The synonyms of the more important varieties as determined at the Botani- cal Gardens or in Louisiana are as follows :— Bourbon.—Otaheite, Loucier, Portier, Lahaina, Bam- boo ti., China ii., Colony Cane, Cuban. White Transparent.—Caledonian Queen, Mamuri, Rappoe, Hope, Light Java, Cheribon, Crystallina, Rose Bamboo, Blue Cane, Light Purple. Purple Transparent.—Black Java, Louisiana Purple, Meera, Blue Cane, Dark Purple, Queensland Creole. Red Ribbon—Mexican Striped, Batavian Striped, Louisiana Striped, Seete, Striped Singapore. Green Ribbon.— Malay, Brisbane, Green Rose Ribbon, White Striped Bourbon. Po-a-ole.—Altamattie, Purple Mauritius, Cavengerie, Giant Claret. | Mani.—Norman. | The yields of the varieties have been determined M2 92 TIMEHRI. during nine crops at the Botanic Gardens, and the fol- lowing are the results obtained with some of the better varieties :— Tons of Equivalent yield of canes per acre. ist & 2nd sugars. Bourbon... a 28°55 aos rs! White Transparent ... 28'9 ese oe =: 2°57 Mani te, ove 30°75 ene ave 240 Kamba-Kamba-vati ... 20°5 te we ih DA Red Ribbon... re 23'8 acs ere oe) Po-a-ole a. ae 30°6 eat koe “nt 220 Tamarind ... bes 24°05 van Br fin | Chigaca .«.. ae 26°5 es “on ee Sacuri tis and 23°5 one im See Purple Transparent ... 22°75 oss ea, nee In Barbados the results over a similar number of crops are as follows :— | Tons. of Equivalent yield of canes per acre, ist & 2nd sugars. Bourbon ... vas a 8s vee sabl) LOE White Transparent ony AOS one abe any Red Ribbon of tee A27'H vee att SOS Purple Transparent so TOR ose sae 52°55 The larger yields are explained by the faét that in Barbados the experiments have been carried on only with piant canes, while here both plant canes and ratoons were included. In Antigua somewhat similar experiments have been recently made, and the results taken from Mr, WATT’S reports are as follows :— Plants & Ratoons. Tons ist & 2nd sugars. White Transparent rr, ok vs we ~2F'OS: Purple Transparent .,.. ae oes ooo §=s: EO Bourbon pets vee san eee ety) 93 Red Ribbon ... doe aes ete ok’? Ore It is evident that in Barbados and in British Guiana, SE ae IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 93 the relative values of the more important of the old varieties of the sugar cane are very similar, the Bourbon being the best, and being somewhat closely followed by the White Transparent, whilst in Antigua, where the annual rainfall is much lower than in either of the former colonies, as might be expeéted, the hardier varieties have given distin€tly better results than the Bourbon. As far as the West Indian Colonies go, experiments with the older varieties of canes have not resulted in finding a more produ€tive variety, on an average of years, than the Bourbon, But these experiments have not been wasted; they have served to point out that over a series of years the Bourbon in its yield is not so far ahead of the White Transparent as we were inclined to expeét, and that the White Transparent is a far hardier cane and one more resistent to attacks of inseét and fungoid pests than the Bourbon. In this colony I am quite satisfied that on many estates considerable advantages might be gained by the substitution of the White Transparent for the Bourbon on certain of the lighter soils aback, where the latter variety does not ratoon well. Somewhat common in our cane fields is the Green Ribbon. I have been frequently struck here with the robust growth of stools of this cane amid Bourbon canes, and I am of opinion that it would be worth while for some planters to pick out canes of this variety and to grow a few acres of it for experimental purposes, It is a cane with an excellent record under the name of Green Rose Ribbon in the Australian colonies, It is worthy of note that in the fifties M. ROST VAN TONNINGEN of Java, in treating about varieties of sugar cane arrived at the following four propositions which, in 94 TIMEHRIL. my opinion, have been since fully confirmed by many experiments :-— | 1. That every (sugar cane) region is peculiarly adapted to the culture of one or other variety of cane, the causes of which science cannot accurately determine. 2. That we shall be led to false conclusions if we judge of the qualities of a variety of cane suited to a certain distri€t, by the qualities shown by the same cane when transplanted into conditions of inferior culture. 3.» That the sugar cane, like a great number of other vegetables, is improved by continuous careful cultivation. 4. That it is not always advantageous, and that it may be imprudent to replace on a large scale, in a given locality, a good variety of cane by another variety which ' gives better results in a different region. (6) By bud vartation. Until recently this mode of attaining an improved. variety of cane appeared to be a favourite one with the authorities at Kew. By “bud variety” is meant the produ€tion of a variety distinét from that of the parent cane by means of a shoot springing from an eye. As the search for these “ bud variations” has been recom- mended by such high authority it is of some interest to ascertain on what grounds the assertion that “ bud varia- tion” occurs in the sugar cane is based. Neither Mr. JEN- MAN nor myself during our long individual experiences with the scientific observation of the sugar cane—experi- ences probably as extensive as that of any other scientific observers—have ever seen anything resembling a ‘‘ bud variation” in the case of the sugar cane, and | think that we are justified in assuming that if such variation ever occurs it is only in exceedingly rare cases, IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 95 The first instance I can find recorded of the discovery of a bud variation occurs in the Report of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Mauritius, for 1869* in which Dr. HORNE, the Dire¢tor, wrote under the heading of Azd- bon Cane. “On examining the plants of this cane at “ Mon Plaiser’’ a plant was noticed producing green instead of striped canes. On further examination two other plants were found, one cf which was pro- ducing striped canes from one eye, and green canes from another eye, both of which eyes belonged to the same piece of cane, while the other plant was produc- ing both striped and green canes from one and the same eye.” Now here appears to be an account of the authentic produétion of bud varieties noticed by an observer of high standing, but as far as I can find, no further notice was taken of the matter at the time, and I cannot definitely learn as to whether or not these apparent bud varieties were separately cultivated or lost. That, however, Dr. HORNE was fully satisfied of the correétness of his observations and that these varieties or others similarly obtained were probably preserved may be gathered from a letter which he wrote to the Direétor of Kew Gardens under date of December gth, 1890, and from which the following is extraéted :— “| think it probable that more and better results will “be obtained by good cultivation and by new varieties from bud sports, Of these last we have eight or nine in Mauritius alone, some of them are very fine canes and they are extensively planted. Most of them are hardier than their parents and yield more sugar. They are mostly obtained from new canes recently introduced. * Sugar Cane Vol. ii. p. 673. 96 TIMEHRI. The sudden change of climate, soil and other circum- stances cause them to be thrown off.” The weak point in the account lies in the statement’ that ‘‘ they are mostly obtained from new canes recently introduced.” Several instances have been found in the Botanic Gardens here and also elsewhere, where among canes springing from cuttings of yarieties recently introduced, canes havs been found differing from the bulk and an enthusiastic but superficial observer could easily have considered these to be bud variations. But almost without exception, when these were cultivated separately, they were proved to be other well-known, and in many cases, common varieties. The next account of the reported occurrence of bud -sports occurs in a paper read by Mr. MELMOTH HALE at a meeting of the Agricultural Society of New South Wales in either 1873 or 1874.* In describing what is probably the Red Ribbon Cane he said :— “] have reason to think that it is only a sport from the Otaheite cane or Vaihi, to which, in all regpeéts but the colour of the cane it bears a strong resemblance. In support of this opinion I must state that I have, in one instance, seen no less than three distin& canes springing from one stool of the ribbon variety—one entirely yellow, another entirely green, the others being the usual ribbon canes, while from other stools in the same field I found canes either of a uniform green, purple or purplish brown, all the rest springing from the same ribbon cane root being striped in the customary way. The cuttings from these sports perpetuate the variety and have usually some distin€tive properties such as rapidity of growth * Sugar Cane Vol, vi. p. 524. eS eo IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 97 or sweetness of juice, notably so in the case of the yellow cane, about an acre of which I saw growing on Mr. RICHARD MEARS’ property on the Hastings, at the time in possession of M. GEORGE MORRISON, a recent arrival from the West Indies—who assured me that it was the genuine Otaheite cane, from which indeed it was hardly'to be distinguished. But subse- quent inquiry convinced me that it had originated in a similar sport from the ribbon cane, than which it is said to be a good deal sweeter. Ihave discovered this disposition to ‘‘ sport” in other kinds of cane, as for instance in the dark and light purple, from each of which I obtained permanent varieties of handsomely striped canes and which | named respeétively Somerville’s and Bale’s ribbon, from the farms where I first saw them growing.” In Queensland reports for some years after the date of this paper, reference is not unfrequently made to the yellow “ sport” from the ribbon cane, It is an interesting coincidence that the variety des- cribed as yielding bud sports by Dr. HORNE was probably the same as the one described by Mr. HALL. In 1886 at Dodd’s in Barbados, Mr. BOVELL discovered what he believed to be a bud sport among a plot of a variety of cane named “Naga,” a variety which had been received a short time previously from Jamaica. Personally I was never satisfied that this was a true sport. While I was in. Barbados this “ sport” closely resembled the variety from which it was obtained, the canes being almost identical in average size and giving a very similar weight of canes per acre. But later, judging from Mr. BOVELL’S Reports, it underwent a remarkable N 98 TIMEHRI. change and yielded very heavily, In consequence, we applied to Mr. BOVELL for plants of it which were duly received and planted in the Botanic Gardens. These gave us two varieties, one of which proved to be identical with the Naga, which we had under the synonym of Keening, while the other was shewn by repeated culti- vation to be the White Transparent. Whether or not we received the true “ Naga sport” we cannot say ; if so the plants of it must have been mixed with White Transpa- rent canes and ordinary Naga, and failed to grow. But | recently I saw many fields of the so-called “ Naga sport” (‘“‘Doddsii”) in Barbados, Antigua and St, Vincent, and in each case, the majority of the canes were White Transparent canes, The only other instance, which | am aware of, in which sports of this kind have been claimed to be noticed, is from Louisiana, and is described on page 379 of Bulletin, No. 14 (1891, Second Series), of the Louisiana Sugar Experiment Station, in the following words :-— “As an illustration of bud variation, three years ago some stalks of cane, partly white and partly purple, were seleéted from the field of SONIAT Bros.’ Ochampitalas plantation. They were called by them bastard canes, The stalks were taken and planted as follows :—First row, the entire stalk ; second row, the white joints of each stalk ; third row, the coloured joints of each stalk, At the end of the season four distinét canes, as far as colour could direét us, were obtained. ‘Types ofthe four new varieties were seleéted and separately planted and this year were found to be nearly pure. Sele€tion and separate plantings were again made, ‘These canes have been named as follows :—First, a white cane, No. 29, IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 99 Soniat, after the owners of the plantation ; second, a light striped, No. 59, Nicholls, after the Governor of our State ; third, a light purple cane, No. 64, Bird, after the Com- missioner of Agriculture: fourth, a dark striped, No. 65, Garig, after the other member of the Board of Agricul- ture. These canes, except the white, are entirely different from any other cane in our colleétion.”’ It must, I think, be admitted that the evidence, so faras it is available, with regard to the occurrence of “ bud” sports in the sugar cane, is somewhat meagre, but that, on the whole, it points to the occurrence of bud variation as a very rare manifestation on the part of the sugar cane. Hence, I do not consider that the improvement of the sugar cane by means of bud sports can be considered as a praétical method, orone likely torepay the enormous amountof work necessary to search through many square miles of sugar canes in search of what, at the best, must be of extremely rare occurrence. ; (c) By the production of gratt-hybrids. Attention has been recently direéted towards the possi- bility of the produétion of new varieties of sugar canes by grafting canes of one variety with scions of another kind, by an assertion which appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, that successful experiments had been made by grafting buds of a variety of cane upon stocks of a different variety which had resulted in the produétion of a hybrid combining in itself the properties of both “parents. Those who have made a study of the literature of the sugar cane are aware that claims of this sort have been made from time to time, but that beyond the claim nothing afterwards has been heard of the discovery. Probably, this last claim would have speedily followed N2 100 TIMEHRI. its foregeners, if in the Sugar Cane for November last Mr, BARBER, late Direétor of Agriculture in the Leeward Islands, in an article entitled “ Graft-hybrids of the Sugar Cane,” after stating that pratical planters “ appear to have dismissed the matter rather unceremoniously as altogether unscientific” had not gone on to say “ The method does not appear to have had adequate trial during recent years at the experimental sugar stations, and there are circumstances which would warrant more atten- tion being paid to the process in sugar growing colo- nies.” He then quoted a hitherto unpublished letter from the late CHARLES DARWIN to G. T. ROMANES dated January ist 1881, relating to claims made by the Baron DE VILLA FRANCA and Dr. GLASL of Brazil that they had successfully produced graft-hybrids. Now, we must plead guilty to not having experimented in this manner, and certainly after discussion, Mr. JENMAN and myself agreed with the praétical planters and “rather unceremoniously dismissed the matter as altogether un- scientific.” But beyond our own scientific knowledge we had good and definite reason for doing so; wehavea file of the Sugar Cane and from time to time we consult it. Now in Vol. [X on pp. 315-519, 342-349 and AlI-417 may be found a report, translated from the Portuguese, covering the whole of this matter, discussing the alleged cases of successful grafting, including those of the Baron DE VILLA FRANCA and those of Dr. GLASL, and this report is signed among others by Dr. GLASL himself. It will be sufficient for my purpose, which is to show that Mr. BARBER’S assertion that “ there are circum- stances which would warrant more attention being paid to the process in sugar growing colonies” is not ona EE Se eee ee IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. Io! well founded base, to quote the conclusion arrived at by the Committee of the Imperial Agricultural Institute of Brazil appointed to enquire into the matter, of which Committee Dr. GLASL was the most prominent member, and which may be found on p. 417 of the Sugar Cane Vol. IX. :— * 1. The real grafting of sugar'cane does not exist. 2. Theory does not explain it, and fa&s do not confirm it. \ 3. All fa€ts presented up to our time, as to grafts, appertain perfectly to the great field of | morphological phenomena.” _ These conclusions were arrived at after consideration of the alleged results of gratting by at least four methods, and aétual examinations of the so-called grafted canes, and | think that under the circumstances you will agree that Mr. JENMAN and myself are not deserving of any great degree of censure for not attempting to graft a monocotyiedonous plant. The produé€tion of improved varieties by graft-hybrids of the sugar cane, in my opinion, may, with all due deference to Professor BARBER, be dismissed as beyond the bounds of probability. (a) By the selection of tops for planting from canes of high saccharine contents. Many refleétions have been cast at sugar cane planters from time to time by those whose knowledge of the plant has been almost entirely theoretical, for not seleét- ing the tops for planting on account of their apparent vigour or of the high saccharine strength of the cane from which they are cut. Among others the Dire€tor of Kew Gardens has frequently called attention to this matter. But neither among practical planters nor among 102 TIMEHRI. the great majority of the scientific experts who are con- stantly engaged in the study of the plant have these recommendations received much support. The praétical planter knows from long experience that a top derived from a small, hard, fully matured cane is far more certain to grow than one derived from a fine large but frequently immature cane. He is also well acquainted with the fa&ts that the influences of soils and seasons govern the relative saccharine contents of the cane, and he has not found that tops obtained from canes grown in Barbados with a total sugar contents of from 14} to 15 per cent have produced richer canes than tops from canes grown in the colony and containing only about 13 per cent of total sugars. This last experience has been many times repeated and on large scales. The scientific expert, aware of the faéts upon which the pra€tical planter relies, while he willingly admits that, if from some cause inherent in the cane itself, sports were produced of relatively high saccharine strength, tops taken from such sports would probably produce canes having the same property, can not admit that when a cane, from differences due toage, to position in the stool, or to soil or manurial conditions, becomes of saccharine strength above the average of its kind, there exists any likelihood of a cutting from the older or otherwise favoured shoot producing a new plant of sac- charine richness above the average. That considerable differences do occur in the richness of individual canes is in accordance with the experience of all who have had cause to study the composition of the sugar cane, but such differences are almost invariably traceable to con- ditions of age or to conditions exterior to the plant. I do not deny that from time to time, from causes inherent to IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 103 the plant, “sports”? may arise of canes richer in sugar contents than the average of canes of the same variety, but I believe this phenomenon to be probably as rare as is that of bud variation. But these views are not held by all sugar cane experts, and among those holding different views Mr. HUBERT EDSON of Louisiana has the foremost place. He claims to have conclusively proved that by sele€tion of canes for planting of saccharine strength higher than the average, a distinét increase in the saccharine con- tents of canes planted over wide arezs can be obtained. From his report issued in 1893 it appears that in 1891 he planted two fields of canes, one with “rich ” canes with juice containing 14°7 % of sucrose, the other with ‘‘poor”’ canes with juice containing 11°g % of sucrose. From these he got as follows :— Rich Canes. Poor Canes. 189q1 1t°2 o/o sucrose 10°9 1892 16 I5‘I and in another experiment where the rich canes yielded juice containing 19°5 % of total solids and that of the poor canes contained 17°2 % his results were :— Rich Canes. Poor Canes. 13°9 o/o sucrose 13°1 o/o sucrose. Mr. EDSON comments upon these results, after labo- riously elaborating out theoretical yields from his figures that ‘“ It is undoubtedly a remarkable showing” while Mr. THISELTON-DYER alluded in terms of high approval to these experiments in his somewhat recent condem- nation of the planters of this colony. I do not think that pra€tical planters, at any rate in this colony, share in the enthusiasm of Mr. EDSON and Mr. THISELTON-DYER. To me, the experiments, far from 104 TIMEHRI. proving what is claimed for them, appear merely to show that cuttings from canes of one kind, whether taken from either abnormally rich or abnormally poor individuals, tend to produce in their offspring, canes approximating to the normal richness of the variety. For we may notice that the standard of richness of the poor canes has increased more rapidly than that of the rich ones and an argument might easily be drawn from this that as if you seleét abnormally poor canes their offspring will be richer, you should plant a poor cane to.get a richer. The differences are not sufficiently marked to enable it to be stated that a rich cane will tend to produce richer offspring than a poor one will. In faét they are not so great as would be occasioned by slight differences in the degree of maturity of the rows occasioned by minute soil differences such as the one mentioned by Mr. EDSON that the row from the poor seed “was nearer to the ditch than the other” Do praétical planters require further proof of the unreliability of these results? especially when we read that the “poor” canes produced 6'5 per cent. more canes by weight. In his latest communication to the Sugar Cane last year Mr, EDSON maintained, with- out giving figures, the accuracy and importance of his results, and therefore we must assume that in the imma- ture canes grown in sub-tropical climates the richness of the parent cane may possibly slightly affect that of its immediate offspring. But does this hold good for the tropics? I have found some valuable experiments which, although not inten- tionally, bear upon this matter, in the reports of the Bar- bados Botanic Station. Several varieties of canes were planted in 1887, in some instances with plants received IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 105 —_—_—_——_ from the Botanic Gardens of this colony and in others with the same kinds raised in Barbados. Mr. FRANCIS determined the sugar contents of those raised here, while I determined those of the canes raised in Barbados. In both cases the canes were at maturity when analysed. For several years these canes were grown side by side on the experimental fields and the following were the results in the percentages of sugar contained in the canes :— RICH PARENTS. Red Ribbon. White Transparent. Purple Transparent. Bourbon, Parent 1887 14°04 15°39 15°89 15°30 15°07 13°96 1889 13°89 15°73) 7115/43 13°98 15°46 12°34 1890 13°14 IZ6r = 14°13 13°53 13°66 13°44 1891 14°23 15°27 15°24 14°28 13°33 Poor PARENTS. Red Ribbon. White Transparent. Purple Transparent. Bourbon. Parent 1887 13°53 — 13°68 14°83 12°90 1889 16°11 14°85 14°72 12°70 1890 13°13 14°51 13°66 14°04 1891 15°30 14°75) 14°50 14°28 The averages of the three crops were as follows :-— eee PL pienea Se iclelics! 5 Weauee Canes from rich parents can MoE SOS 15°07 13°75 14°36 Canes from poor r parents a. AES 14°75 14°85 14°29 The only results which give the least support to Mr. EDSON’S experiments were those with the White Trans- parent. The average of all of the results was as follows :-— Canes from rich parents ... s0 8405 Canes from poor parents ... «=» 14°39 which does not in any way support the contention that é O 106 TIMEHRI. STO ea es MAESTRO ANE FN canes grown from richer parents will tend to be richer than those raised from poorer parents, In addition, this experiment has been frequently re- peated in this colony. Bourbon canes grown in Barba- dos are well known to contain on an average at least one and a half per cent. more sucrose than those raised here. On many occasions canes have been imported from Barbados and used here for planting. Now, if the con- tention of Mr. EDSON and Mr. THISELTON-DYER is correét, fields planted with tops from Barbados ought to have yielded decidedly richer canes than those planted with Demerara tops. Has this ever been the case? I can find no record of it; and with men so keenly alive to every point in their pursuit which promises advantage however small as are our planters, I am certain that if richer canes had been obtained the fat would have been noticed and the matter followed up. The universal opinion appears to be that no better results as regards the richness of the cane juice have been obtained from Barbados tops than from local ones. From the foregoing grounds Mr. JENMAN and myself have not considered it worth while expending time, | labour and money over attempts to obtain improved canes by sele€tion of tops for planting. (ce) By raising new varieties by means of the seed of the sugar cane. Until within the last ten years the idea that the sugar cane could produce fertile seeds was, by the great majority of planters and botanists, held to be absolutely without proof, and attempts to raise canes from seeds were considered to be as futile as I hold attempts to ob- tain ‘Graft hybrids”’ are. How this scientific and popu. IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 107 lar error arose it is difficult to tell. Some years ago, with the assistance of Mr. CARRUTHERS, the Keeper of Botany at the British Museum, I searched through a lot of old botanical works and we could find no trace of this belief, until about 1750 when HUGHES wrote his Natural History of Barbados. Nay, more, we found descriptions of the seed of the sugar cane so complete and accurate that CARRUTHERS considered they must take precedence of all recent work. Dr. DUTKONE in 1790 described the floresence of the cane as follows :— “It’s characters are these: it has no empalement, but a woolly down, longer than the flower that encloses it; the flower is bivalve; the valves are oblong, acute- pointed, concave, and chaffy; it has three hairlike stamina, the length of the valves, terminated by oblong summits, and an awl-shaped germen, supporting two rough styles, crowned by single stigmas; the germen becomes an oblong, acute-pointed seed, invested by the valves.’ In figure 27 of the plate in PORTER’S work on the sugar cane the germen with its two styles and stig- mas is shown. In the report of the Barbados Botanic Station for 1889 I gave the local history of the knowledge of the produétion of fertile seeds of the sugar cane, and in a letter to the Manchester Examiner in September, 1890, I gave the history of the matter as far as I knew it, This letter was re-published in the Kew Bulletin and afterwards copied in “Sugar” for Feb- ruary, 1891, Since then I have come across a few instances showing that certain investigators in the Western tropics were aware of the occasional fertility of the seed of the sugar cane, for instance Baron 02 108 TIMEHRI. VILLA FRANCA, in April, 1869, wrote: “ The floral parts of canes with some, although rare, polliniferous flowers and feminine organs’ concurred to produce species or new varieties,” an exa&t statement of what we now know. When in 1888, Mr. BOVELL and myself attacked this subject, it was not with the obje& of proving that the sugar cane could produce seed, as we had knowledge of previous successful experiments in the matter, but to find if from the seed of the sugar cane it was possible to obtain in considerable quantity seedlings of new varieties, some of which might possibly possess more desirable properties than do the present staple kinds. This objeét has been steadily kept in view ever since, and has been pursued in Barbados, in British Guiana, in Martinique, in Mauritius, to some extent in Java, and more recently in Trinidad, in Singapore and in Queensland. Progressin the work has been necessarily slow, and while, perhaps, caution has been the most marked feature of the work in this colony, still looking to the fate of the famed Burk cane, a seedling which was to do wonders, in Barbados, I cannot think our caution misplaced. This investiga- tion has only been pursued on scientific lines since 1889, and I think that the fa€ts that in this colony, in Java, and in Queensland, canes have been raised from seed having considerably higher sugar contents than the staple varieties shew, are most encouraging and should lead to increased aétivity in pursuing this line of research, Suc- cess in this appears to me to be the only likely opening for materially reducing the cost of sugar produ€tion in this colony where planters have already so fully availed them- selves of the resources of mechanical and chemical science. In Barbados, where this line of research was originated, ray — IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 109 judging only from the published reports, the present in- vestigators do not seem to have been successful in raising seedling varieties of exceptional saccharine strength. At any rate attention is not drawn to success in the reports, and from close examination of the tables I can find but little indication ofit. Possibly the prevalence of diseases in the canes there, has affeéted the results prejudicially. In this colony we have succeeded in raising several varieties having high saccharine contents, the most marked of which are Nos. 95, 74, 61 and 102, which have contained respeétively during four crops 16'5, 16°2, 15°5 and 15°1 per cent. of sucrose. During the same period the Bourbon canes on the same land averaged 13°3 per cent. These varieties are all canes of a slighter build than the Bourbon but give more canes to the stool and, in addition, ratoon better. We have some varieties No. 78, 10g, 145, 115 and 130, which are of about the same or are a little higher in saccharine strength than the Bourbon and which contained respec- tively 14.3, 14°5, 14°8, 13-8 and 14°2 per cent. of sucrose, and have given much higher yields of canes per acre. Also, we have raised several varieties yielding indi- vidual canes of great size, far in excess of that ofany known kind, but, unfortunately, these have all been ot low saccha- rine strength. We have not succeeded in obtaining, as yet, large sized canes of exceptionally high saccharine strength, but hope to do soin the future. That the high saccharine strength of some of these new varieties is a constant property is shown by the faét that the No. 95 cane grown in Louisiana had the same relatively high sugar contents as it had shewn in this colony. The yield of the Bourbon at the Botanic Gardens was, 110 TIMEHRI. on the average of four crops, equivalent to 2°5 tons of all sugars per acre, while the new varieties produced as fol- lows :— Tons of all sugars per acre. No. 78 ... aa agen ae oo» 362 No. 95... ae an ee cea an No, 102 ... eae au 5 os 2°63 No. 74 ... = “a Sep scot ae ae No. I09 ... Len “a AS cs.) Core No. 145 «.. ae daa ieee anaes Noor rs \s. ove ee oe is< .) Bee No. 130 ... cas ae re ois gaan These results, obtained on land not well suited to the growth of the sugar cane, are strongly indicative of the value of this new line of research. From Queensland recently came a report of the high , value of a seedling variety grown from seed obtained in 1889 from Barbados, and sown at Kew. From the pub- lished accounts this variety, which has been named “ Kewensis,” appears to contain about 15'7 per cent. of sucrose and to be of a prolific, heavy-yielding kind. In Java a variety, No. roo, has been obtained contain- ing about 15 per cent. of sucrose and of the future value of which considerable hopes appear to be entertained. During our investigations in this colony we have studied the peculiarities of growth and development which charaéterise new varieties of canes raised from seed. The principal of these are,—the very marked tendency to tillering charaéterising canes grown from seeds, which not unfrequently results in the produétion of stools having great numbers of canes in them, and the high glucose contents and low quotient of purity generally present IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. III in the canes grown from seed ; these two charaéteristics do not descend from the original seedlings to canes raised from their cuttings; the saccharine richness of the parent cane is no guidance to that of its progeny, nor is the relative richness of the parent variety; the seedling variety does not appear to be affected as regards size by that of its actual parent, but is, in the majority of cases, governed by that of the parent variety ; that in the cases of self-coloured canes the majority of the seedlings more or less closely resemble in colour the parent variety, while in those of striped or ribbon canes the widest possible ranges of variation in colour, in size, and in saccharine contents occur. ‘The best varieties for obtain- ing seed from in hope of getting better kinds appear to be the White Transparent and the Red Ribbon canes. With many varieties the tendency among the seedling progeny is to deteriorate rather than to improve, and this is markedly more the case with varieties raised from the seeds of seedling kinds, many of which are remarkably prolific, than with varieties which for untold generations have been propagated only by cuttings. We have raised, to our disgust, many kinds of seedlings some of which have given canes, perfe€t canes which at their proper time arrowed, not thicker than a stout lead pencil, and others which resembled tufts of coarse grass with little or no tendency to torm stalks. It is very evident that with seedling varieties the kinds obtained are merely sports, the tendency to varia- tion being so very wide that, in my opinion, it is almost useless to attempt improvement by artificial cross ferti- lisation or by raising plants from seeds of seleéted parentage. 212 TIMEHRI. This entails searching through very great numbers of seedling canes to sele& the better individuals, but on the other hand the chances of ultimate success are far greater from the marked tendency to variation than they would be if the seedlings came true to their parentage. Hence every additional investigator adds appreciably to our chances of improving the cane plant, if he uses care, judgement and, above all, caution, in making his selec- tions. The points to be aimed at in making seleCtions of seedling kinds appear to me to be the following, in order of relative importance .— ist, High saccharine strength. 2nd, Heavy yields per acre due to either (a) heavy tillering ; (6) large individual size; or preferably to both. grd, Resistent power to attacks of moth-borer and its concomitant ‘rind fungus.” 4th, Upright habit of growth. 5th, Absence of tendency of eyes to springing. 6th, Resistant power to attacks of cane rust. qth, Light colour of stem and consequent light colour of juice which results in easier clarification during the manufaéture of yellow crystals. There are, of course, other points such as the presence or absence of cane itch, which will doubtless impress themselves on investigators. The Improvement of the Agricultural yield by means of Manures. Up to the present I have confined myself to the per- manent improvement of the sugar cane by various means, IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 113 and I will now briefly treat of the temporary improve- ment of the yield by means of manures. Using the term manure in a wide sense, we, in this colony, must include among manures certain substances whose a@tion lies not so much on the plant as on im- proving the texture and condition of the soil. Of these the most important and, praétically, the only feasible agent for us on a heavy clay land, is lime. Lime.—Although very many experiments on the large scale have been made, especially in this colony, with lime, but very few results are on record. In faét, I can only find fully recorded those of the Colonial Company by Mr. SCARD and those at the Botanic Gardens. Pri- -vately Dr. STuBBS of Louisiana has informed me that he has used lime in very varying proportions on sugar cane fields but without any apparent benefit. I have known it used in Barbados and in St. Vincent with results which gratified the planter; I have also known it used in those islands with results which were produ€tive to him of a€tual loss. But when one knows the differ- ences which occur in the soils of those islands, the varying results are capable of easy explanation. On the heavy clay soils of this colony lime would be expected to be a universally beneficient agent, but ex- perience has shown that whilst in many instances its use has been attended with marked benefit, in others it has done little, if any, good, and its application has resulted in financial failure. The Colonial Company from their published experiments appear to have applied lime at a rate costing $7.00 per acre per annum, and taking all the results into consider- ation on land not manured, the lime produced an increase 4 114 TIMEHRI. of from 27°03 tons of canes per acre to 29'06 or 2°03 tons per acre per annum. Manures on land not limed gave an average yield of 28°8 tons, whilst on limed land the result was 30'1 tons, an increase of 1°3 tons per acre per annum due to lime, But an examination of the detailed tables shows that in some instances the average results over the five crops on the limed land were less than those of the not limed land, and as this was probably due either to soil or climatic conditions or to irregularities in the springing of the canes, I consider that if these were eliminated, the effe€ts due to lime would be more accu- rately shown. Eliminating these results, there appears to be an average annual increase of 3’9 tons per acre on the unmanured land and one of 2'9 on the manured land. Mr. SCARD’S results show strikingly how the effeéts of lime are modified by soil and climatic conditions, as the following were the average gains or losses apparently due to lime on each of the estates on which the experi- ments were continued during the five crops :— Albion wee, “ys «..4°5 tons per acre per annum gain. Vreed-en- Hoop a high rate of increase for nitrogenous manurings, were made with the Purple Transparent cane, a variety which at the Botanic Gardens has over a long series of years given a yield of only 22°75 tons per acre when receiving about 50 lbs. of nitrogen per acre in the manures applied. The Barbados experiments were started a few months before the Louisiana ones, and were at first arranged for the purpose of deciding broad questions with regard to sugar cane manures, but after I left that colony the experi- ments were, In my opinion, unwisely, re-arranged and modified, in the hopes of settling what may be considered to be local matters of detail with regard to the constitu- ents of cane manures and their application. Judging solely from the reports for 1891~1896, the experiments, adversely affeCted by drought and by the prevalence of diseaseamong the canes, have completely failed in this obje&t, and have, during these years, added comparatively little to our knowledge of the manurial requirements of the sugar cane, In the four crops 1887-8-g and ’go during which I was responsible for the arrangement of the experiments, the average annual yields of canes with and without nitrogen were as follows :— No manure 19'5 tons of canes per acre, Mixed minerals 25'3 » ” ”» rs mt and 40 lbs, Nitrogen ans e : «a i £ wv and 80 lbs, Nitrogen 341 a . pa — OO er IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 121 and the following were the results using sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda as sources of nitrogen respectively :— Nitrate of soda 27°4 tons of canes per acre, Sulphate of ammonia 29'9 % - 2 Over ten crops—1886 to 1895 both inclusive—the average yield with 60 lbs. of nitrogen as sulphate of ammonia was 30 tons per acre, and with an equiva- lent amount of nitrate of soda, 295 tons. During the five crops 1891-1895 the fields without manure yielded an average of 23°2 tons per acre, those with mixed minerals one of 25°4, whilst the average yield of all the fields receiving nitrogen was 29'6 tons. With some difficulty I have drawn up from the reports the following, which gives the results of those experiments which have been repeated each year without material alteration in the proportions of the manures applied :— No manure ‘ 23 tons of canes per acre. Mixed minerals pd ye » os Sulphate of ammonia, 40 lbs. Nitrogen 29.2 ,, & 2 3 is 60 lbs. “ ere oe i . Nitrate of soda, 60 lbs Nitrogen 3164"), P. he From 1887 to 1890 the plots manured only with nitro- gen and potash salts yielded 31°6 tons of canes per acre per annum, these with phosphates in addition 33°9 tons. From 1891 to 1895 the plots without phosphates yielded 29'2 tons, those With 30°8 tons. About 2 cwts, of a 36 per cent. superphosphate per acre proved the most successful quantity to apply from 1887 to 1890, while, during the later years, 3 cwts. per acre gave the best results. But during the perioc from 1891-1896, slag phosphates applied in somewhat varying quantities gave an average increased yield of 2°5 tons of canes per Q 122 TIMEHRI. ee against ‘8 ton the average increase due to super- phosphate of lime. During seven crops, mineral phos- phates in single and double dressings were experimented with, the average results being :— No Phosphates 29.3 tons of canes per acre. Mineral Phosphates (single) 299 , 39 2 Z * (double) gor ,, if 3 showing that on the Dodd’s soil mineral phosphates exerted but little aétion. The following shows the effeéts of potash during the two periods :— 1887-1890. 1891-1895. Without Potash 29'8tons of canes per acre. 26°2 tons of canes per acre, With Potash QOS re as ‘i a eral =p *e = Here the plots without potash appear to be suffering | from gradual exhaustion of the available potash in the soil, (The average amount of potash soluble in boiling hydrochloric acid in these soils in 1886 and 1887 was "1005 per cent.) The experiments conduéted by Mr. SCARD on behalf of the Colonial Company, in this colony, next claim attention. Unfortunately, these experiments, as is prac- tically unavoidable with agricultural experiments made on extensive sugar estates, were conduéted over com- paratively large areas (3 acre plots) and in consequence the results were adversely affe€ted by variations in the fertility of the soils. In addition, the unmanured plots were not duplicated on different.parts of the fields used, and thus no guidance was afforded to these soil differences. In all, the results of 858 manurial trials are given in the eloborate report published, and of these no less than 3o1 experiments gave results lower than those yielded by the control plots without manure, Mr. SCARD drew his Os a ee IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 123 deductions from the consideration of the averages of all theresults. Now, with all deference, I submit that it is not possible to average discordant results. I have therefore, for my present purpose, worked out the results, omitting the returns which were obtained on two estates over two crops only, and those on plots which on the average of the five crops gave results below those obtained on the corresponding not manured plots, and which, therefore, we may fairly assume to have been of markedly lower natural fertility than the control plots. In each case the increases have. been calculated against the yields from the corresponding not manured plots and not against the average yields of all of them. The following are the results 1 have thus arrived at :— Average increase in tons of Bree No. of plot. canes per acre per annum on limed and not limed plots. Nitrate of soda 13 cwts, 249 lbs. nitrogen. 3 5°83 13 cwts. superphosphate 25 0/o soluble. Nitrate of soda 3 cwt. 49'8 lbs. nitrogen. ; 13 cwts. superphosphate, Sulphate of ammonia | ? 602 cwt. 23°06 lbs. nitro- ree 3 cwt. superphosphate. fait: of ammonia 2 cwts, 46°12 lbs. nitro- gen. 1% cwt. superphosphate. Nitrate of soda 14 cwt, 5 : 5°62 Superphosphate 3 cwts. 5 f 5°49 Sulphate of ammonia 1 cwt. 5 6°09 Superphosphate 3 cwt. These give us as the average annual increase, for in Qa 124 . TIMEHRI. round numbers, 24 lbs. of nitrogen with superphosphates, six tons of canes per acre, while the results with the double dressings of nitrogen are practically the same. From this it may be fairly assumed that the fields of the Colonial Company’s estates were in too high a state of fertility to allow the canes to make use of the additional nitrogen. The nitrogen in the three plots with nitrate of soda pro- duced increased yields at the average rate of 5°78 tons, whilst in those with sulphate of ammonia the excess yields were at the rate of 6°12 tons. The arrangement of the plots did not permit of com- parisons being made of the results with and without superphosphate of lime, but comparisons of the means of plots t and 4 and of plots 2 and 5 show that the effects of doubling the dressing of superphosphate was to somewhat reduce the yield of canes, the single dress- ing producing 62 tons of canes, the double 5°79 tons. The results of manuring with 200 lbs. per acre of muriate of potash containing 105°7 lbs. of potash are best arrived at by comparison of the excess of yields on plots 8 and 9g, the first of which received 400 lbs, of Ichaboe dis- solved guano, the second the same, with the addition of the potash salts, Without potash theexcess yield was 3°7 tons, with potash 3°2 tons, the heavy dressing of potash salts ap- parently aéting deleteriously. This has with muriate of potash at times been remarked in other crops than thesugar cane and is possibly due totheexcessive amount ofchlorine supplied, acting as a check to vegetation, Personally since 1884, | have always recommended the use of either the sulphate or nitrate of potash as sources of potash for the sugar cane, in preference to that of the muriate, the greater probability of their favourable a€tion ES IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 125 more than compensating for their relatively higher cost. When the results of these experiments are considered in the manner I have adopted, the effects of mineral phosphates appear in an unfavourable light. Comparing plots g and 11 the first of which received nitrate of soda, - superphosphate and the doubtful advantage of 200 lbs. of muriate of potash; the second, a similar quantity of nitrate of soda, with a light dressing of 112 lbs. per acre of mineral phosphates, the increased yields due to the manurings appear to be 3°8 and 2°'8 tons respe€tively. It is evident that this series of experiments, not only as it does when treated in the manner adopted by Mr. SCARD in his report, throws much light upon the proba- ble financial results of the application of manures in the fields of the Colonial Company ; but in addition supplies valuable indications of the manurial requirements of the sugarcane. Many of us are doubtless looking forward to the publication of the results, obtained by Mr. SCARD dur- ing later years, and I am certain that if he will be good enough to favour the Society with a paper upon them, it will be very highly appreciated by our agricultural mem- bers. The manurial experiments conducted at the Botanic Gardens since 1891 were specially arranged to obviate, as far as we could, the effeéts of varying soil conditions. The results of these experiments may be found in detail in the Agricultural Report for the years 1891 and 1892, and in that for the year 1893-94 and 95 which has been recently issued, and copies of which are lying on the table for the use of members. Here I shall deal only with the general results obtained during the crops over which the experiments have extended, 126 TIMEHRI. The results with nitrogenous manures may be sum- marised as follows :— LIMED. Not LimMgp. Tons Tons Tons Tons of of of of canes increase canes increase per due to per dueto acre. Nitrogen. acre. Nitrogen. Not manured sie 1 2019 21 Mixed minerals... +229°9 22°5 Sulphate of ammonia 200 lbs. and mixed minerals ... ah 23033°S 39 27°8 5°3 Sulphate of ammonia 300 lbs. and mixed minerals ... wae 45239°05." 4705 30°65 815 Sulphate of ammonia 400 Ibs. and mixed minerals ss eae Prricloy | 6°5 313 82 Nitrate of soda 250 lbs, and mixed minerals... coe “ap ans" 4'1 27°45 4.05 Nitrate of soda 375 lbs. and mixed minerals ... ans Ses rs eS pala -eP 29°! 6°6 Nitrate of soda 500 lbs. and mixed minerals ... a eat PRL fre 294 69 Experiments using 40 lbs. of nitrogen per acre derived from two sources :— Not manured ae ara 21'°6 Mixed minerals... «e299 226 Sulphate ammonia % ase }s225 2°36 2815 s*6s Nitrates $ ... at Ae Dried Blood 2 Nitrates } In addition to these there were other experiments in which 40 lbs. of nitrogen in the forms either of sulphate of ammonia or of nitrate of soda were applied in some cases without mineral manures, in others to land which had been manured with farmyard manure when the canes were planted. As the result of all the experi- ments using 40 lbs, of nitrogen in the form of either f2or05 loss, 27°45 4°95 ae IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 127 sulphate of ammonia or of nitrate of soda, we‘found that this amount yielded approximately 6 tons of canes per acre on land which had not been limed. On limed land we obtained in round numbers 53 tons of canes by the use of 4o lbs. of nitrogen. In the experiments where mixed minerals were used on not limed land with nitro- gen, 60 lbs. of the latter in the form of sulphate of am- monia, about 50 per cent greater increases of canes were obtained than with 40 lbs., while the highest rate of manuring with 80 Ibs. showed a decided falling off in the rate of increase. Where the land had been limedtheincrease obtained by manures supplying over 4o lbs. of nitrogen per acre rapidly declined, and this was probably due in part to the large amount of soil nitrogen rendered avail- able by the heavy liming. ‘These experiments fully corroborated those of the Colo- nial Company with regard to the relative agricultural values of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, these proving pra€tically the same when used in quantities capable of supplying not more than 4o0 lbs. of nitrogen peracre. The physical disadvantage of liability to deli- quescence in this humid climate, and the extra costs of carriage and of application of nitrate of soda, lead to the conclusion that, as a rule, the more satisfactory results, from a pecuniary point of view, should be obtained by the use of sulphate of ammonia. The experiments indicated 2} to 24 cwts. of sulphate of ammonia per acre as the most certainly profitable rate of application on soils of similar charaé€ter to those of the Botanic Gardens, Possibly the most satisfactory results would be obtained by the use of a mixture of 100 lbs, of nitrate of soda and 200 lbs, of sulphate of ammonia 128 TIMEHRI. per acre. Mr. SCARD concluded that 2 cwt, of sulphate of ammonia per acre gave the best results in the Colonial Company's experiments, so that with regard to nitrogen the conclusions arrived at in these two series of field trials in this colony are in praétical agreement. The results with phosphatic manures were as follows : Not Limed. Limed. Tons Increase Tons Increase of due to of due to canes Phos- canes. Phos- per phates, per, phates, acre. Tons. acre.’ ‘Tons. Not manured oe sie eg 26'2 Nitrogen and potash ... 4 ays so"s6 Nitrogen, potash and 250 lbs. super- phosphate ane 26°85 1°05 33°9 1°65 Nitrogen, potash and 275 Ibs. super- phosphate ae ae ww» 26°95 IIS 33° "75 Nitrogen, potash and 500 lbs, super- phosphate... és , 28°45 2°65 33°! "85 Nitrogen, potash and 400 tbs. ee phosphates... = ape, 25°80 nil 31°6 nil Nitrogen, potash and 800 tbs. mineral phosphates. ... ose 27°30 I°5 32°75 5 The results on the crop of plant canes were :— Not manured ... ios we 38'8 43'8 Nitrogen, and potash... oe ee 52°2 Nitrogen, potash and 250 lbs, super: phosphate us is TRS 4°15 5601 3'9 Nitrogen potash and 375 Ibs. super- phosphate 5 a+) (498 61 56°2 "4 Nitrogen, potash and 500 ‘bs. super: ' phosphate... 20s ws 48°95 7°35 53°55), 30 ae Nitrogen, potash and 400 lbs, mineral phosphates... aoa 45°55 2°45 52°5 3 Nitrogen, potash and 800 Ibs. mineral phosphate __... 44°05 2°95 50°85 __inil, The advantages wnat due to the additions of IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 129 phosphatic manures to dressings of nitrogen and potash were almost entirely confined to the crop of plant canes, the impraéticability of supplying sufficient tillage to render the soil pervious enough to allow the phos- phatic manures to penetrate into the immediate vicinity _ of the roots of the ratoon canes probably accounting for this. Probably, the most profitable method of using phos- phatic manures to the sugar cane in heavy clay land would be to apply to young cane plants about 3 cwt. of superphosphate of lime or, perhaps, preferably 6 to 8 cwts. of slag phosphates to the acre, and, in places, potash salts, in addition to after dressings of sulphate of ammonia and to dress ratoons with nitrogenous ma- nures only. The applications of mineral phosphates, both on plants and ratoons, were attended by unsatisfa€tory results. In another series of experiments the following resulted : Land not limed. Tons of canes Increase due to per acre, phosphates (tons). Nitrogen and potash... aae Seay ag Nitrogen potashand 250 lbs. superphosphate each year... gon Se nil. 7 7 », 1,000 lbs. mineral phos- phates to plant canes.. 14°85 nil. 3 id » 1,000 lbs. slag phosphates ~ to plant canes ie OE ‘75 In this series of experiments (with Transparent and Ribbon canes) the use of slag phosphates gave the best results, Two series of comparisons of results with and without potash were arranged, in the first of which sulphate of potash was added to manurings of sulphate of ammonia and superphosphate, while in the second, nitrate of R 130 TIMEHRI. potash in equivalent proportions was substituted in the manures for nitrate of soda. The results were as follows : Not LIMEp. LIMED, i - eae ‘ ; eae SULPHATE OF POTASH. iss see fs cance iol aa Tons. ae a Tons. Not manured ... os coe, 2205 27°95 Nitrogen and superphosphate ... 31°9 30'5 Nitrogen, superphosphate and 50 lbs, potash salts ee owe et: °5 35°75 nil, Nitrogen, superphosphate and too lbs. potash salts pees gob) OOF 8 35'5 nil, Nitrogen, superphosphate and 150 lbs. potash salts as eve + 32°05 105 35°85 nil. NITRATE OF POTASH. Not manured ... ae Ae Se ie 6 oy i Nitrate of soda.. ow av 20'E 33'5 Nitrate of seen ao 28°05 nil, 31°95 nil, The increases on anh not limed due to the aétion of the sulphate of potash were small, and, on the whole, of very doubtful profit, whilst the absence of any increase where nitrate of potash was substituted for nitrate of soda causes us to pause in attributing the increases to the potash of the manures, | In Antigua for some years past, manurial experiments, have been conduéted by Messrs. WATTS and SHEPHERD, at Skerret’s School, with results which in one important point are in direé&t conflict with the majority of recorded experiments, Their results tend to show that the soil in which they worked contained sufficient available nitrogen for the needs of the cane plant, additions of nitrogen to plant canes either as sulphate of ammonia or as nitrate of soda being apparently either without effe& orelse injurious. Mr. WATTS shows that on an average IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 131 of six experiments with plant canes, making in each nine comparisons with and without nitrogen, the manures containing nitrogen yielded in round numbers 22 cwts. fess sugar per acre than did manures consisting only of phosphates and potash. Similarly on this curious soil the addition of phosphates, whether soluble as in super- phosphate, available but not soluble in pure water as in slag phosphate, or insoluble and pra€tically inert as in mineral phosphates, has reduced the yield of sugar; manures with phosphates having given in round number 4 cwts /ess sugar per acre than manurings with nitrogen and potash gave. Asan example of these results, the average returns obtained in 1896 may be quoted :— Nitrogen experiments. Tons of canes per acre. Not manured a or se 21°1 Mixed minerals a= das des 20°! ” 39 and nitrogen as sulphate of ammonia ee 245 Hs 5 »» as nitrate of soda... 24° Phosphoric acid experiments. Not manured yi se wae 23'9 Nitrogen and potash ... ose on 28'8 Nitrogen, potash and superphosphates re 24°2 ra o mineral phosphates _... 29'2 55 =! slag phosphates es 27.4 But with ratoons in Mr. WATT’S experiments both nitrogenous and phosphatic manures appear to aét, in what, I think, we are entitled to consider more normal ways. His average results in 1896 were as follows :— Nitrogen experiments. Not manured I1‘9 tons of canes per acre, Mixed minerals 12°7 - “ * » and nitrogen in sulph. of ammonia 10°7 £ nk i, » and nitrogen in nitrate of soda = 1137 & R2 132 TIMEHRI. Phosphoric acid experiments. Nitrogen and potash only 13'8 tons of canes per acre. Nitrogen, potash and superphosphates 14°9 eS = a . and mineral phosphates 14° M a Rs and slag phosphates 13°4 fe - Where using potash salts, the Antigua experiments are with plant canes in general accordance with those obtained in Barbados. Manures which contained potash during six series of experiments with plant canes, gave on the average 2} cwts. more sugar per acre than did manures containing nitrogen and phosphates but no potash. The results in 1896 were as follows :— Plant Canes. Ratoons, Not manured 23'9 I1°g tons of canes per acre Nitrogen and phosphates 24'5 ie ys aye ae Nitrogen, phosphates and potash 26'2 147s ” Here again we find an entirely different action upon plant canes and upon ratoons. Mr. WATTS when using superphosphate of lime to plant canes noted that additional amounts of superphosphate resulted in decreased yields, notin increased ones. The Colonial Company’s experiments, as I have already men- tioned, indicated a similar aétion, and unfavourable effeéts were very noticeable during the first series of the Barba- dos experiments. The results in Barbados were as follows :— Nitrogen and potash a. Me? .-31°6 tons of cane per acre » potash and 2 cwts. bie oheeanne mc Ly ia a A ” » ya,/ rae ” +334 4 » ”» ”? 9 ” 4 ” ” ec 3 1 ay ” 32 be ] Effeéts of this nature at times noticed when manurings containing superphosphate of lime have been used to the sngar cane, indicate the necessity of caution regarding the amounts of it applied per acre, OO IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 133 It is of interest to ascertain the weights of canes which have been produced at different times in various places by the application of ten pounds of nitrogen per acre when accompanied by a sufficiency of the mineral constituents of plant food, either naturally present in the soil, or added by manures, and the following shows this :— Tons of canes per acre. LouISIANA. BARBADOS. BRITISH GUIANA. ANTIGUA., Audubon. f Colonial Botanic Kenner. Park. Dodd's. Company. Gardens. Skerret’s. 1886-89, 1890-94, 1886-90, 1891-95, 1882-87, 1891-95, 1891-96. 27 2°15 2°65 155 2'5 I°5 Nil, Average of nine crops. 2°39 2°04 2°05. In tropical countries, except on such abnormal soils as the Antiguan ones appear tobe, we may fairly assume that over a series of years applications of sulphate of ammonia or of nitrate of soda, when applied in quantities not exceed- ing those which supply as much nitrogen as the sugar cane can make complete use of, will probably on the average result in a return of 2 tons of canes per acre for each 50 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia or 65 lbs. of nitrate of soda applied, and that, under specially favourable soil and climatic conditions, the return may amount to over 2°5 tons. Experience must with regard to each soil decide as to the amount of nitrogen which can be profitably employed. From consideration of the results which have been obtained at these experiment stations, the following, in my opinion, may be fairly regarded as proved in connec- tion with the manurial requirements of the sugar cane :— j, The yield of canes per acre is governed by the 134 TIMEHRI. amount of readily available nitrogen either naturally present in the soil or added in the manures applied. 2. When applied in quantities containing not more than from forty to fifty pounds of nitrogen per acre, sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda are, on the majority of soils, equally effe€tive as sources of nitrogen, but when the unit of nitrogen in these substances is of equal money value, it is, as a rule, more economical to apply the former rather than the latter. Dried blood and similar organic manures in which the nitrogen only slowly becomes available are of distinétly lower value as sources of nitrogen than the two above mentioned. 3. Under ordinary condition of soil and climate and the usual range of prices for sugar, it is not advisable to use more than 2 cwts. of sulphate of ammonia, or its equivalent, 23 cwts. of nitrate of soda per acre. 4. If circumstances arise which render it desirable to obtain the maximum yield per acre by addition of nitrogen in quantities in exczss of about 50 Ibs. per acre, sulphate of ammonia ought always to be seleéted as the source of nitrogen. } 5. Pra€tically on all soils manurings with nitrogen re- quire to be supplemented by applications of phosphoric acid, The most effective forms of phosphoric acid appear to be superphosphate of lime and slag phosphate meal. Mineral phosphates are of distinctly lower value and are not effective unless applied in quantities far in excess in value of those required of either superphosphate or slag phosphates. Asa rule, the phosphates should be applied only to plant canes, their manurial a€tion on ratoon canes being but limited. 6. On some soils the application of potash salts in a IMPROVEMENT OF THE SUGAR CANE. 135 quantities of from 60 to 160 Ibs. of sulphate of potash per acre results in greatly increasing the effe€tiveness of the nitrogenous manurings ; while on many others, these applications have but little effe€t. Soils containing less than ‘or % of potash, soluble in cold 1 % citric acid solution, will, as a rule, respond favourably when planted in sugar cane to manurings with potash salts. Soils having from ‘o1 to ‘oz % of potash thus soluble may or may not be favourably affected by potassic manurings, while on soils containing more than the latter amount, the yield of sugar canes will usually not be increased by manurings with potash. In this colony the alluvial clay soils are, as a rule, so rich in potash that no marked in- crease in yield of canes can be expected from the use of potash salts. It is, however, worthy of notice that while the pegass soils of the colony generally contain fairly high proportions of potash soluble in hydrochloric acid, they frequently contain but traces soluble in citric acid solution, and upon them the use of potassic manures may, perhaps, be accompanied with benefit. It is, perhaps, worthy of mention that the volcanic soils of the West Indian Islands differ from the extremely tertile soils of Hawai principally by their low contents of available potash, the soils of Hawai being even richer in this constituent than the alluvial soils of this colony, The Life History of an East Indian in British Guiana. By the Rev. $. G. Pearson, Ps HE perusal of a paper by the Editor of this : #4 Magazine* calls up many many refle€tions in respect to ‘The Life History’ of each of the different races who make up our population. None,I think, are so unique and none so uniform as that of the “In- dian” or Buck, and therefore it must be to that ex- tent a harder task to produce any picture that shall be true in respe&t to anything more than a seétion of any other race which may be spoken of. In the first place the majority of the races except the negro are not yet at home here. The East Indian for instance, of whom I am thinking as I write this, is but the link be- tween the race, as we know it in the East, and that we hope for in this corner of the West. He of whom I speak is commonly known as the Creole Coolie. Possibly he first saw the light while his parents were serving their time upon a Sugar Estate. If his father were at all prosperous, and his work ‘paying work,’ the first sounds — that greeted his awakening faculties were those of gun- firing, Had baby been a girl her advent would have been undisturbed by gunpowder or noise, and the neighbours would not be expeéted to put themselves about to con- gratulate LUCHMAN upon the occasion of his wife’s safe delivery. The East Indian seems to me pre-disposed to philosophy and it may be that he has arrived at the con- 4 The Life History of an Indian, Timehri 1894, p. 138. THE Lire HisToRY OF AN EAST INDIAN. 134 clusion—as he might very well do—from his observation of ‘the sex” that once in the world it needs no adventi- tious aid from “ mere males” to make itself heard therein. Baby’s mother SOFEE, being under indenture, might have had medical aid at the time of her accouchement, but she needed it not. A neighbourly granny mid- wife and perhaps a woman fellow-labourer did all she needed, and after a couple of days* baby with a little cap with laps to cover the ears, if no other clothing upon him, might have seen SOFEE, had he interested himself in his surroundings sufficiently, as busy about household affairs as if nothing had happened. SOFEE now is very haughty for she has borne her lord ason. Other sonless women will envy her good fortune, and her “ hubby” will idolize her above all else ;—except baby. Baby, by this time named RAMPERSAUD, will be lord and master hence- forth over both his parents, He will go with SOFEE when she returns to work—light work if the estate’s manager be a humane man—and work will have to play second fiddle at that. On Saturdays after pay-time and on Sundays, his father will carry him about, his pride and pleasure beaming over his whole countenance and bearing. Had LUCHMAN and SOFEE been Christians, baby would have been baptized by this time, had they been Mussul- mans he would have been named with Mussulman rites, but being only a low caste Hindoo, they hit upon the name RAMPERSAUD, as that was SOFEE’S father’s name, and beyond giving a little feast to a few ship-fellowst and telling the sick nurse, when he insisted uponknowing, * Theoretically, the woman must not be abcut till the eighth or ninth day. { Immigrants who come over from India in the same vessel, S eal 138 TIMEHRI. what they proposed calling him, baby was named with- out ceremony. LUCHMAN did have an interview with one of his * country parsons” and paid a large price— “for him—for a charm to hang round baby’s neck. With | this on it is hoped he will grow up healthy, industrious, : and thrifty. It is said that Hindoos fear “‘ Gods many and Lords many” and possibly this is so, but the real God they serve differs but little from the almost universal obje& of other men’s care and thought, viz., mammon. f The great difference is in this, LUCHMAN’S idea of getting rich is to keep and conserve what he gets, while that of the majority of others consists rather in the ambition and ffort to get more. LUCHMAN 1 is not merely thrifty ; he he \ jis absolutely mean. ~He-has not been two years away from India, whence he came a veritable pauper, and yet he owns acow and has something towards another hidden beneath the ground under his fire place in the corner of his room, or may-be in the Government Bank, At the age of two years, by which time RAMPERSAUD can walk and talk as well as European children at three, he is committed to the care of a granny who has charge of the creche, with his little tin saucepan of boiled rice and callaloo or something equally tasty, to swing in a ham- mock or play about upon the ground while SOFEE is at work. Here, with scant attention—necessarily scant seeing the granny has twenty other babies to mind— RAMPERSAUD takes his first lesson in looking after “number one.” He is not quarrelsome except in a very mild way and the robust methods of the children of stur- dier races is quite foreign to him. Young as he is the charaéteristics of race shew themselves in him and what others get noisily and with much strife he secures by eS |. a re Tue Lire HISTORY OF AN EasT INDIAN. 139 craft. Like his parents he too inherits the philosophical strain. As the slow—to him—years of childhood creep by he hears wondrous tales of India and he wonders why his sapient parents ever left a country where commodi- ties are so plentiful and rupees so scarce, to come to one where if the latter be more plentiful he cannot but think the former correspondingly difficult to procure. His parents frequently talk of the time when they will return to India, but he observes, as time slips by, and another and yet another cow is added to those for which his father pays agistment fees, and still more gold coins } adorn his mother’s breast, that the anticipatory pleasures this theme were wont to afford pale somewhat in the light of the aétual prosperity and increasing comfort and importance of their present position. But, for many years “country” is a wonderful dream, gorgeous and grand in faét and possibility to RAMPERSAUD. By and by it is to him what Jack the Giant Killer and Alice in Wonderland are to our own children. When too old to be left with the granny at the créche, RAMPERSAUD Spends most of his time playing about the negro— yard. At tip-cat in its creole form, at marbles and at cricket—also in its creole form—he is an adept. His eye is true, his aim certain, and his every motion swift and deft. The only boys to beat him in these qualities are the Chinese, The black boys are no match ~ tall) for him in subtlety or skill but they have twice the staying , power. Hence the strong tendencies of race are called I into existence and the onlooker who has read East Indian, history may see many a famous episode re-enaéted on a| small scale among the boys at play. On one occasion his parents took him to town. Perched 52 146 TiMEHRI. upon his father’s shoulder he viewed Georgetown with wonder and delight. SOFEE and one of the girls went too, and a happy party they were. The wonders of the Public Buildings, the railway, and the great stores and banks, afforded LUCHMAN something with which to com- pare the glories of dear Calcutta. RAMPERSAUD was hugely delighted and impressed, but the crowning point was the Museum, wherein he saw wonders many, including a real Bengal tiger. For days after his return home he was admired and sought after by all his companions. No tiger ever grew in size and ferocity as that tiger did according RAMPERSAUD’S increasingly artistic accounts of him. But a more thrilling sight even than the tiger met RAMPERSAUD’S vision at the Museum, it was the sight of a man whose face was terribly disfigured. He told them his story; it was to this effe&t. He lived in a village far away from cities in one of the Northern States and his work morning and evening took him through un- frequented ways in which at dusk one evening he was attacked by a tiger but luckily for him some friends were near by and the tiger was scared off. This story sank deep into RAMPERSAUD’S mind and appreciably dimin- ished the hankering he had felt at times to see his father’s country. Play however soon gives place to work, and at nine or ten RAMPERSAUD goes with the other urchins to assist manuring the sugar canes or to water them, as the case may be. He earns fourpence a day at this, which LUCH- MAN carefully hoards. By and by when he has earned enough, another cow will be bought with the money. RAMPERSAUD never dreams of pocket money, for already his idea of the unpardonable sin is to part with money Tue Lire Hisror¥ of AN East INDIAN. 141 for anything not absolutely necessary. His father some- - times on Saturday buys sugar-cake for RAMPERSAUD’S young brothers and sisters, but a very little goes far and it is a very good equivalent for food at the price, hence RAMPERSAUD’S susceptibilities are not roused beyond a severe frown. At ten an important event takes place in RAMPER- | SAUD’S life of which he is the central figure. He has to be mated. A shipmate of his parents has a girl to dispose of, and a good deal of visiting and marching to and fro in a quiet way, at first mostly on Sundays,,has to be accomplished before things pertaining to the disposal of the girl can be settled satisfa€torily, Third parties of the “ parson” order are very much to the fore, and much talk, interlarded—as far as the “ parsons” are concerned— with many semi-religious aphorisms from the Holy books has to be listened to before details are reached. A little feast (in any case a meal) accompanies each of these funétions. An outsider might think the girl’s guardians most intractable and obdurate bargain makers, judging from the number of these visits to and fro, and the sum of state ceremony and etiquette entailed, but they are any- thing but that. LUCHMAN’S boy is healthy, good tem- pered, and has fair prospeéts, which is all the girl’s parents care for, but custom and religion requires all this observance, at least the “ parsons” say so, and LUCHMAN though he “says things” with a careless freedom be- gotten of living in such a free country as this, and under the direét influence of such Anglicising surroundings as obtain here, has nothing like the courage necessary to assert himself and send the “ parsons” to the right about. More than this, something within him—be it hereditary i42 TIMEHRI. instinéts, “ fear of the Gods”, or spiritual craving, demands religious observances in conneétion with this weighty matter. Then again not only have the women folk to be consulted and the estimation in which his fellows hold him to be considered, to which a row with the “ parsons” would be disastrous, but some sort of binding compaét out of the ordinary has to be made and sufficiently im- pressed upon the girl’s parents, For, might it not happen that after all his expenditure a suitor better favoured (z.e. richer) than RAMPERSAUD might seek the damsel’s _ hand, and what easier than a dispute purposely got up to end in an outright rupture. In this case, which might easily happen if the girls parents were under no religious dread of the consequences, all LUCHMAN’S outlay would go for nothing and his reputation be irreparably damaged. In due time however, when everybody is satisfied that everybody else will find it to his own interest to observe the compaét, the real business begins. RAMPER- SAUD, poor little fellow, is dressed in red, and accom- panied by the “ parsons” and his friends, chanting marriage ditties, he marches to visit his bride’s parents. A feast is prepared at the house of the charmer on the occasion, and finally, after much feasting and readings of por- tions of the Holy Books by the “ parsons,” the matter is fixed and RAMPERSAUD lays aside his gorgeous clothing to sleep no more in it, while his elders feast, and returns to his daily avocations in the scant but sufficient clothing use has accustomed him to. Theoretically much of this is incorrect on LUCHMAN’S part. The girl’s parents ought to pay for all the feast given at their house, they ought to receive no consideration for their daughter, and in many other little details the ideal and aétual vary in —— ~~ — THE LirE HISTORY OF AN EAST INDIAN. 143 these affairs. What I tell is the a€tual and typical. For. \ they. part ; the lad ad returning to to his 04 own ‘home until he be grown up, when n after another feast he claims his wife. — ‘"RAMPERSAUD during the interval has got on fairly well, he has been put into the weeder’s gang first and then into the shovel gang, he has become a very fair cricketer, and plays mostly on Sundays when the patch of rice or * herd of cattle do not claim his attention. He is still ( yore and counts eve every ry bitt many times before he spends | .” But he must spend something and it is seldom with * his haggling that he scores off John Chinaman. He knows little of holidays and wants none, easy work at good prices is much more to his taste. At twenty RAMPERSAUD is a stronger and better developed man than his father. He will eat meat, flesh meat, he will take a schnap if any one offers it, and, his forbears would be startled to see his upright jaunty bearing and hear his cheery ‘marnin sir,’ as he meets the white man. He \ i : : : still ca cringe when the occasion demands it but it does not sit well upon him. Instead of whining he has now caught the habit of growling, which is a wonderfully flat- tering imitation of the Englishman’s growl. The work is ) hard, and he is not afraid of saying so, but he does it and does it well. The pay is small and he tells the overseer he cannot work for it ; that the buckra being his “ father,” “‘ mother,” “ proteétor,” and all in all, cannot think of ask- ing him to accept it, but the many titled buckra laughingly does so and RAMPERSAUD sets to and earns enough to lay by thirty per cent of his wages towards another cow. At thirty five RAMPERSAUD has boys and girls of his own, LUCHMAN and SOFEE have gone to ‘ their country’ where 147750 Ordinary , .. 1,730 00 Countéy > 2405225 xe 442 00 Associates oe sce) E103 75 Arrears a3 = 4 50 » Rents ae ee oka », Fines Sas sae Ae », Catalogues ... she vas », Interest on Hand-in-Hand Scrip to 3oth June : 60 00 », Profiton Policies ... 237 36 », Balance at credit Museum a/c., gist December, 1895 ee », Government vote for the year... » Govt. vote for Horticultural Exhibition ab o38 500 00 1, Mowing competition—Special donations a FF 15 00 » Special donation towards Prize Fund : 10 00 » Gate Money wa 657 00 » Society’s contribution 53 43 Imperial Institute—balance at credit 31st December, 1895... 33597 75 2,844 00 3 58 42 12 297 36 34 O61 4,500 OO $ 1,096 05 6,694 81 $ 7,790 86 4534 O61 1,235 43 13,500 90 $ 193 04 REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 165 Guiana—Receipts and Expenditure for ~he Year 1896. EXPENDITURE, Salaries $ 2,664 00 Periodicals, Magazines and News: papers $- 655 74 Less sales of old papers 37 83 617 QI New Books added to Library 537 14 Subscriptions to English Societies 20 46 Advertising... oe 145 35 Binding 76 12 Insurance with Hand-in-Hand eA 875 00 Postages, Stationery, Petty and Reading Room expenses 221 54 Premises—Repairs during year 119 96 Furniture—cost of new Furniture and repairs III 06 Catalogue—compiling and printing 304 00 Cost of Timehrvi 566 36 Less sales by Publisher, $203 92 o5) fap2? > pe tantord, 23 28 227 20 339 16 Cost to Society of Horticultural Exhibition Society’s funds as per Bal, Sheet .. Paid for maintenance of Museum, per separate statement Amount at credit per Bal. Sheet ... Paid cost of Horticultural Exhibi- tion, per separate statement Paid for a log of Timber »» 33 9 dozen Iron Hoops Amount at Cr. per Bal, Sheet 53 43 6,145 13 1,645 73 $ 7,790 86 4,490 17 38 44 4,534 61 1,235 43 $ 13,500 90 3 96 4 32 184 76 $ 193 04 SS ee 166 TIMEHRI. The annexea report of the. Committee of Correspon- dence was also read :— The Museum, Jany. 14, 1897. R. T, A. Daly, Esq., Secty. Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society. Sir,—I have the honour to state that at a meeting of the Committee of Correspondence held yesterday, Mr. S. M. Bellairs was eleGted Chair- man, and Mr, T. S. Hargreaves, Vice-Chairman for the current year _ I was also requested to forward to you the enclosed letter ve the Cattle and Horse disease in the E. Coast distri, to be laid before the general meeting of the Society, in order that suggestions be made for lessening the evil complained of, I have the honour to be, &c., J-.J. QUELCH, Hon. Seéty., Committee of Correspondence. In reference to Mr. Hassell’s letter on the Cattle disease, it was agreed that a copy of the same be for- warded to the Government and that it be also referred to the Agricultural Committee. In the matter of the President’s motion for the adop- tion of Seétions 5 and 6 of the recommendations of the Report on the Horticultural Show, he stated that as they referred to a question of finances he would propose that they be left to the Dire€tors. This having been seconded by the Hon. Mr. Boyle, it was carried unanimously. In the absence of Capt. A. Duncan, Mr. Luke M. Hill brought forward the matter of the specimen inlaid tables left over from the previous meeting. He moved that the two tables before the meeting be purchased by the Society and forwarded to Messrs. Foy, Morgan & Co., with a request that they would exhibit them in their sample room for a time, and afterwards endeavour to sell them for the benefit of the Society. | This having been seconded by Mr. Conyers, the Rev. Mr. Ritchie spoke in favour of some other specimens of REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 167 turned pillars, cornices, mouldings, &c. being prepared to exhibit the capabilities of the Colony’s woods. The motion was carried. A letter from Mr. R. W. S. Mitchell, Calcutta, was ead, and the package of Jute seed therein referred to, laid upon the table. The Secretary stated that by request of the Dire€tors he had written to Mr. Jenman for suggestions as to the disposal of the seed, and that -gentleman had kindly replied and offered to put it in packets for distribution. It was agreed that Mr. Jenman’s suggestions be adopted. The thanks of the Society were accorded to Mr. G. S. Jenman for a portrait of Baron Ferdinand von Mueller ; _also for the following donations to the Museum :— Miscellaneous Specimens from ove ..C, A. Loyd. $Coins ... oon see ...Dr, A. Cruyt. Nest of Swift and Moth a0 me ..«M. McLeod. 7 Natural History Specimens des .. G. S. Jenman, 2 Samples Black Sand with analyses ... ---Prof, J. B. Harrison. -Catlinite and Stone Implements ae »..C, W. Anderson, Mosquito Worms ... pa ste ---Dr. C. W. Daniels, Land Snails aud Larva oe ...J. Rodway. x Bird and 5 Butterflies gas doe «FF. V, McConnell, “Share Certificates, &c., of B,G. Museum Co, ...Dr. J. E. Godfrey. 1 Scorpion a ose ««. W. Veccock, Abnormal Fowl’s Egg ee ma" 1. S. Hargreaves, ‘Harpy Eagle des a a «J. Moir, ‘Glass and Stones from Powis’ Gizzard eee J. A. Murray. Locust wwe ae Use «+A. Gordon, Rice grown in Bowl ane ..A, van Schalwyck, The meeting then Mapritantnd! —— > Meeting held February 11th.—Prof. J. B. Harrison, M.A.,, &c., President, in the Chair. Members present 8, 168 TIMEHRI. Ele€tions.—Members ; Rev. P. A. Farrar, Mr. E. C. Hamley. Associates: Messrs. F. B. Gall, W. H.. Davies and David Donelly. The Honorary Treasurer laid overthe annexed Statement and Balance Sheet for 1896, which, having been audited’ by the Dire€tors in accordance with the By-Laws, was adopted and ordered to be hung up in the Reading Room. Mr. Conyers moved, and Mr. L. M. Hi!l seconded, that the balance at credit be handed over to the Dire€tors, to be used by them in any way that was considered most conducive to the interests and objects of the Society. This was unanimously agreed to. The Secretary read the following Report from the Agricultural Committee :— Georgetown, February Ioth, 1897. To the President and Members of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. Gentlemen,—On behalf of the Agricultural Committee of the Society I have the honour to report that they have considered Mr. Hassell’s letter in reference to the Cattle Disease on the East Coast, and are of opinion that Mr. Hassell should have reported the matter to the Government some months before, in accordance withthe Ordinance, when an Inspeétor, orthe Government Veterinary Surgeon, would have been sent to enquire into it, I have also to report in connection with Mr, Scard’s paper on Cane Farming that the Committee have made enquiries as to the number of plantations the proprietors of which would buy canes in accordance with a scale to be fixed by the Society, and have drawn up a list which they propose to publish. I have, &c., S. M. BELLAIRS, Secretary, Agricultural Committee. (Copy of Circular). Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, Georgetown, 30th December, 1896. Dear Sir,—By direction of the Agricultural Committee of the “wr REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 169 Society, I have the honour to inform you that they have under their consideration the possibility of introducing a system of buying Canes by Sugar Estates, similar to that in use in Trinidad. In conneétion therewith, I shall be glad to know whether the plantations in which you are interested would be prepared to buy Canes in any quantity that might be brought, at a price to be regulated according to a sliding scale, with a fixed minimum, that might be prepared from time to time by the Society. tam, &c., S. BELLAIRS, Hon. Sec., Agricultural Committee. The following Government communication was also read :— Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara, 22nd January, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, enclosing a copy of a letter from Mr. G. J. Hassell, referring to certain diseases prevalent among horses and cattle on a part of the East Coast between Mahaica and Blairmont, and I am desired by the Governor to intorm you that the matter will receive attention. I have, &c., CHARLES T. COX. The Hon. Secretary, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. The Secretary also read a letter from Mr. G. S. Jen- man stating that the Jute Seed planted in the Nursery at the Botanic Gardens had failed to germinate, and that therefore it was useless to distribute it. ‘The Secretary was direéted to inform Mr. Mitchell of the fact. : A letter from Mr. Seon was also read. In reference to the timbers ordered by the Society he reported that some of the logs were ready but could not be floated down the river on account of want of water. A letter from the Secretary of the Philadelphia Museums Yy 170 TIMEHRI. referring to representatives being sent from the colony was referred to the Committee of Correspondence. The thanks of the Society were accorded to the Presi- dent for an incomplete set of the early numbers of the Sugar Cane, which the Librarian said it would be desir- able to complete if possible. The President also spoke of the desirability of com- pleting the library set of this journal. The thanks of the Society were also accorded for the following donations to the Museum :— 4 Birds... Ls poe ..Pln, Ogle ...from Mr. H. L. Humphrys. 1 Centipede ... ae aoe at ais Nyy ggl ROCEI I * Mi ins “ee v4 ses, yp. g9 XAnceas ee RU I Stone pestle... dn «..Conawarook. ,, ,, J. Wilson. 1 Moth... Para ee ere die 1 Tarantala_... ihe aoe se «» 5, Miss Bookman. Crowa fibre... dint ...Warramuri... ,, Mr. J. Griffith. 1 Brain-stone coral ... ...Grenada 2). 9. Jeplomany 1 Queyu & suspending ham- mock for child 1 Crapaud snake _... ...B. Gardens... ,, Mr. G. S. Jenman. 1 Humming bird sie -»Grenada. «+ 5). 5 CA. Lloyd. | Barima «5, Mrs. Bunbury. Set of larvze of cocoa-nut beetle... sag ope) gps eee ae Eggs & 3 minerals... ...Connetable’s I’ds, ,, Capt. McIntosh. 2 Beetles (rare) ne »-Barima ‘ass. \y Mir.” WGreie, Set of inseéts ... ine ...Barima ves, 9p! gy) the hes WV @ESOR, Mr. Quelch exhibited several interesting additions to the Museum colleétion. The meeting then terminated. ee ee Meeting held March 11th.—Prof. M.A., etc., President, in the Chair. Members present Io. EleGions—Member ; Dr. W. de W. Wishart. Associate; Mr. C, C. T. Blyth, / 1, B. Harrison, ¢ REPORT OF SociETy’s MEETINGS, 171 The following Report of the Agricultural Committee was read and taken for notification :— .Georgetown, March roth, 1897. To the President and Members of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. Gentlemen,—In accordance with the Government Regulations, under which the Agricultural Committee of the Society are permitted to have free samples of articles of general interest to the Colony, I have the honour to lay over a report on so-called “ Faulty” Rum, by the Gov- ernment Chemist, which the Committee consider to be of great importance. I have, &c., S. BELLAIRS, Hon. Secretary, Agricultural Committee, REPORT ON “ FAULTY” RUM, - Not unfrequently during recent years complaints have been made by purchasers of Demerara rum in England that the rum was “ faulty,” and in many cases considerable reductions have been claimed in consequence from the market price, and thus, to a considerable extent, the trade of the colony in rum has been crippled; the lower prices obtained when the rum has been classed as “ faulty ” not being remunerative. Rums have been and are classed as “ faulty” when on admixture with water in such proportions as to reduce the strength to 25 o/o under proof, which in the case of our rums means approximately their dilution with an equal bulk of water, the diluted spirits, either at once or after standing for some hours, become cloudy, either depositing on longer standing a more or less copious precipitate or showing the presence, in greater or less abundance, of floating flocculencies. This so called test appears to be made at times with cold water, at times with boiling water, but in both cases the rum is left to stand for several hours before a final decision as to its quality is arrived at. Very many samples of so called “ faulty ” rum have been, from time to time, sent back to this colony, and have here been re-tested with ordinary rain water or with distilled water. As a rule almost all of these samples have remained perfectly clear, and the reason for their having been classed as “faulty” has appeared to be a mystery. On a few occasions rums have been found to become cloudy upon dilution with pure water, and the causes of this have been proved in some cases to be the presence of a caramel in the colouring matter easily Y2 172 | TIMEHRI. soluble in alcohol of a strength of 40 o/o over proof, but insoluble or with difficulty soluble in alcohol of 25 o/o under proof, whilst in other cases the cloudiness has been traced to empyreumatic products, derived from gas liquor, present in the sulphate of ammonia which had been added to the wash to accelerate the fermentation. Both these causes are easily overcome; in the first case by care in burning the colour, in the second by avoiding the use of sulphate of ammonia prepared from gas liquor, and which may contain empyreuma- tic products. It is advisable that the sulphate of ammonia used for the purpose of accelerating fermentation should always be “ bone” sulphate of ammonia prepared from bones and not the usual quality obtained from gas liquor or from the by-products of coke ovens, Under these circumstances the Agricultural Committee of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society requested me to enquire into this matter, and this, assisted by the experience and advice cf Mr. Scard, I have done. At the commencement of the enquiry it was found that the water supply of Liverpool, from which port the complaints have almost all been derived, is obtained from two sources, one being upland surface water, the other water pumped from deep wells sunk in the new red sandstone. Water derived from deep wells in the new red sandstone not unfrequently contains in solution calcium sulphate and salts of mag- nesium, and it appeared to me that the cloudiness complained about might be due to the presence of these salts in the water used for testing and not to defects in the rum. To examine into the possibility of this, weak solutions of sulphate of of calcium in water were prepared and used for the purpose of diluting pure alcohel of 45 0/0 over proof. It was found that when the alcohol was diluted to the strength of 25 o/o under proof with water containing more than 5.6 grains per gallon of calcium sulphate, precipitates of this salt occurred at temperatures of from 80 to 86° F. but that when water containing less than 5.6 grains and more than 2,5 grains per gallon was used it remained clear at 84° F, but became distinctly cloudy and opalescent when cooled to 50° F. When water containing less than 2.5 grains per gallon was used the diluted spirits remained clear even at the lower temperature. It was evidently necessary to repeat these experiments with Liverpool water, both that obtained from the well and that from the upland sources, Messrs Booker Bros. & Co, very kindly obtained for mea REPORT OF SociETY’s MEETINGS. 173 large bulk of Liverpool well water, a smaller one of Liverpool upland water, a series of samples of “faulty” rums and a series of samples of the same “ faulty” rums diluted with Liverpool water. Upon analysis the sample of Liverpool well water was found to contain 14 grains per gallon of total solids in solution, of which 2.8 grains consisted of calcium sulphate and 2.2 grains of calcium carbonate, It also contained a small proportion of salts of magnesia. The upland water contained 5.9 grains per gallon of total solids in solution of which 1.9 grains were calcium sulphate and .4 grain was calcium carbonate. When these waters were mixed with their own bulk of pure alcohol of 450/0 over proof both remained clear at 84° F., but when cooled to 50° the well water became slightly opalescent whilst the upland water remained clear. The diluted ‘‘ faulty” rums were next examined and the sediments separated. Microscoplcally these sediments were found to consist principally of amorphous matter mixed with occasional depolarising crystals, probably of sulphate and of carbonate of calcium. By analytical examination the major portion of the precipitate was found to be organic, whilst the inorganic matters consisted of, after ignition, calcium sulphate and the carbonates of calcium and magnesium. The bulks of these sediments were far greater than if they had consisted only of the calcium and some of the magnesium salts present in the water used for dilution. 3 The samples of “faulty” rum were examined by being mixed with equal bulks of distilled water, Liverpool well water, and in some cases with Liverpool upland water, using in each case duplicate samples at temperatures 84° F. and 50° respectively. Of eleven samples examined, all remained quite clear when mixed with distilled water, both at 84° and 50° F, Those mixed with upland water also remained clear. Six became more or less opalescent when mixed with Liverpool well water at 84° and allowed to stand, whilst when mixed at 50° nine either deposited marked precipitates or had flocculent matters suspended in them. These precipitates and floccu- lencies were found to be of similar composition to those present in the “faulty ” rums received in an already diluted state. The investigation, therefore, indicated that the “ faultiness ” of the rums was due to their containing substances precipitable by the lime and magnesia salts present in the Liverpool well water, as well as tothe 174 TIMEHRI. precipitation of part of the calcium sulphate and carbonate present in the well water by the alcohol. During this part of the investigation it was found that the amorphous organic matters precipitated by the addi- tion of the well water to the “faulty” rums were largely soluble ir solutions of caustic soda or potash, or of the hydrate or carbonate of ammonia, Attempts were made to prevent the formation of the precipitate with Liverpool well water, by acidifying the rum slightly with acetic acid or with butyric acid, but were quite without success. When, however, the “faulty” rum was rendered faintly alkaline by the addition of caustic soda or of carbonate of ammonia, a precipitate was produced, and after this had settled, the rum when mixed with Liverpool well water remained perfectly clear except for a slight precipitate of calcium sulphate and carbonate. These observations pointed out one mode of overcoming the difficulty by rendering the rum very faintly alkaline with caustic soda, or preferably with a solu- tion of ammonium carbonate soon after the rum is coloured. By this proceeding the depth of colour of the rum is distinétly increased, but an objeétion arises with regard to the injury which may be done to the flavour of the spirits by the addition of an alkaline substance. A further question now arose :—might not the matter precipitable by the Liverpool well water be derived from the casks in which the rum is exported and not from the spirits or from the caramel used for colour- ing? Several samples of freshly coloured rum were examined and were found in'every case to stand the test with the Liverpool well water, only faint precipitates of calcium sulphate being produced at low tempera- tures whilst the bulk of the samples after mixture with the water remained clear for many days. Samples of staves from various sources were supplied to me by Messrs. Booker Bros & Co., and were, after being split up into thin pieces, soaked in alcohol for several days. Being split into small pieces exposed relatively a large surface of the stave wood to the solvent action of the alcohol. All the kinds of staves experimented with were found to give up colouring matters to the alcohol. After standing for two days, the alcohol was tested, and was found to remain clear when mixed with dis- tilled water, but to give decided precipitates or flocculencies with Liver- pool well water, identical in characters with those characteristic of ** faulty” rum, Ai REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 175 Owing to the greatly increased surface exposed to the aétion of the alcohol by the staves having been split up into thin pieces, the spirits probably took up as much deleterious matter from the wood in the short time as they would have taken up from the interior of a cask in a much longer period. When the spirits were kept in contac with the split up staves for two or three weeks, the alcohol took up from them considerable quantities of resinous and other matters so as to produce flocculencies and precipi- tates when mixed with distilled water or with rain water. Similar experiments were made with split up staves, using coloured rum which had successfully stood the test with the Liverpool water, and it was found that after being in contact with the pieces of staves for a few days the coloured rum acted in a manner not distinguishable from that in which the “faulty” rum acted when mixed at 50° F. with the Liverpool well water. From this it appears that the deleterious substances producing cloudiness when rum is mixed with Liverpool well water probably are derived from the staves of the cask by the solvent action of the alcohol upon certain of the constituents of the wood. Two modes suggested itself for avoiding this difficulty.—1st, the removal of the substances from the staves, and 2nd, rendering the substances insoluble in spirits. To remove them, pieces of staves were soaked in a solution of one part of caustic soda in one thousand parts of water (equal to one pound of caustic soda dissolved in one hundred gallons of water), Although this took up from the staves much colouring matter, it did not prove quite successful. Soaking them for two days in a solution of double this strength (equal to two pounds of caustic soda dissolved in one hundred gallons of water) proved satisfactory. To render them insoluble the following was tried :—Portions of the staves were soaked for two days in strong lime water, (lime water con- taining a small proportion of milk of lime) the lime water poured off and the pieces of the staves swilled with ordinary Lamaha water and allowed to drain. When staves treated in this manner were afterwards soaked in strong spirits for several days, the spirits remained perfectly clear, (except for the slight sediment of calcium sulphate from the water) when mixed with Liverpool well water at 50° F. and allowed to stand. An occasional cause of cloudiness in rum when mixed with waters 176 TIMEHRI. containing salts of lime and of magnesia in solution has been met with during this investigation. In cases where considerable quantities of the higher fatty acids are produced during faulty fermentations, small quantities of these acids may pass over with the latter parts of the alcoholic distillates and produce somewhat insoluble lime soaps with the water used for testing purposes. This “fault” in rum I am inclined to think, will be seldom met with, and when detected can be obviated by care in the regulation of the fermentations, assisted by the use of lime in the retorts of the stills. At present I am unable to discern any additional line of laboratory investigation likely to be of service in this matter and must now leave it in the hands of the Planters. The practical points which arise from the investigation are as fols low :—1st, that sellers of rum should as far as possible make a point of having their rums tested with either distilled water, clear rain water, or with Liverpool upland water, and not with water derived from the wells in the new red sandstone; 2nd, that casks intended to contain rum for shipment should be soaked for two or three days with water containing two lbs. of caustic soda to the one hundred gallons, or else with water mixed with more milk of linve than is necessary to produce saturated lime water. After soaking, the casks must be emptied and swilled out with clean rain or trench water and allowed to drain before being filled up with rum. In my opinion the use of the lime will probably prove the more economical and satisfactory. If these precautions do not prove successful on the large scale, it will be necessary to carry on this investigation on other lines, J. B. HARRISON, Govt. Analyst. Georgetown, 16th February, 1897. The following Report of the Committee of Corres- pondence was read and adopted :— The Museum, March 11, 1897. R. T. A. Daly, Esq., Hon. Secty. R. A. & C. Society. Sir,— I have the honour to report that, at a meeting of the Committee of Correspondence held on the 2sth ult., the letter from the Philadel- phia Museums, referred to the Committee for consideration, was brought REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 177 up ; and I was instructed to communicate thereon directly with the Directors of the Society, since, inthe opinion of the Committee, the Society had been approached by mistake instead of the Chamber of Commerce. I was also instructed to bring to the notice of the Society the following two matters in connection with the Horticultural Show, 1896, as recorded in the minutes of the Society’s meetings in the last issue of Timehri :— ist. That in the minutes for September, page 4o1, line 32, the words “Mr. Quelch” occur instead of ‘The President.” 2nd. That in.the minutes for October, in the Committee’s report, page 409, line 14, instead of the words “ Chairman who under- took,” the passage should read: ‘Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary, aud Mr. L. M. Hill, who took charge of the erection and removal of the sheds and fittings; and Mr. T.S. Hargreaves, especially, who with the Chairman, undertook,” etc. And I have further, on behalf of the Committee, to request that in the next number of Timehri, an addenda slip be affixed with the corrections as above indicated. - I have, &c., J. J. QUELCH, Hon. Secty. Committee of Correspondence. Mr. T. S. Hargreaves gave notice of motion “That the Book Committee be asked to endeavour, where funds allow, to increase the number of reference books (up to date) in the Library.” | Mr. Thomas Daly, on behalf of the Dire&tors, gave notice of the following amendments to the By-Laws :— At the next meeting I shall move on behalf of the Directors that the following alterations of the By-Laws be made :— 1. Addition to Chapter 1, clause 4, after the words “ a Museum and Model Room” of— “to the carrying on of a Periodical Publication as the organ of the Society ;” When amended this By-Law will read as follows :— 4. The funds of the Society shall be devoted to the establishment and maintenance of suitable Public Rooms in the City of Georgetown, for the use of Members, viz.:—A Reading Room and Library, an Exchange Room, and a Museum and Model Room;; to the carrying on of a Periodi= Z —_ / 178 TIMEHRI. cal Publication as the organ of the Society, and to the awarding of Pre- miums and Grants of Money for such purposes connected with the advancement of Agriculture, Manufactures, or Trade, as the Society my deem expedient. 2. Addition to chapter 4, clause 2, after the words “affairs of the Society” of — “~ of the Local Museum, and of a Periodical Publication as the organ of the Society.” When amended this By-Law will read as follows :— 2. Directors. The six Ordinary Directors shall together with the other Office-Bearers, assist in the superintendence aud management of the affairs of the Society; of the Local Museum and of a Periodical Publication as the organ of the Society. Thethree Managing Directors shall be a Committee entrusted with the exclusive management of the Reading Room and Library and shall perform the duties of such management in such rotation as they may from time to time appoint. The three Exchange Room Directors shall have the exclusive manage. ment of the Exchange Room, and may make such Rules and Regulations in relation thereto as may be deemed necessary, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. 3. Omission from chapter x. clause 3, of the words—“ forming and maintaining a Local Museum and an Experimental Garden.” Also of the words—“ and establishing and carrying on a Periodical Publication as the organ of the Society.” When amended the By- Law will read as follows :— 3. The Committee of Correspondence shall be especially charged with the duty of entering into and maintaining correspondence with the Society of Arts in London and other kindred Societies, and also with Literary and Scientific individuals elsewhere; arranging for and holding Local Exhibitions from time to time ; and making arrangements for the offering and awarding of Premiums. The following Government communication in reference to sugar shipments to India was read and referred to the Agricultural Committee :— Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara, 1st March, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour by direction of the Governor to transmit for REPORT OF Society’s MEETINGS. i79 the information of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society a copy of a letter from the Emigration Agent for British Guiana at Cal- cutta, dated the 30th of December last, relative to the demand in India for foreign refined sugars, together with an extract from a further letter from Mr. Mitchell, dated the 6th January, on the same subject. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, CAVENDISH BOYLE, The Honorary Secretary, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. Government Emigration Office, 21, Garden Reach, Calcutta, 30th December, 1896. Sir,— I have the honour to submit, for His Excellency’s consideration, that last year a small quantity of Beet sugar was imported from Europe as a speculation, and I am informed by those in a position to judge, that it has created a demand for foreign refined sugars, which are used in making native sweetmeats. , 2. One merchant informed me he had orders for no less than 2,000 tons during the next three months, and that the demand was limited simply by his wish festina lente. 3. He seemed to be of opinion that the market here, for refined sugar, was practically unlimited, the expansion having been so marked in so short a period. 4. I propose obtaining samples of the qualities of sugar in most demand at an early date, and forwarding them to the Colony. 5. Hitherto about 150,000 tons of sugar, have been imported from Mauritius and other eastern Colonies, but it is only of late the importa~ tion of Beet sugar has been attempted. 6. The area under cane cultivation in India is estimated at about 3,000,000 acres, but, in Bengal especially, the cane is being largely sup. planted by Jute, which not only pays better, but is infinitely easier of manipulation, the human hand representing all the machinery required, 7. The production of sugar per acre, judging by the cane cultivation I have seen, and the very indifferent crushing power at the Ryat’s com- mand, must be considerably under a ton per acre. The milland boiling apparatus being moved from field to field as required. Z2 180 TIMEHWRI. 8. The project has been mooted of starting a line of small steamers, fitted for the conveyance of Indian emigrants, to trade direct between Calcutta and British Guiana, g. Such a line, financed on a rupee basis, could be made to pay, owing to the relatively low value of the white metal, as compared with gold. 10. Such vessels would bring the Colony’s sugars to India at com- paratively low rates of freight if they had the conveyance of the return- ing emigrants. 11. I have hitherto been opposed to the employment of steamers for the transport of emigrants from India to the West Indies, for several reasons. In the first place, the employment of large vessels carrying from 800 to 1,000 emigrants was contemplated, and no vessel, in my opinion, should carry over 500. Besides it is almost impossible to select such large numbers properly, and house them in Calcutta satisfactorily. 12. The cost too, would have been prohibitive owing to the absence of freight on the return voyage. 13. The risks of steamers breaking down in the more unfrequented parts of the ocean route was another of my objections, and it has not yet been provided against. 14. I think the subject of the shipment of refined sugar to India, and the best means of bringing it about, is worthy of every consideration on the part of the Colony. ; I have, &c., (Sgd.) ROBERT -W. S. MITCHELL, C.M.G., Govt. Emigration Agent for British Guiana, The Honourable the Government Secretary, British Guiana. From Emigration Agent, Calcutta, to the Government Secretarv. * * * * * The Jute industry to an appreciable extent supplanting Cane cultiva- tion, and the Sugar industry of Bengal, notwithstanding the introduction of improved mills for crushing, as jute is found much more easy of manipulation and pays better. As regards the great staple of ‘the colony, I had been promised samples of the different kinds of beet sugar, which are now making their way with success in the markets of India, but unfortunately they have not come to hand in time to be sent by this Mail. I asked for these samples with the view of showing Planters in the Colony exactly what kind of beet sugar found the readiest market here, Report of Society’s MEETINGS, 181 If refined cane sugar could be laid down here at about twelve shillings per cwt., no doubt it would command a ready sale, As I mentioned in my last communication on this subject, if a line of small steamers could be started from India on a Rupee in lieu ofa sterling basis, to carry rice tothe Colony, and bring back time-expired emigrants, with ballast cargoes of sugar instead of salt, an important trade would spring up between the two countries, which would do more to promote immigration at-a lower cost to the Colony than anything else, I would suggest that samples of the Colony’s refined sugars be sent here in bags of, say, one cwt. each by the first opportunity, with the view of testing the market. The crude product I fear would be unsaleable in India, as there is an ample supply at very low rates manufactured both from canes and dates. I have, &c., (Sgd.) ROBERT W.S. MITCHELL, Govt. Emigration Agent for B, Guiana. Another Government communication in reference to the Cattle Diseases on the East Coast, was read and taken for notification. The Secretary was direéted to forward a copy of the Veterinary Surgeon’s report to Mr. G. J. Hassell. Lothair House, Middle Street, Georgetown, 18th February, 1897. Sir, —I have enquired into the diseases alleged to be affecting horses and cattle in the Mahaica-Mahaicony district, and have the honour to submit that the diseases referred to have been legislated for, viz., 2 “Influenza” affecting the horse, and “ Anthrax,” affecting the cattle and all other stock; but, that through non compliance with the provi- sions of the Ordinance, the diseases have not been controlled in certain districts, with the result that steck owners in these districts have lost heavily, as well as seriously affecting their neighbours’ stock. From the monthly return for January, one would be led to believe having been reported, but no reliance can be placed on these returns, that the diseases have disappeared, no single case of sickness or death chiefly on account of the owners neglecting to report cases of disease or death, through indifference and timidity ot having their premises declared.“ Infected Areas.” I would point out that Mr, Hassell evidently infringed section 5 (1) of i82 TIMEHRI. the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Ordinance of 1892 in not reporting the cases of disease occurring on his premises, and I would point out that if all owners act with the same indifference or purpose, it will be perfectly useless for the Government to try and eradicate any of the diseases scheduled under the Ordinance; that except the owners or managers of stock assist the Government in the matter by reporting cases of sickness or death, all the Ordinances will be unavailing to stop the progress of the disease, while the benefits which would accrue from the provisions of the Ordinance being carried out would be invaluable both from a pecuniary and the Public Health point of view. If every owner worked for the common welfare in this matter, there is no reason to doubt that the disease would be controlled in a few months, and entirely dispersed in from six to eight months. In the district around Mahaicony Creek, where the owners have carried out proper instructions as regards disposal of carcases and segregating diseased cattle, the disease has entirely disappeared ; while in the remaining districts where no regular steps were taken, disease is prevalent. I have, &c., (Sgd.) J. HENRY BELL, Govt. Vety. Surgeon. Dr. Deane said no doubt there would be difficulties in the way of getting these diseases reported ; inspectors were required. A sample of Tobacco grown and cured in the colony by Mr, G, R. Stevenson, which had been forwarded by the Government Secretary, was laid upon the table, and the covering letter taken for notification. The Secretary read a letter trom Mr. Seon stating that sme of the timbers ordered were ready, but could not be vated down the river because of the lowness of the water. Mr. Quelch called attention to the report on the British ‘yiana timbers lately tested at the Imperial Institute. ‘sme of those tried were said to have been rotten, and 2 would recommend that the greatest care be exercised tith those woods now being colleéted, REPORT OF SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 183 The Secretary was direéted to call Mr. Seon’s atten- tion to the Imperial Institute Report. The thanks of the Society were accorded for the fol- lowing donations :— To the Library—Venezuelan Boundary Map, from Mr. T. S. Hargreaves; West India Annual, from Mr. J. N. Lightbourn ; Pamphlet on Nitrogen, &c., in Tropical Rain Water, from Prof. J. B, Harrison :— To the Museum :— Owl Moth.. aoe jr ..Dr. Usleyde. Troupial, Steull of Waterhass. Toucan and way .Mr. G. S. Jenman. Photographs of Old Colonists, and Royal Gazette of 1821 ; Dreteniey: Drain Pipes ose ene aS ...Mr. A. Shanks. Stone Adze aes we tna «ss 5, Chas. Powell. Four Stone Implements wise ao wee yy J. A. Wilson. Otter ves ie a we» 5, M. Perreira. One Beetle with died oe ie veo yy C. W. Anderson. Eggs of Insects a “= ou we» y E.H. Maclaine. Two rare Teal Ducks wae = we yy H. L. Humphrys. Sternum of Fowl ... =F = «es yy, C. McPherson. Sword of Sword-fish oh a ...Capt. Skolfield. The meeting then terminated. —— Meeting held April 8th—Prof. J. B. Harrison, M.A., &c., President, in the Chair. Members present II. Eleétions—Members: Messrs. H. Millet, W. G. Waldy, Lynch King and Julio Gonsalves. Associates: Messrs. N. F. Deerr, W. W. Brassington and Cecil Campbell. The following report of the Agricultural Committee was read :— 184 TIMEHRI. Georgetown, April 7th, 1897. To the President and Members of the ' R.A. & C, Society. Gentlemen,—I have the honour to report on behalf of the Agricul- tural Committee of the Society that they have carefully considered Mr. R. W. S. Mitchell’s communication through the Government in refer- ence to sugar shipments from this colony to India, and are of. opinion that cane sugar of the quality referred to cannot be shipped from here and landed at Calcutta at the price named, viz., twelve shillings per cwt- I have, &c., S. BELLAIRS, Hon. Secretary, Agricultura! Committee. A Government communication referring to two sam- ples of crystal and granulated beet sugar and two sam- ples of Jute seed which were laid upon the table, was also read. In reference to the Jute seed the Secretary informed the meeting that the two samples had been tested by Mr. Jenman at the Botanical Gardens, with the result that only that marked A had germinated. The motion in reference to the amendment of certain By-Laws, of which due notice had been given, was brought forward by the Hony. Secretary, who stated that he did so at the request of the Direétors. The President stated that these amendments were pro- posed for the purpose of putting right an anomaly by which the Committee of Correspondence is charged in the By- Laws with certain duties which have been performed by the Direétors for many years. In reply to a question of the Hon. C. Boyle, the Secretary stated that the Journal did not pay, and the President said it cost over $300 per annum. The Hon. Mr. Boyle having asked if it was fieebaiea that the Journal should pay in the hands of the Direétors, REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 185 the President replied that he believed there was a reso- lution of the Society made some ter years ago under which the Dire&tors were empowered to continue the Journal at an expense of not more than $500 per annum. The Hon. N. D. Davis spoke of the use of the Journal to the Society and the value of the exchanges. Capt. A. Duncan having seconded the motion—Mr. Bellairs, as Chairman of the Committee of Correspond- ence, said he had no obje€tion toit. Although a member of the Committee for many years he had never known it to have anything to do with the Museum or the Journal. Mr, Hargreaves said that these and other By-Laws had been systematically ignored for years. It was a remark- able coincidence that just as this matter had been brought to the notice of the Committee, the Dire&ors had also been aroused. He could not see why the Committee should be thought incompetent to undertake these duties, seeing that six of the Direétors belonged to it, Was it fair or just that the Committee who had been entrusted with the performance of certain duties, should not have the opportunity given them? Should these duties be taken from them without any explanation? Was itincom- petence or what? He thought the Committee one of the most active, as might be seen by the success of their Hor- ticultural Shows. The motion beforethe meetingappeared to him not to have been thoroughly understood by the Members, notwithstanding that it had been posted in the Reading Room fora month. He would therefore move asan amendment that it be left over until the next meeting. Mr. Jacob Conrad seconded the amendment. The Hon. N. D. Davis asked if the Committee had expressed any wish to retain these duties, to which the AA 186 TIMEHRI. President replied.that for thirteen years the members had not troubled themselves about them. On being put to the vote the amendment for postpone- ment was carried. Mr. T. 5. Hargreaves brought forward his motion for asking the Book Committee to endeavour to procure, where funds allow, more up-to-date reference books. He said he had no idea of criticising the Book Com- mittee, but he had heard from many quarters that the few reference books they had were a little out of date. Ad- mitting that the Society owed much to the fact that it was a kind of Colonial “ Mudie’s ”, it must be considered at the same time that it existed for the promotion of science and useful knowledge. They would therefore scarcely be carrying out their purpose if they confined themselves too much to fiction. Although he read novels himself, he still thought standard works of reference necessary. Then, he thought, the hands of the Book Committee would be influenced by an expression of opinion from the General Meeting, for it he had brought up the matter before the Committee, they might have felt in the awk- ward position of having to ask the Direétors for an extra grant, Mr. Bellairs, Chairman of the Book Committee, se- conded the motion for the sake of discussion, but did not sce the need of it. There was a Recommendation Book in which any member might write the title of any book he wanted, and he could say that such recommend- ations always received careful attention. But, as a matter of faét, very few took the trouble to make entries, and the list had to be compiled by the Librarian. The Hon. Mr. Davis, while agreeing that it was REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 187 desirable to have such books, thought that the proper place for the motion was in the Book Committee. The Hon. Mr. Boyle, having the Recommendation Book before him, thought some improvement might be made by giving the person who recommended a book the prior right to take it from the library, The President said that when he was Chairman of the Book Committee the matter of reference books was fully . discussed, with the result that it was said that if members wanted to know about Chemistry they might go to the Government Chemist, and if about Botany, to the Gov- ernment Botanist. On the motion being put the votes were equal, on which the Chairman gave his casting vote against it, re- marking that the desired result would probably be ac- complished by the ventilation of the matter. The following communication from the Chamber of Commerce was read and taken for notification :— The Chamber of Commerce of the City of Georgetown, Georgetown, Demerara, 17th March, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 2nd instant, enclosing a communication from the Secretary of the Phila- delphia Museums, which was laid before the Council of the Chamber of Commerce at its last meeting, when I was instructed to inform you that a similar letter was addressed to me by Mr. Wilson, and the matter has therefore already been dealt with by the Council. I have the honour &c., G. WYATT, Secretary. R. T. A. Daly, Hon. Secretary, Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society. The Secretary read the annexed letters from Mr. Seon AA 2 188 TIMEHRi. in reference to the report on timbers sent to the Imperial Institute :— Demerara River, 22nd March, 1897. Thomas Daly, Esqre., Sir,—Your letter of the 12th inst. received and contents have my at- tention. I have received copy of no Report, as you mentioned was en- closed, consequently I am ignorant of same. I have written to Mr. Quelch in answer to his letter and no doubt he will shew you my letter. The woods I am collecting for the R. A. & C, Society are all first class. These logs are squared timber, whilst the specimens collected last year, by me for Mr. Quelch, were round wood, and, it is to be supposed must have had a good deal of sap, and we all know such a thing as sap does not last long—only the tacouba lasts, therefore you can depend on getting good and sound timber. I have made an offer to Mr. Quelch, which, I ee he may see his way to accept. Yours respectfully, EDWARD SEON. Upper Demerara River, 29th March, 1896. Thomas Daly, Esqre., Hon. Secretary, R. A. & C, Society. Sir,—Yours of the 25th inst., together with enclosed report of Mr. Allan Ransome, Technical Referee on Timbers, sent from this Colony and colleéted by me for the Imperial Institute, have had my careful perusal, and in arswer to same, I beg to say that the report is so incomplete, un- satisfaétory and contradi€tory, that I really cannot understand its sub- stance. I have written a long letter to Mr. Quelch on same and I hope you may have the pleasure of seeing it. I promise you to bring you wood which I defy anyone like Mr. Ran- some to pronounce rotten or decayed ; and you must bear in mind that the samples collected by me for the Imperial Institute, which is the sub- jeét of much discussion in the local press, were round wood with all the sap-wood, and it is a well-known faéct that sap-wood does not last any length of time, in fact sap-wood is good for nothing in this Colony, therefore what can be thought of it in a country like England, where the REPORT OF SocietTy’s MEETINGS, 189 climate varies materially to our own. I say what was required in the shape of samples was square logs, 20 ft. long. I shall, I hope, be able to bring down with me, when coming, pieces of the said logs colleéted and on which Mr. Ransome gave us such a misleading report. I wish you would read these few lines before the first meeting of the R. A. & C. Society. Yours respectfully. EDWARD SEON. The Hon. Mr, Boyle said it was with sorrow and regret he had read the report, and he could hardly think that the professional gentleman employed by the Imperial In- stitute would make the mistake Mr. Seon attributed to him. He thought they should try to put the matter right by sending new samples without sap-wood. Mr. W. Cunningham thought there must be some mis- take, as the report did not agree with his long experience of the woods in question. The Hon. Mr. Davis spoke in favour of sending other samples, and gave notice of motion for the next meeting that the Direétors be asked to give effe€t to the Hon. Mr. Boyle’s suggestion. The following communications through ‘the Govern- ment, in reference to colony-grown Liberian Coffee were read and taken for notification :— Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara, goth March, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour by dire&tion of the Governor to enclose for ths information of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society a ‘copy of correspondence received from the Secretary of State with reference to a report on Liberian Coffee grown in British Guiana. I have, &c., CHARLES T, COX, The Secretary R. A. & C, Society, igo - ‘TIMEHRI. = = = Downing Street, 23rd February, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to transmit to you for your information the document noted below respecting a report on Liberian Coffee grown in British Guiana. I have, &c., (Sgd.) R, H. MEAD, for Secretary of State. The Officer administering the Govt. of British Guiana. Royal Gardens, Kew, ( February 20th, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to inform you that I have received from Mr. Morris, who is now attached to the West Indian Commission, a sample, for report, of Liberian Coffee grown on the coast lands of British Guiana, in the neighbourhood of Georgetown. 2. I enclose Brokers’ report on this sample. It clearly shows that with more care the cultivation of this staple on the coast lands is per: fe&tly praéticable. 3. The Secretary of State will no doubt cause this report to be com- municated to the Government of the colony, who will probably inform the grower, Mr. Thomas Garnett, of the result. I have, &c., (Sgd.) W. T. THISELTON-DYER. Edward Wingfield, Esq., C.B., Colonial Office, Downing Street, S.W. Mincing Lane, London, E.C., February 19th, 1897. Dear Sir,—We are in receipt of your favour of yesterday, with sample of Coffee received from British Guiana, which we have carefully examined, and beg to report as follows :— It is good of its kind, and well dried, but has been rather roughly / prepared, We are of opinion that the coffee has not sufficiently matured, some berries come out good yellow, but others very coated and small. Many berries have been nipped and split in the pulping, and damaged, * REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 1g! The value of Liberian Coffee has given way recently, and quality like this would be worth about 58/ to 60/ per cwt. Yours faithfully, (Sgd.) LEWIS & PEAT. The Dire&tor, Royal Gardens, Kew. The President said that Dr. Morris had asked him to forward samples of coffee from the Canal estates as well as from those on the Demerara River, which he intended to do after the Doétor returned to England, The thanks of the Society were accorded for the fol- lowing donations to the Library—from Mr. G.S. Jenman, Veitch’s “A Traveller’s Notes” ; from Prof, J. B. Harri- son, Grenada Handbook, 1897. The meeting then terminated. BOSE Bie Meeting held May 21st.—Prof. J. B, Harrison, M.A., &c., President, in the Chair. | Members present 15 The President said he had much pleasure in introducing Dr. Ernst of the University of Caracas, who would make a few remarks at a later stage of the meeting.. Mr. Ed. Sutton, Editor of the “Sugar Cane,” was pro- posed as an Honorary Member, to be ballotted for at the next meeting.,, Eleétions.—Member : Rev. R, Gibson Fisher. Associates: Messrs. A. E. E. Carpenter, C. L. Peacocke, H. Wallbridge, J. H. Castell and J. E. Parker. The President, on behalf of the Dire€tors, stated that they haa decided to contribute $100 towards a permanent Memorial of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and also to illuminate the buildings of the Society in a similar man- ner to what was done in 1887. 192 TIMEHRI. The Honorary Treasurer laid over the list of unpaid subscriptions for the current year, which in accordance with the By-Laws was dire€ted to be posted in tbe Reading Room. The annexed report of the Agricultural Committee was read :— Georgetown, May 12th, 1897. To the President and Members of the R. A. & C. Society. Gentlemen,—In accordance with the Government Regulations under which the Agricultural Committee ot the Society are entitled to free analyses of articles of public interest by the Government Analyst, I have the honour to forward five analyses of clean rice, paddy and oats, which have been made at the request of the Committee. By dire&tion of the Committee.I also forward a paper by Professor J. B. Harrison, on “ The results of recent scientific researches into the agricultural improvement of the Sugar Cane.”* I have &c., S. BELLAIRS, Hon. Sec., Agricultural Committe, Government Laboratory, Georgetown, Demerara, May 11th, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to forward herewith five certificates of analysis relating tothe samples of Colony grown and imported rice, of dried and green paddy, and of oats, sent to me for analysis by the Agricultural Committee in the month of April. You will notice that the samples of Colony grown rice compare very favourably with the one of imported rice. The grains of the Colony rice were distinctly larger in size than were those of the imported samples. 7 - The Colony rice was slightly richer in albuminoids, fat and starch than was the imported rice, and hence possessed in a slight degree the higher nutritive value. This may be due to the faét that it was evidently the better cleaned sample. | * See page 84. REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 193 The compositions of the samples of paddy show that this forms a valuable food for horses, cattle, poultry, etc. Mixed with cocoanut meal (the composition of which will be found on page 64 of the Agricultural Report for 1890) in the proportions of say two of the paddy to one of the meal, a food for stock, equal in nutritive valueto oats of high quality would be obtained. But, probably for use in this Colony, paddy rice, not mixed with other constituents, would be found, if fed in somewhat larger quantity, to be preferable to oats as being less heating. I am of opinion that the sample of oats sent cannot be regarded as quite a typical sample of the oats imported into this Colony. The re- latively high proportion of non-albuminoid nitrogen present leads to the supposition that the oats in question were harvested before they had become completely ripe. At the same time, when comparing the values of paddy, rice and oats as food, it must be borne in mind that oats contain, in small quan- tity, an alkaloid “ avenin,” which apparently exercises an important in- fluence on. the effects of oats on horses, and therefore, where the animal is required to do rapid work, I am of opinion that the paddy could not satisfactorily take the place of oats. But it still, even in this case, might be used with advantage as an adjunét to, or as replacing part of the oats usually supplied.—I am, &c., J. B. HARRISON, Govt. Analyst. The Honble. B. H. Jones, Chairman, Agricultural Committee. CERTIFICATE OF ANALYSIS. Of asample of Creole White Rice; marked “from Maida, Berbice” ; sent by the Agricultural Committee of the R. A. & C.S.; received April, 1897. Moisture a te Msi was cae. BES * Albuminoids ... one Le a Jas 7°50 + Amides and other nitrogenous bodies ee wei “31 oe Sa ue ass svi Seen os Aa "52 Glucose are ee bre ine ies "18 Dextrin, etc. ... a a are are 1°44 Starch... aan EP ae = te oy pe Digestible fibre (not determined)... a was "13 Woody fibre ... a= tas sam aa "20 Mineral matters = wes ese eee "82 100°00 Remark :—1 \b. contains 22,950 grains of rice. * Containing Nitrogen... aa Bee oe 1°20 tT > pe Ay aan Sue ose "05 BB 194 TIMEHRI. Se CERTIFICATE OF ANALYSIS. Of a sample of Imported White Rice; marked ‘Imported White Rice”; sent by the Agricultural Committee, R. A. & C.S,; received April, 1897. Moisture ads fh _ see wink 11°34 * Albuminoids a ee vee 718 + Amides and other ee EY bodies bes a me Fat fica. ay. Mt ae poe =F Ke Glucose ae ae on wen oe “or Dextrin, etc. .«. aaa = an Le 1°62 Starch.. as a ose 59GRS Digestible fibre (not decrmineay ane "08 Woody fibre... oe le me ae 1°16 Mineral matters... — nae ne Fe 1°04 100°00 Tia ee Remark :—1 \b. contains 24,310 grains, * Containing Nitrogen... 4h ake eS I'lS Tt a ‘ one ese as sae 05 CERTIFICATE OF ANALYSIS Of a sample of Dried Paddy; marked “ Dried Paddy from Maida, Berbice”; sent by the Agricultural Committee R. A. & C. S,; received April, 1897. Moisture stip ape ose 10°36 * Albuminoids .. a wea apy NS 562 + Amides and other nitorgenous matters... oes 2'81 Fat .. ese ee oer ave ove 2°88 Glucose ase vee 45 He t "32 Dextrin, etc. AY ain pt ot 2°18 Starch owe vas 080, OOS Digestible fibre (not Rael ae me 1°26 Woody fibre ws pee one avs sie 2°54 Mineral matters vse eee ses bee 3°40 100°00 ee ee * Containing Nitrogen... se9 Ah 4: "90 t ” ” ve eve eee aee “45 REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 195 CERTIFICATE OF ANALYSIS Of a sample of Fresh Paddy ; marked “ Undried Paddy, Maida, Ber- bice”; sent by the Agricultural Committee R. A. & C. S.; received April, 1897. Moisture bie = one aus +s 12°50 * Albuminoids ... de a = ne 4.37 t+ Amides and other Wee Sete matters... wee 2°50 Fatt a ip se nae BA sie 2°76 Glucose vai es eas ike aac "13 Dextrin, etc. ... aa waa ao ie 2°15 Starch.. 3 aie -. 68°46 Digestible fibre ee SR ANS: 3 kal 1°61 Woody fibre... Sus pe oe oan 2°48 Mineral matters aaa “aes x ad 3°04 100°00 * Containing Nitrogen... = = = "JO + » > ue ae a2 wa 40 CERTIFICATE. OF ANALYSIS, Of a sample of Oats; marked “ Prince Edward Island Oats”; sent by the Agricultural Committee R. A. & C. S.; received April, 1897. Moisture pest cae wd a aes 10.32 * Albuminoids... ose oat ae eed 6°25 - 7 Amides and other nitrogenous matters wee an 531 Pat) 3°. an aa Pa deo a O14 Sucrose ace all aaa ae a °26 Glucose He ae tes top ese "25 Dextrin, etc, ... pee Soh es oo 3°76 Starch... Se oa ae gti 8 Digestible fibre (not dsterninied ee “te deh tl 20 04 Woody fibre... me fr ts ies 5.01 Mineral matters... pa ee mY fae 2°52 100°00 * Containing Nitrogen Sh Initial. Drying. 2 5 5 DOH ooo 70 a Greenheart jla Souari was eas 39 72 a Lgt, Br. Cirouballi is 4a Kabucalli ... ..| Jan, 2U 200 TIMEBRI. TRANSVERSE STRENGTH.—The bars were re€tangular, about 33 inches square, on supports 45 inches apart, the load being applied at the centre. TABLE V.—RESISTANCE TO BENDING. : Transverse S Co-efficient r=] Dimensions, | § | Centre| of Transverse Sg Date Inches. m | Break- Strength. cs Name. Obes Art gets a es ing °\\==— ae ee Ae Testing. 2 | Load, |Pounds| Tons A Breadth] Depth.| 9° per per Ins. |Pounds,| sq. in.{ sq. in. . 1897. 70 a | Greenheart ..|dan. 14] 3°463 | 3°047 | 45 8,941 | 18,772 | 8°38 70 c >» 4 : ae 3°482 3°004 | 45 9,984 | 21,447 9°57 71 a | Souari ce =e + 3°410 2°996 | 45 5,957 | 13,1388 |} 5°87 72 a | Let. Br. Cirouballi oS 3°501 3°001 | 45 3,775 8,082 3°61 72 ¢ % 59 ner) ae 3°529,| 3°030 | 45 | 3,666 7,638 | 3°41 74 a | Kabucalli ... «| dan, 19} 2°958 3°467 | 45 3,000 5,695 2°54 74 e 9 es eral ioe 3°475 | 2°949 | 45 | 6,000 | 13,393 | 5°98 ae A TC Se SS SESE FETT 70 a. Broke by tension ; 70 c. Broke by tension. 71 a, Gave way by crushing first. 72 a. Broke by tension. 72 c. Broke partly by tension, partly by compression. 74 a, Broke by tension at a knot near the centre of bar. 74 e. Broke by tension. TABLE VI.—DEFLECTION IN THE BENDING TESTS. EE mmm f No. 70a./No. 70c.|No. 7la.|No. 72a.)No. 72c.|No. 74a.|No. 74e. as aN ieee on oS Oa Lm SH omy Get va is |o Al Ker {Os 2g =|'O".. Ours |Og 5 o8 26 a2 #8 a 48 as p=RE a2 #5 <8 #8 a 8 a2 a § ° o~ n=) ~~ 42 ~~ ~ ~ : er) — — SE |SeiSS/2 els ola ss cle Sis Sle ols gla sis Sle slee 8 Se He |Peea| Sols |SSeq| So Bal Salaa |e 58; 8188) Sisal Sisa] AlSsi SiSSi Bigal & | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ins.|Ins.|Ins.|Ins.|Ins.|Ims.|Ins.|Ins,|Ins.|Ins.|Ins.|Ins.| Ins,|Ins, 0.1.0 45.0) O10 0.4 Bl 0- |" OVO OM es ener 500 |+047|*047| *067| *067| 066) *066| -090| 090} 073] *073) *077| -077| 081! 081 1,000 |+043| +090] 043] +110} *052| *118) *052| 149] *078}-151| -064| +141] *069|- 150 1,500 |*037|"127| °042| +152] -053) *171| 096} '238| +076| 227] -094| +235] 073] *223 2000 |*042'*169 *041| *193| °047| *218) °072| 310) 083) *310} *082| -317| *071| -294 3,000 |045| 250} -044) +276) ° ; “088} 473) °098) *500 2500 |-036! 205) -039| 232) °059] -277|*075| +385|*092| -402| -080| 397 "060 354 “O71| °425 4,000 |*065|*315 084) -360|° ss ate aoe 115] °540 5,000 |*088| +403] *080| +440} ° 187| °727 6,000 {*082) 485) 092) “532 7,000 |*091) 576) °101) "633 8,000 |*129) °705) °151) 784 9,000 | — | — }°207|"991 _ ee REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 201 TABLE VII.—Co-EFFIcIENTS OF ELASTICITY FROM BENDING TESTS. : Range of Elastic Co-efficient of “ a Stress, Deflection. Elasticity. ‘e 5 Name. a Pounds per Pounds per| Tons per = sq. in. Inches, sq. in, sq. in. 70 a | Greenheart 0 to 5846 1-436 2,874,500 1,283°4 70 ec *s sed 0 to 6446 °2508 2,887,300 1,289°0 71 a | Souari See mas 0 to 5515 *2640 2,353,600 1,050°6 72 a | Lgt. Br. Cirouballi| 0 to 4282 *2936 1,640,300 732°2 72¢ ” rr) 0 to 4167 “3160 2,469,200 655'9 74 a | Kabucalli ... oe 0 to 4746 "4100 1,155,300 i bags The r= ree Sa 0 to 6696 “4128 1,858,300 829°5 REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF PRACTICAL TESTS APPLIED TO TEN VARIETIES OF BRITISH GUIANA TIMBER. The timbers reported on were sent for the purposes of testing in March last, but as they were far too green for any reliable tests to be made with them at that time, they were kept in a dry place for six months, and were then broken down into 4-inch planks ; but being still too wet to furnish reliable resu!ts, they were kept for a further period of four months before being submitted to trial. Pieces of each of the logs were passed through various machines, and although still far from being properly seasoned, they were sufficiently so to allow of an opinion being formed as to their practical value for various purposes. Of theten logs, no less than seven already showed undoubted signs of decay, althoughs as above stated, they are not, even now, nearly as dry as they should be to be worked up for any practical purposes. The development of this tendency to rot so soon after the timber has been felled may be due to one of three causes: It may be owing (a) to the trees having been felled when full ofsap; or (2), to the timber having been grown in a marshy locality; or (c), to some inherent qualities in the wood which make them liable to rapid decay. Ifthe defeét in question is due to the first of the above causes, it could be remedied by felling the trees in the winter season, but if it is ascribable to either of the other causes men- tioned, it will be a serious drawback to the use, for any permanent structures, of such descriptions of timber as have already shown signs of decay. All these ten sample logs, without exception, were very easily worked by machinery, the hardest of them, viz., greenheart, being quite as easy to saw and plane as the average quality of English oak while the majority of the other samples are worked quite as easily as mahogany and cedar. The following remarks represent the results of the tests :-— cc 202 TIMEHRI. GREENHEART.. Nectandra Rodizi.—The sample submitted was straight grained and sound, but much softer than the greenheart hitherto used in this country, and not so durable. Hence it is not so well suited for dock gates, for which purpose greenheart is chiefly used. Souari. Caryocar tomentosum.—This might serve for some des- criptions of heavy timber constructions of temporary charaéter, but as the sample submitted already showed signs of decay, it would probably be too perishable for permanent structures. Light Brown CiROuBALLI. Nectandra sp.—A very poor wood in- deed, the sample submitted being already rctten. KaBUCALLI. Goupia tomentosa.—A coarse timber, emitting an ex- tremely disagreeable smell when being worked. The sample was very cross grained, but as it is a tough wood and does not show signs of decay, it should be suitable for sleepers, fencing posts, and similar out- side work. Mora. Mora excelsa.—A good, sound, serviceable wood, suitable for railway carriage and wagon work and heavy construétions, for inside joiners’ work and the cheaper descriptions of furniture. Locust woop, Hymenea Courbaril.—A mild, sound, straight grained wood, suitable for furniture, inside joiners’ work, and numerous other purposes, SimaRuPA. Simaruba offcinalis—A very poor timber, somewhat resembling poplar. The sample submitted, although not sufficiently seasoned to be fit for use, already showed undoubted signs of decay, and cannot therefore be recommended for structural work. Hackia. Jxora ferrea.—A good, sound. straight grained timber suitable for railway carriage and wagon work, or for heavy construc- tions. It might also be used for cogs and shafts, or for sleepers. CraBwoop, Carapa Guianensis.—Resembles cedar, and would be useful for inside joinery and for the cheaper descriptions of furniture. EurIBALLI.—Something like a very inferior mahogany. The sample submitted, although still far too green to use, shows signs of decay, It might be used for cheap furniture and inside joinery. REPORT ON TIMBERS FROM BRITISH GUIANA, (By Professor W. C, Unwin, F.R.S., Member of the Committee of Advice of the Scientific and Technical Department.) The following results complete the series of mechanical tests carried out with logs of timber received from British Guiana ;— Report OF SOCIETY’s MEETINGS, 203 No. 73. Mora. Mora excelsz.—This plank had bad shakes at each end near the heart, No. 75. Locust. Aymenwa Courbaril,—This plank had a bad shake near the heart. No. 76. SIMARUPA. Simarupa officinalis—This plank was almost split to pieces by shakes. No. 77. Hacxta. Siderodendron triflorum or Ixora ferrea, Benth.— Two bad shakes. | No. 78, Craswoop. Carapa Guianensis.—Very bad heart shakes, No. 79. EURIBALLI. Bad heart shake. The test pieces were so cut as to secure their being sound, so far as could be seen. They were kept about a month in a dry cool place; some of the transverse pieces split in drying so-much that they were useless for testing. Density Tgsts.—The following Table gives the result of the density tests of the specimens prepared for compression :— SLE i Weight No. of Weight |Volumeof P & Speci- Name, Locality, of Water antes Cubi men, Wood. |Displaced ‘fe Fo aC oot. Grammes.| C,C, Lb. 73 ¢ | Mora om ...| Br. Guiana 1,610°0 1,389°9 1°158 72°31 75 c | Locust ,,., ~~ = 1,121°5 1,215°7 0°922 58°58 76 c_ | Simarupa..., a se 540°7 1,190°8 0°454 28°35 77 c | Hackia oop aa ae 1,257°7 1,193°2 1°054 65°81 78 c |Crabwood... ... pa 762°4 | 1,029°3 0°741 46°25 79 c | Euriballi .., oe 3 925°4 1,170°9 0-791 49 36 A WETNESS TESTS. . Weight of Chips, ice 8 No, of _ Name 8 AE pene in | gS35 pecimen, : sys ter eight.| = ._p Test. Initial, Drying. z = § A Grammes.|Grammes./Grammes.| 5 22 3 1897. 73 a Mora oes | Jan, 18 11°752 8°058 3°694 45°84 75a Locust... cnt Lebs E 10°118 8°419 1°699 20°18 76 a Simarupa nea x 6°896 5°902 0°994 16°84 lia Hackia ... eo 12°930 8°781 47149 47°25 CC 2 204 TIMEHRI. ) RESISTANCE TO CRUSHING. Dimensions. Area | Crush- |Cr’hing No. of Inches. of ing |str’gth. Specimen Name. Locality. Section.| Load. — Section. |Height.| Sq.in,| Tons. |sq. in. 73.¢ {Mora | Br, Guiana. |3:219 x 3:272} 813 | 10:53 | 331 | 3°143 75 ¢ Locust +s 2°998 x 3°078; 8°13 9°23 49°9 5°408 76¢ Simarupa... ta 2°986 x 2°980| 8°16 8°95 15°89 | 1°785 77 c Hackia x 3119 x 2°873) 8°15 8°90 43°50 4°854 qc Crabwood... > 3°065 x 2-544! 8°05 7°80 25°71 3°297 9 e¢ Euriballi ... =m 2°99. x 2°989) 8°05 8°94 36°10 4°038 73 e.—Broke by shearing. 75 c.—Broke by shearing, 76 c.—Broke by shearing. ee OE ESS SEE EL STR ET TS AD A NTS AR TR ARTE Specimen Name. 73 e. |\Mora 75 e. |\Locust 15 f. " 76 e. |Simarupa... 76 d. % Tie Hackia ... lid 99 78 € Crabwood... 719 @ Euriballi ... 79 d = 77 c.—Broke by shearing. 78 c.—Broke by shearing. 79 c.—Broke by vertical splitting. RESISTANCE TO SHEARING. _|Ultimate Shear- Shear : Dimensions- aie 4 in ing Stress, - eared! Load. Locality. Inches. : Pounds | Tons Sq-in. |Pounds,| per per sq. in. | sq, in. .| Br, Guiana, | 2°00 x 2°00 4°00 4,084 | 1,021°0 | 0°456 a 2°00 x 2°06 4°11 5,287 | 1,285°2 0°574 Of 2°01 x 1°98 3°98 3,618 908°6 0°406 a 1°98 x 1°98 3°90 1,675 429°1 0°192 % 1°93 x 2°00 3°86 2,218 575°2 0'257 %9 2°02 x 2°00 4°03 3,510 857°8 0'383 ce 2°10 x 2°91 4°23 5,025 | 1,188°2 0°531 rs 2°01 x 1°97 3°96 3,835 967°7 0°433 ” 1°99 x 1°92 3°82 4,350 | 1,138°3 0°509 ” 2:03 x 2°03 4°11 3,190 776°9 0347 73 e.—Shearing plane nearly at right angles to annual rings. Regular fracture. 75 f.—Across annual rings. 75 e.—Parallel to rings. 76 e.—Parallel to rings. 76 d.—Across rings. 77 e.—Parallel to rings. 77 d,—Across rings. 78 e,—Parallel to rings. 79 e.—Parallel to rings. 79 d.—Across rings. Irregular fracture. Regular fracture. Smooth fracture. Regular fratture. Regular fracture. Irregular fracture, Regular fracture. Regular fracture. Regular fracture, REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS, 205 RESISTANCE TO BENDING. Transverse a Co-efficient S Dimensions, & | Centre| of Transverse S = Date Inches. @ | Break- Strength. su Name <1 ae. zm Testing. = | Load, |Pounds| Tons A Breadth| Depth.| ° r per pe Ins. |Pounds,} sq. in, | sq. in, 1897. 73 a | Mora «| Jan. 14] 3°364 | 2°958 | 45 | 6,000 | 13,762 | 67144 736 | ,, .. .. .(dan.29| 3409 | 3-051 | 45 | 8,000 | 17,018 | 7°596 T5an.~.| Twas es Le os 3°390/| 3°069 | 45 | 8,615 | 18,215 | 8-132 76a |Simarupa... ...| 4 3°463 | 2°957 | 45 | 4380 | 9,765 | 4°360 76 b ds Medsks-okth (Cee 3468 | 3°019 | 45 | 2,480 | 5,296 | 2364 oT a” Mahia sl se 3°379 | 3°047 | 45 | 9,000 | 19.365 | 8'646 77 b - Sgn ees 3°367 | 3°038 | 45 | 4,960 | 10,774 | 4°810 73 a.—Broke by crushing, 76 6,—Broke by tension, 73 6.—Broke by tension. 77 a.—Broke by tension. 75 a.—Broke by tension. 77 6.—Broke by tension at a knot, 76 a.—Broke by tension. DEFLECTIONS IN THE BENDING TESTS, No. 73a.|No. 73b.|No. 75a.|No. 76a.|No. 76b.|No. 77a.|No. 77b. 3 ro) * SS SS SS SS) Se a £ 5s les a8 £9 5 ee ac Ee SH as ol aS 38 ae a3 Em j2 9/5 ole SS 9/8815 sla sis sls os sla sis clesiss CO [Bs Pslsss les, s[53| sigs slssl sles s ° ° o o ° ° i) a a) A a BA) AEA A\s Als BSSeise Als A Ins.| Ins./Ins.| Ins.|Ins.| Ins.|Ins.|Ins, |Ins.|Ins.|Ins.|Ins.| Ins,|Ins, 0951-6710) | OF) 0 AOb Oro Kol | Oo) othork oO /'O"}-o 500 | °045)°045] °060| *060| “072 °072) -095) 095} °170)| *170} 050} £050) *064! “064 J 058 *103} °054| +114] °041) *113} 097| *192} °155) +325] +050) +100) 056) +120 1,000 1,500] | ‘047)*150) *053) -167 | -059} *172| 090} *282| 157) *482| 050) +150) ‘058; *178 2,000 | °062 *212) -0458)°215 | °061| *233) °093) 375] °160) *642| °050| *200| *059) *237 2,500 | °052,°264|-045) 260| *045| -278)*105) -480) — | — | *037| +237) *053; °290 3,000 | *050,°314 -050) +310) 047) 325] 087) ‘567) — | — | *053) 290! :070) °360 4,000 |°116, 430) *090|-400) *100) -425] *318/ °885] — | — | ‘090| 380) 110) °470 5,000 |-°160) °590) °125) +525) °108) *533) — | — | — | — |°090) °470; — | — 6,000 | — | — |°105|°630| —.| — | — | — | — | — | 100) °570) — | — 7,000 | — | — |°200)°s30| — | — | — | — | — | — | °140)°710) — | — 8,000 |} — | —}—|— | — tm pol ml od oe [186 866) — | — 206 TIMEHRI. Co. EFFICIENCY OF ELASTICITY FROM BENDING TESTS. : Range of Elastic Co-efficient of s s Stress, Deflection. Elasticity. os Name, Pounds per NT Sy . é sq. in. Inches. Pounds per | Tons per . sq. in. sq. in, 73 a | Mora 0 to 6880 0°323 2,432,300 1,085°8 73 6 is) sone 0 to 6381 0°300 2,353,300 1,050°6 75 @ | Locust «| 0 to 6344 6°306 2,280,000 1,018°0 76 a |S8imarupa ... «| O to 6688 0°564 1,353,500 604°3 76 5 % | 0 to 3204 0°468 765,280 341°7 77 @ | Hackia 0 to 6455 0°288 2,483,700 1,104°9 17 6 99 0 3 to 5431 0°285 2,117,300 945 Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara, 12th May, 1897. I have the honour by direction of the Governor to inform you that the Secretary of the Imperial Institute has forwarded a list of timbers, a copy of which is enclosed, which remain on hand of those which were forwarded to the Institute by Mr. J. J. Quelch, for examination in 1895, and Sir F. Abel has enquired whether it is desired that all of these, or if not, which of them, should be submitted to examination as in the case of those already reported on. His Excellency will be glad to know whether the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society wish to have the remaining samples, or any portion of them, tested, The cost will be borne by the colony. I have, &c., CHARLES T, COX. The Honorary Secretary, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. Purple Heart... nee «-Copaifera bracteata, Kretti bes ove sed Washiba ons eve Ses Bullet Tree ... “hie «-Mimusops ballata, Brown Cirouballi oe ...Vectandra sp. Suradanni... in Arisowroo... ove ... Vatairea guianensis, Monkey Pot ... ea . Lecythis grandifiora, Yellow Cirouballi ove «..Nectandra Pisi. Towaronero ... aes ---Humirium floribundum, REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 207 Kakeralli ... oui -. Lecythis ollaria, Letter Wood... — ...Piratinera Aubletii. Hoobooballi ... aise ... Mimosa guianensis, Wallaba sus sow ... Eperua falcata, Wamara vis iss ... Swartzia tomentosa. Waibana ... sete ...Nectandra sp. Upper Demerara River, 3rd May, 1897. Thos, Daly, Esq., Hon, Sec, R. A. & C, Society, Sir,—I have the pleasure to inform you that now the rains have set in you can expec the woods ordered at end of the present month. I shall let you know when I| am loading same, so that you may inform me where you will require these woods to be put. AsI have already said Iam bringing samples of each specimen, also pieces of each log of those woods which I collected some time ago for Mr. Quelch for the Imperial Institute, which pieces-were reported upon by Mr. Ransome. * * * Yours faithfully, EDWARD SEON. In reference to Mr. Seon’s samples the Hon. Mr. Boyle said it would be a good thing if they were examined be- fore being sent to England, With all due deference to Mr. Seon, he was of opinion that their last attempt to find a market for their timbers was a miserable failure, In September last he had informed them what he had done to bring their timbers into notice, and now it was near the end of May and the logs had not yet arrived in Georgetown. The merchants of London would laugh at them when they found it took over nine months to get samples. The President stated that in this case there was excuse 208 TIMEHRI. for the delay, for during the nine months the rivers had been extraordinarily low through the drought; he did not think Mr. Seon was to blame. , In the absence of the Hon. Mr. Davis, Mr. Jacob Conrad moved the motion that new samples of timber without sap-wood, be sent for trial to the Imperial Institute. They knew, he said, that it took some trouble and expense to open up new produéts, and if they wished to advertise their timbers they must incur this trouble and expense. Unless they made known what could be done in the colony, they could hardly expeét to get outside capital. Mr. James Gillespie seconded. | The Hon. Mr, Boyle was in favour of another trial, but a thorough examination should first be made of what they were about to send. When Mr. Seon brought down his samples they would be better able to judge, he would therefore propose as an amendment that these samples be examined, and if found good, be sent on to the Im- perial Institute, In the meantime, a reply to the Govern- ment communication might be forwarded, stating that they would not ask that the remaining samples be tested, as they proposed to send others shortly. Mr. Conrad said that Mr. Willlam Cunningham would be willing to examine the timbers before shipment. Mr. F. A. Conyers said that the timbers could not be properly tested in the colony. He remembered the Direétors of the Caledonian Railway in 1885 asking about mora sleepers, but the price was so enormously beyond those of pine that they could not afford them, Timbers had been sent from bere to many exhibitions. but with no benefit. | The Hon. Mr. Boyle said that his proposition was that REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 209 the timbers should be examined. He was well aware that they could not be scientifically tested here. The Rev. D. J. Reynolds spoke of the difficulty of executing a large order if it should be received. Mr, Gilzean said the difficulty of the abnormally dry season was seen in the high price of greenheart ; last year at this time it could be bought for 18 cents a foot, now it was 45 cents, and Mr. Hargreaves confirmed this. Mr. 7Eneas Mackay seconded Mr. Boyle’s amendment, and the motion having been withdrawn in its favour by Mr. Conrad, it was unanimously carried. Two letters from Mr. R. W. S. Mitchell, Calcutta, referring to a fresh parcel of Jute seed, were read. The Assistant Secretary stated that on trial the seed had been found good, and had been Cistributed to about twenty different persons, some of whom had promised to give it a fair trial. The following letter from Mr. Thos. Garnett was read, the Assistant Secretary stating that a copy of the report on a sample of Liberian Coffee, read at the past meet- ing, had been sent to the writer :— Georgetown, 24th April, 1897. Thomas Daly, Esq., Hon. Secretary of R. A. & C. Society. . Sir,—I am in receipt of your favour of 21st inst., enclosing copy of a communication from Kew Gardens, together with a Broker’s Report on a sample of Liberian Coffee, which, I presume, is the one (and unfor- tunately the only one) I got cured for Mr. Morris during his visit to this colony. I am rather at a loss to understand why this report—such as it is— has been sent to the Royal Agricultural & Commercial Society at all, and not dire&t to me or through the Government, considering that I per- sonally sent Mr. Morris the sample at his special request. But this is a matter of detail. Se DD 210 TIMEHRI. With reference to the report itself it is not very edifying and is in parts distinétly misleading, though rather comic. To begin with—in se€tion I it is stated that the sample of Coffee was grown on the coast lands of British Guiana. This is misleading—as the Canal lands cannot be classed in the same category as the coast lands proper, owing to the atmospheric conditions being so markedly different—especially with reference to the very heavy dews at night (which the Coffee plant revels in) and the absence of the scorching salt wind by day, which latter is so prevalent on the seaboard. In se€tion 2 we are next solemnly told—quite as a discovery—that the cultivation of Coffee on the already-mentioned and misnamed coast lands is “ perfe&tly praCticable.” Now, considering that Coffee was the principal produét of this Colony before sugar was ever started here, and as one only has to refer to the annals of the Colony to see how largely it was grown in the No. 1 Canal and other suitable vzver distri€ts, this information is indeed wonderful, and is about on a par with the strange dissertations that have been appearing lately in the local press on the subject of Coffee growing in this Colony. Why, my father remembers that little property called “ Java,” on Canal No. 1—which at the time was entirely in Creole (“ Arabian ”) Coffee—changing hands with only a handful of slaves, for £30,000! I myself have been growing both Liberian and Creole Coffee in the Canal District for a considerable number of years, and as Messrs. Lewis & Peatt’s report on my sample appears to have led some people to think that this is the first time Liberian Coffee grown here has been sent to England, I may mention that I have been shipping the same to London off and on now for some years, and my shipments have been very ably disposed of, at prices more satisfa€tory than those now quoted by Messrs. Lewis & Peatt. Regretting that Mr. Morris has not been able to give us some informa- tion that would be of some material assistance to the few present Coffee growers in the Colony. I am, Sir, &c., THOS. GARNETT. The President mentioned that the letter referred to had been written by Mr. Thiselton-Dyer, and not by Dr. Morris. Mr. Jacob Conrad spoke of the way cotton and coffee were grown in the colony by their predecessors. REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 211 The Hon. Mr. Boyle thought Mr. Garnett had just grounds for complaint. As far as he understood, Dr. Morris was supplied when here witha sample of Liberian coffee with no idea that it was to be hawked about Lon- - don or to be tested. He thought that Dr. Morris should have informed Mr. Garnett if such had been his intention. It seemed as if the authorities at Kew were dealing too hardly with their struggling colony. Sometime ago they said the planters should give up Sugar and scatter india- rubber seeds, and they knew what the Colonial legislature said about that. It was hardly fair or right for Dr. Morris to send an ordinary sample to his chief to be tested. The President said that at the request of Dr. Morris he was sending samples of coffee, and that the Doétor had remarked to him that he did not consider the sample from No. 1 Canal very good. The Hon, Mr. Boyle moved that the Society record its respe€tful protest against the manner in which the sample of Liberian coffee had been treated, and strongly sympa- thised with Mr. Garnett in the matter, and further that the protest and a copy of Mr. Garnett’s letter be forwarded to the Government, with a view to their reaching Mr. Thiselton-Dyer. This having been seconded by the Revd. D. J. Rey- nolds, it was carried unanimously. | The President gave aresumé ofa paper entitled “ The results of recent scientific researches into the agricul- tural improvement of the Sugar Cane.”* On the motion of the Hon. Mr. Boyle a vote of thanks was accorded, the mover calling attention to the great value of the paper. 3 —_—— $n TNE STEERER RETR R ROOD * See page 84. DD2 si2 SMEAR. Mr. Hargreaves suggested that it should be printed in pamphlet form and circulated among the members, which was agreed to. The thanks of the Society were accorded for the fol- lowing donations—To the Library—from Hon. B. He Jones, 6 vols. Sugar Cane; from Dr. A. Ernst, Guide to Caracas, Anales de la Junta de Aclimatacion, and 4 pamphlets on the Indians of Venezuela. _ To the Museum— | 1 Iguana, 1 Frog, 1 Foetus of Savannah Deer _ ...G. S. Jenman, 1, and seri is sie airapaligeaian hace eat) S \ Barbados ..-Miss N. Harrison. of Shells ae 1 Acorn shell from the Lightship nae ...Capt. Duncan. 2 Rare Inse&ts (Mazaruni) and } Guilder, 1816 ...F. V. McConnell. 1 Brazilian Coin aes aes ...John Junor. 1 Canary at eas ... Lady Hemming.. pene Seb sac ard Rockstone ... Neil Menzies. ceros Beetle 1 Beetle oF nd ..Georgetown — ...E. Loveluck. 1 Blue Coot ... ao .- Houston ...Miss Bagnall. 1 Rare Swift... oe ..Georgetown -_... Dr. Egan, 1 Abnormal Egg of Fowl ° ... ve ...F. J, Bankhart. Fungus and Clay as ..No.1 Canal _ .,.Ramsamoye, 3 Recent Venezuelan Coins... ba --. Dr, Ernst, Small Collection of Birds ep *A ...Rev. T. J. Toddings. Baobab Seeds Perce | aunts a8 ...Mrs, F, P. Smith, 44 Mixed Copper Coins and 1 Pompeian Lamp ...A#. D, MacKay. 1 Hemipterous Insect ... ... W. P. Kaufmann, 1 Danish W.I. Coin ... eve la ...Miss Cullingford., 2 Abnormal Eggs of Fowl eos one ..-D, Bryant, Dr. Ernst gave an interesting account of his researches among the Indians of Venezuela, and spoke of the value of the work of the brothers Schomburgk and of Mr. im Thurn. He also drew attention to the resemblance be- tween the Guajiros and the Arawaks, Report of Socigity’s MEETINGS. 2143 The thanks of the meeting were accorded to Dr. Ernst. The President said that on the application of the Agri- cultural Committee the Government-had kindly forwarded a hundred copies of the ‘‘ Report on the Agricultural Work in the Botanic Gardens, 1893-5,” for distribution among the members interested in agriculture, and a vote of thanks was accorded. The meeting then terminated, ——_—____ Meeting held Fune toth.—Professor J. B, Harrison, M.A., &c,, President, in the Chair. Members present 12. Mr. Edward Sutton, Editor of the Sugar Cane, Man- chester, was eleéted an Honorary member. The following Report from the Committee of Corres- pondence was read :— The Museum, June 10, 1897. R. T. A. Daly, Esq., Hon. Seéty, R. A. & C. Society. Sir,— I have the honour to state for the information of the Society, that, with reference to the communication of the Government asking for a supply of certain colonial fibres, the Committee of Correspond- ence are taking steps to procure the samples asked for. I have, &c., J. J. QUELCH, Hon. Seéty., Com. of Correspondence, The following communication of the sanve Committee was read :— The Museum, June 10, 1897. R. T. A. Daly, Esq., Hony. Setty. R. A. & C. Society. Sir,—Referring to the letter of the Government Secretary (No. 2,092, 14th April, 1897), concerning a supply of creole fibres, I have the honour to inform you that the question of growing fibres was brought up at a meeting of the Committee of Correspondence of the R. A. & C. Society, on the 3rd inst, and it was thought that, as the import of bags 214 | TIMEHRI. to hold sugar amounts to several hundreds of thousands per year, and as it is hoped that many more will soon be required for rice, the Government might see their way to offer a premium of five hundred pounds (£500) sterling to any person who will produce and place upon the market a bale of bags suitable for packing sugar and rice at a price not exceeding current rates for ordinary bags—the bags to be woven in the colony and made in the colony; and the materials used to be exclusively grown and manufactured in the colony—such premium to remain open for five years.—I have, &c., ¢ J. J. QUELCH, Hony. Se&ty. Com. of Correspondence. On the motion of Mr. F. A. Conyers, seconded by the Hon. B, Howell Jones, the suggestion was adopted. In reference to the President’s paper on the Agricul- tural Improvement of the Sugar Cane, copies of which had just been received from the printers, it was agreed that discussion be postponed until the members had the opportunity of perusing it. The Hon. Mr. Jones laid on the table samples of tobacco grown and cured in Leguan, by Mr. Waith, which he thought very encouraging for a preliminary experiment, Some of the produce had been prepared into cigars and another portion into ordinary smoking tobacco, and it had been a financial success. Whether, in view of the faét that the Government might impose an excise duty, it would be desirable to recommend the industry, was doubtful, but as long as the advantage of freedom from duty was in the hands of the grower, it might be carried on. The President spoke of the way imported tobacco was adulterated. Instead of about 13 per cent. of water, it often contained over 4o per cent.; it wou!d therefore be highly desirable that the growing of tobacco should be encouraged. Mr. Hargreaves gave notice of motion as follows :—= REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS, 215 “ That the Society offer premiums for the best sample of colony grown and cured tobacco, and cigars made from such tobacco, and that the Government be asked to bring forward a motion in the Combined Court for granting a sum in aid.” , In reference to certain analyses of rice laid over at the previous meeting, the Hon. Mr. Jones reported that he had received a letter from the Government Analyst highly favourable to the colony grown article as com- pared with that which was imported. The Secretary reported that Mr. Seon had written stating that he was leaving with the timbers ordered for town on the 7th instant. Mr. Daly also stated that arrangements had been made for examining the logs, and if satisfa€tory, shipping them by the Godiva or Nonpareil. The Hon. Mr. Jones spoke of alog of greenheart taken from a house in Leguan, to all appearance sound, having been discovered, on attempting to utilise it for a fishing © rod, to be so exceedingly brittle as to be useless. The thanks of the Society were accorded for the fol- lowing donations :— ° fo the Library— From Mr. R. M. Clegg—The Burns Calendar; Wm. Burnes’ Manual of Religious Belief, and B.G. Catalogue of Exhibits to Exhibition of 1851. From the President—J. B. Harrison’s Rocksand Soils of Grenada and Carriacou. From Dr. Ernst—Alegato de Venezuela; President Crespo’s Message, 1897; Contribucion al Estudio del Cafe en Venezuela. To the Museum— Alligator Eggs ie on ue ...Capt. Cameron, | 216 TIMEHRI. 1 Dime, 1876... az ay ia ...Albert Sears. White Hassar ae ...from Surinam ...J. J. Kirke. 4 Guilder, 1832, and 1 do., 1833 ae «5. M. Bellairs, 1 Cicada ie oon oss he ..F, A, Conyers. 12 Photographs of Ships of the British Navy wR, M. Laird, The Assistant Secretary called attention toa specimen of an Orchid, Catasetum deltoideum, standing on the table, which he said was interesting from the faét that it had two distin& forms of flowers on one spike, the upper typical flower being a male and the two below females. : Mr. Luke M. Hill presented the following copy of the analyses lately made by the Government Analyst, of the different artesian well waters in Georgetown and near by, which he thought it desirable should be incorporated with the minutes of the Society. He understood that these waters were formerly recommended as a medicine. Composition of the Waters yielded by the Artesian Wells in and near Georgetown. Results given in Grains per Imperial gallon at 80° Fahrt :— « co vn a « M A De Oe = =] > .| 32 F! o PEMD? te wis mal allie jwelis | & Ss| © jag|S |26| 58/5 .| 85 /]s4!] 3 Do % a =) M ie | = f=! 5 =) 2 — oO a2 jo. Ss |i a x ® & S oe ort malice wm ES jou) og] 22/32 se) oP ileal . roy uel s BD =| oS | -S 8 ws lp SsIs2\iao s 2! Bele ee) ie DelnA ERS Sa Ofa| B eS lech S75 ie ISG) S815 | ae le = os isle 15 |o-1aal|° | 3? = Z° |e je é) = Ferrous bicarbonate...} 3°67| 1°70} 7°92| 1°22] 7°85} 12°02) 9°26} 4°28} 3°92) 4°30 Calcium sulphate _...|traces|traces| 91] 1:21} 3°22) 3°22) 3°06) 3°40) “97/traces Calcium chloride ahs 4°71 8°70), 2. “ae wea aes ote ae Calcium carbonate ...| 12°50)... Malte *53) 6°75 Magnesium sulphate...|_ ... ne fe fla | 8268] 1-08) = "Ole Taare tes ies Magnesium chloride..| ..._ | 19°89/21°37/31°12| 7°25, 5°41) 4°88) 11°01) 2°29) 4°32 Magnesium carbonate.| 25°32! ... sped Ames ees eve eee .. | 3°86) 1°84 Potassium chloride ...| 13°71] 2°89) 6°10) 5°65) 1°22) 1°60 1°62} . 2°13) 1°21) 1°21 Sodium chloride ...| 202°41| 37°43/25°90]11°77| 21°66] 19°59] 17°88} 11°94)13°79) 11°29 Sodium carbonate .,..| 8°95) ... re RM tere x os Hs oy 2 Silica... ... ‘3 1°20! 3°60) 3°70] 1°10] 2°35} 410; ‘60] 3°60) 4°65) 1°20 Phosphoric anhydride] °82| 10] ‘1]| 31 -04| 05] 04) 02] 03 Ammonia ane sei "002 *066| *042| "044! *031 *002| °034) °007| *021 “O01 Albuminoid Ammonia! °036) *038/ *036) *039 *004} 008) 010 J. B. HARRISON, Government Analyst. Government Laboratory, Georgetown, Demerara, 27th April, 1897. REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 217 Mr. Hargreaves said it had been suggested to him by a soda water manufa€turer that perhaps these well waters might be used to advantage in his business. The Presi- dent in reply stated that they would a& as purgatives. The Assistant Secretary said that somewhere in the thirties there was a ‘‘ Demerara Spa” in Main Street, with baths, drinking counters, a reading room and all the necessaries of such fashionable resorts, Mr. Jacob Conrad spoke of the same waters having been once used by the physicians at the Garrison. Mr. Luke M. Hill was thanked for the document, which it was agreed should be incorporated with the proceedings of the Society. ' In reply to a question of Mr. Conrad, the President said that the Dire€tors had not altered their decision to illuminate their buildings at the Diamond Jubilee. Mr. Hargreaves spoke of the Jubilee Committee’s re- commendation zof to illuminate in Water Street, and asked that the rules be suspended to allow him to make a motion at once. In view of the opinion that it was undesirable to incur even the slightest risk to their valu- able colleétions, and the general acceptance of the Com- mittee’s recommendation, he would ask that the building be not illuminated, The rule having been suspended, the motion was seconded by Mr. Luke M. Hill and carried by a majority. The meeting then terminated. ERRATUM. On page 150, column B, No. 12, for 147 tead 117, Some Neotropical Birds. By C, A. Lloyd. wey N SCLATER’S scheme of Natural History Provin- ces, which is now almost universally accepted x by Zoologists, taking birds as his guide, he divides the world into six Primary Regions. Of these the one to which British Guiana belongs—the Neotro- pical—is, with the exception of the Australian, the richest in birds, both with regard to the number of peculiar species as well as in the brightness of their plumage, It is true that we have nothing to surpass the superb Impeyan, Peacock and Argus Pheasants of the Eastern Hemisphere, but when we arrive at such groups as the Cotingas, the Tanagers and the Humming-birds we are presented with an array of brilliant forms unparaheted) in the Ornithological World. Before proceeding further, however, it is necessary to remark that the Neotropical Region embraces South and Central America, Southern Mexico and the West Indian Islands. To constitute a Natural History Province, it is requi- site that at least one half of the species should be pecu- . liar, a condition which, with respeét to its bird-life, is admirably exemplified in the Neotropical Region, no less than twenty-three families and some six hundred genera being absolutely restriéted to it. The humming-birds (Trochzlzdz), although not con- fined to the Neotropical Region, are highly charaéteristic of its Avzfauna, and of the four hundred and seventy- FF 220 TIMEHRI. six species at present known, only eighteen or twenty barely straggle within the boundaries of the North Ame- rican or Nearctic Region. Excluding the birds of Paradise, no other family con- tains so many curious and strangely adorned forms as the Humming-birds. Among the more remarkable species may be mentioned the unique Loddigesia mirabilis, Lophornis Helenz, the Short-tailed Wood Star, Aces- trura micrura, Sappho sparganura, and the singular Spathura underwood: with its snow white “ tibial tufts.” Notable British Guiana forms are the King Humming- bird ZYopaza pella, Discura longicauda and Campy- lopterus largipennis. The last is remarkable for the singular development of the first primary in the males, the shaft of which is abnormally enlarged. In the Islands, three lovely little humming-birds be- longing to the Genus Be//ona are met with ;—One &. extlis, an elegant little creature with a glittering blue crest, is very common in the Island of Anguilla, fre- quenting the Loblolly trees (Pisonia subcordata) and nesting amongst the branches. Next to the humming-birds in point of beauty, come the Cotingas (Cotingidz), the Tanagers (Tanagridz) and the Manakins (Pzprzdz) groups rich in remarkable and beautiful species. The first two families are stri€tly Neotropical in their range, but the last occurs in the Nearétic Region as well, though the species are most numerous within Neotropical limits, About one hundred and ten species of Cotingas have at present been recorded, some two dozen of which are natives of British Guiana, The family embraces such splendid forms as the Cock-of-the Rock, Rupicola crocea SOME NEOTROPICAL BIRDS. 221 the blood red military Chatterer Hzmatoderus militaris, the Pompadour Cotinga Xzpholena pompadora and the singular Bell-bird Chasmorhynchus niveus, The Manakins (Pzfrzdz) form a group comprised of about seventy species, referable to nineteen genera. They are small forest dwelling birds of bright plumage, and of the seventeen species recorded from here the most notable are Chiroxiphia pareola and Ceratopipra cornuta, The Tanagers as already stated, although penetrating into the Nearétic Region, are mainly a Neotropical group. Common types of the family are the Blue Sackie, Zanagra episcopus, the Cashew Sackie, Rhamphocelus Facapa, and the palm Sackie, Zanagra palmarum. The family is comprised of fifty-nine genera and nearly four hundred species, one of the genera, Ca//zste, containing some of the most gaudy of all birds, e,g., the Rainbow Tanager, Calliste tatao, which well deserves its popular title. Other fine and bright plumaged groups are the Jaca- mars (Galbulidz) the Trogons (Trogonidz) the pretty little Guit-guits, or sugar birds (Ceribidz) and the Toucans (Rhamphastide). Of the twenty-three bird-families peculiar to the Neo- tropical Region, the following eight are worthy of special note :— Steatornithide a ...Cariamide. Palamedewde ... dee ..-Psophidz. Opisthocomide ae ...linamide. Eurypygide@ ... ss .. Leheide. The first and third -families contain each a single species, viz: the Oil bird or Guacharo (Steatornis Cari- pensts) and the Hoatzin (Opzsthocomus hoatzin) a bird FF 2 222 TIMEHRI. possessing morphologically many points in common with the reptiles. | In most existing birds the merrythought (furculum) is united to the breast bone (Sternum) by a fibrous tissue as in the common fowl, but in the Hoatzin it anchyloses with the breast bone below and with certain other bones of the shoulder girdle above, so as to form a solid piece, an antique type of stru€ture which was only known to have existed in the extin€t Dodo. Young Hoatzins have their wings furnished with well developed hook-like claws, by means of which they are enabled on the slightest alarm to leave their nests and clamber (on all fours as it were) about the vines and tangles of the nesting tree. The Gudcharo is a sort of aberrant goatsucker, re- markable as being about the only true frugivorus night bird known. It was discovered in 1799 by HUMBOLDT and BONPLAND in Venezuela in the cave of Caripé, hence its specific name of carzpensis. In this country it has been reported from a cave on the Upper Mazaruni River and from the vertical cliffs of Roraima. Very remarkable types are also contained in the re- maining six families, such as the Cariamas, a singular group of birds which have given Ornitholog.sts some trouble in assigning to their proper position in the series, some systematists considering them to be the American representatives of the Secretary bird of the Cape and placing them accordingly among the Falconide. Their proper place however seems to be between the Cranes and Trumpeters. Another singular species is the Horned Screamer, Palamedea cornutz, which despite its unwebbed feet is nearly allied to the geese. This bird presents several SOME NEOTROPICAL BIRDS. 223 stru€tural peculiarities. Its skin, owing to loose cellular tissue beneath filled with air, is what is known as emphy- sematous or bloated, producing when touched the sensa- tion of handling a bladder; its ribs lack the uncinate processes (a unique structure in birds) and a slender horn-like organ of about three inches in length springs from the middle of the head, a charaéter upon which both its specific and popular names are based. The Horned Screamer and two other allied forms comprise the family Palamedeide. The Zurypygide or Sun Bitterns are a small family of only two species, the common Sunbird Eurypyga helias and the Central American form £. major. Although called Bitterns they differ much in appearance from those birds, and their affinities are with the Cranes. The eggs of the common Sunbird are said to be very like those of the curious Kagu of New Caledonia, but smaller in size. The Warracaba, Psophia crepitans, and the large Maam, 7zuamus subcristatus, may be taken as the types of the families Psophitde and Tinamidez, the former of which contains five species and the latter more than sixty. The Warracaba is the only member of its family as yet recorded from British Guiana, but on the Upper Essequebo anc. Potaro Rivers I have met with a form differing from it not only in size and in the colour of its tarsi (legs) but also in habits. Unlike the common Psophia crepitans this bird never goes in large flocks, but is found n small companies of four or five, or in pairs. The Maams (77zxamid@) are a most interesting group forming a sor: of connecting link between the Carinate and Struthious birds, (ostrich family), agreeing with the 224 TIMEHRI. latter in the struéture of the skull and with the former in having a keeled sternum or breast bone. They are also remarkable for their curiously coloured eggs, the shells of which are very smooth and shining, appearing as if made of Ivory. About six species of these birds are recorded from here, the best known of which are the large Maam and the Mamoo Swagger Crypturus varie- gatus. Nearly allied to the Old World Ostriches are the Rhetde or Rheas. The family is not represented in Guiana being only met with in the extreme Southern and Central parts of the Neotropical Region. They differ from the Ostriches in their smaller size, and chiefly in the struéture of their feet, which have three toes instead of two. These birds have very remarkable nesting habits. Several hens lay together in the same nest and when a sufficient number of eggs have been deposited, the male bird per- | forms the duties of incubation and cares for the young when they are hatched. The Rheas number in all four species, but of one of them Akea nana nothing appears to be known but the egg. An albino variety of R. americana is sometimes met with. With the exception of the magnificent Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata, of Honduras and Yucatan, the Neotropical game birds are all of exceedingly sober plumage, but nevertheless many fine aad striking forms may be found among the Curassows or Powises (Craczdz) and the Guans or Marudies (Penelopin.) These birds together with the turkeys (Meleagrinz) are amongst the largest of the game birds, the latter re- SOME NEOTROPICAL BIRDS. 225 placing in America the gorgeous Pheasants of the Old World. About three species of wild turkeys are known, two occurring in North Americaand one, the Ocellated Turkey, mentioned above, on this side of the Continent. The Powises and Marudies, however do not occur away from the Neotropical Region, where they have a very wide distribution. With regard to the birds of prey, the Neotropical Region is the exclusive home of the finest members of the Order, The Harpy, 7hrasaetus harpyta, the largest raptorial bird, the Condor, Sarcorhamphus gryphus and the King Vulture, Gypagus papa, are entirely confined to it. Besides these a host of other smaller but handsome forms abound. In the Lesser Antilles the Order is very poorly repre- sented, only one pretty little Kestrel, Cerchnets domint- censis ? being indigenous to them. This bird is known in the Islands as the “ Killie Killie” from its cry, and is a very bold and courageous species. The Mesomyodian, or songless division of the Passeres (Perching birds) being almost entirely confined to Ame- rica, it is not surprising that most of our birds should have little or no powers of song. Indeed I once heard a little tree frog with a much more melodious voice than many of our wild birds. So strange and unusual was the call of this little creature, that we stopped paddling our boat for a long time listening to it. In British Guiana the common house Wren, Zroglodytes furovus, the Music Wrens, Cyphorhinus sp. and certain members of the Tanagrine Genus Exzphonia are among the best songsters, but in every case the song is very short and never continuous as in the far famed Nightingale. 226 TIMEHRI. The note of the Quadrille bird, Cyphorhinus musicus ? is really most singular, and when heard for the first time, it is hard for one to realize that he listens to a bird and not to some wandering urchin trying to whistle a strange air. In my opinion the whistle of this little songster is even more remarkable than the metallic '‘ Cling! Clong i of the bell-bird, which does not sound like a bell at all and loses much of its strangeness if heard at close quarters. High mountain ranges, deserts, and differences of climate, as is well-known, often exercise a great influence on the Fauna of a Country, forming, according to Buffon, * natural barriers,’ effe€tually retarding the migration of species. Very narrow stretches of sea also szem to operate in the same direétion, and in the Antilles the distribution of certain species of birds is somewhat curious. 7 Judging from the propinquity of their Coasts, anyone would suppose that the Fauna of the Islands of Jamaica and Haiti would be exaétly similar, but it is not the case. Neither the black nor the red-headed Carrion Vultures Catharista atrata and Rhinogryphus aura, which form such a conspicuous feature in the bird-life of Jamaica are met with in Haiti. On the other hand Haiti is the home of amammal, Solenodon paradoxus, unknown in Jamaica, and which singularly enough has its nearest living allies in the Tenrecs of Madagascar.* | That a mammal should be confined to one of a group of Islands separated only by a narrow sea is not so sur- prising, but that a bird endowed with excellent powers of flight. should for the same reason be prevented from migrating is very extraordinary. * A second species of Solenodon has been found in Cuba. / SOME NEOTROPICAL BIRDS. 227 ————— Perhaps the Carrion Vultures originally crossed over from Florida to Cuba, and from thence to Jamaica, but Haiti being the more Windward Island they were unable to fly against the heavy trade winds. From Jamaica and Haiti up to the Virgin Islands the Old Witch, Crotophaga ani, is a commonly occurring species, but it is absent from Antigua, St. Kitts and Anguilla, and so far as I am able to ascertain is not met with again until Trinidad and the neighbouring Islands are reached. In British Guiana it is joined by a second species, C. major, which is not found in Venezuela, while a third form, C. sulctrostris appears to be confined to Central America. The Old Witch is a very weak flyer and it is easy to imagine how the line of migration in the Antilles may have become interrupted. Between the Virgin group of Islands and Anguilla there is a comparatively wide and unobstruéted sea, which would prove an impassable barrier to a bird of feeble flight ; but on the other hand that portion of the Caribbean lying between the Virgin Islands and Haiti is dotted with islets, so that the Old Witch may easily have passed from one to the other at a time when they were larger and closer together, or perhaps united. The original home of the Old Witch and Carrion Vul- tures was most probably the South American Continent, from whence they migrated to the West Indies, but it is evident that the migration of the former species must have taken place when the configuration of the Islands was very different from what it is now, and at a period much anterior to the migration of the Vulture, or the species would be co-existent, GG 328 TIMEHRI. Several pairs of Old Witches have quite recently been taken to Antigua by Mr, F. E. WARNEFORD with the view of checking a plague of ticks infesting his cattle. When last heard of the birds were quite at home, flying about his farm; it is therefore not unlikely that they may soon become naturalized in the Island. The distribution of the Cewrebzne Genus Certhiola is also rather remarkable, nearly all of the species being peculiar to the country in which they are found. Thus Certhiola sancti-thome is confined to the Island of St. Thomas, C. Jartholomica to St. Bartholomew and C. portoricensis to Porto Rico. A very handsome species commonly known as the “ Yellow-breast Sparrow” occurs in Anguilla and may be peculiar to that Island. The British Guiana form Certhzola chloropyga is a very ugly and dull plumaged bird. Mr. QUELCH has lately contributed to this Journal an exhaustive paper on the migratory birds, so that nothing remains to be noted on that interesting subjeét, but I may here embrace the opportunity of recording that the little Golden Warbler, Dendreca estiva, which seems to be only a migrant here, breeds regularly in Anguilla, where it is known as the wild or bastard Canary. The nest, which resembles that of a very large humming-bird, is usually placed between the forked branch of a low shrub and is composed of fine grass mixed with vegetable down. The eggs are white, freckled with brown. In the foregoing notes many of our remarkable birds remain unnoticed, but some idea may be gathered from what has been said of the highly interesting nature and splendour of the Neotropical Avifauna. Abortive Colonial Publications. By the Editor. ewe mee across curious announcements, some of which are obviously ‘‘skits,’’ while others, may or may not be genuine. In the “ Guiana Chronicle”’ for 1822, are three such advertisements, the,first of which, issued no doubt in good faith, is interesting for its refer- ence to CHARLES WATERTON ; it is from the paper of June toth, and runs as follows :— “Proposals for publishing by Subscription, Enchiri- dium or Guide into the woods and uninhabited wilds of Demerara ; being Remarks and Observations on some objects of Natural History and Botany; compiled and arranged from Notes taken in the years 1820, 1821, and part of 1822, while engaged in making a Colleétion of objeéts of Natural History: by WILLIAM FRASER, M.D., and Surgeon, late of Edinburgh. CONDITIONS. 1st. The above Work is proposed to be published by subscription in one volume, octavo, to contain 150 pp. or thereabouts ; and accompanying which, a few explana- tory plates, engraved expressly for the work by an em- inent artist of Edinburgh, will be given. 2nd. The Work will be put in the Press when a suffi- cient number of Subscribers is obtained. 3rd. It will be printed on fine wove demy paper. 4th. Price to Subscribers £44, to Non-subscribers /55 : to be paid in cash on delivery of the Work. GG2 280 TIMEHRI. PROSPECTUS. The Author of the Work, now offered with every due deference to the notice of the public, does not obtrude himself from the vanity of appearing with his name affixed to any produétion, however great, or however meritorious its pretensions as a publication may be; for in either respect, he presumes not to arrogate to it the smallest title. He does not promulgate any remarks or observa- tions of his from their possessing any peculiar claim to originality ; neither does he impertinently push forward the offspring of his leisure hours as possessing intrinsic worth suited to the undertaking he ventures thus to lay before them ;—his sole obje&t being to communicate to others, who may labour under difficulties similar to those he himself encountered at the first set out of his rambles into the wilds and impenetrable depths of the forest, such local information, as circumstances conneéted with their plans and projeéted excursions into the pathiess waste, or dreary solitude, may stand in need of. A local guide, of any description, was a desideratum felt with much earnestness by the Author; and having been without the aid of a book of reference, he laboured under an inconceivable difficulty at the first outset— ignorant of the precise topography of the country—fearful of being lost amidst the wooded entanglements of the matted ‘‘ Bush’’—unacquainted with the chosen spot, and favoured tree of resort of the rare and beautifully plumaged race, he groped as it were in the dark until well-bought experience had taught what bush to beat and covert to search. One friend—a much valued friend, chance threw in his way, and to him he stands deeply indebted. The greatest " \ ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 231 part of his friend’s life had been allotted to the self- imposed task of prosecuting, with the fullest ardour, the study of Natural History. He was inured, consequently, by long experience, to a pra€tical and thorough know- ledge of the numerous and varied difficulties which op- pose the naturalist in the course of his excursions into the forest—his steering up and down creeks, or travers- ing, under the dire&t and scorching rays of a tropical sun, the open and unsheltered savannahs. To his indefatigable labours Natural History stands much and justly indebted, and in a more especial manner the Ornithologist, upon whose department he has bestowed the most unremitted labour, and unwearied assiduity ; and has thus brought the art of preserving and mounting (with extreme nicety and elegance) of its various interesting objeéts to the greatest degree of perfe€tion. When thus unsolicited, and without the least privilege, the present writer makes allusion to a gentleman of acknowledged worth and inde- pendent fortune, he does so with the utmost possible re- gard towards him ; and in naming CHARLES WATERTON, Esq., of Walton Hall, Yorkshire, as the friend to whom he owes so much, as his instru€tor and monitor in treading the intricate path of Natural History, he does no more than his merits, under every circumstance in which they can be viewed, justly entitle him to. With- out his aid the Author had been as well out of “ the Bush” as in it; he knew nothing: he profited by his advice ; he gained wisdom and understanding in Natural History by his instru€tions. In the Work now offered to the consideration of an indulgent public, the Author purposes to lay before them a succin& account of such animals as came under his 233 TIMEHRI. immediate observation ; and whose peculiarity and habi- tude of life called forth his attention to investigate, as closely as possible, their manners and mode of propa- gating their kind, or the purposes designed, as far as can be traced, by the great Author of their being, in calling them into existence. It is to be regretted, however, that some objeéts, par- ticularly among the feathered tribe, whose beauty never fails to excite rapturous admiration in the mind of every. beholder, from the shy and solitary habits they lead, are hardly known beyond the branches of the feeding tree, to which they resort, and on which they become a prey to the watchful and wary Naturalist. The manners and habits of life of the Indians or “ Bucks,” along with many of their superstitious motives and concezts will also fall under the consideration of the Author. Many of the quadrupeds and reptiles, especially the snakes, will likewise be treated of. Some of the inseét tribe are of peculiar interest, and worthy of the Natu- ralist’s regard and paying attention; and therefore they will of course come to hold a place in the Work. At the same time that objeéts thus conneéted with the different branches of Zoology will be treated of, some share of attention will also be given to objeéts conneéted with the important, and not less interesting science of Botany-—the History of these plants in particular, to which medical virtues are ascribed by the native Indians, and to some of which they attach extraordinary necromantic virtues. The plates will delineate some objects treated of throughout the Work, and be executed with accuracy by an artist of the first eminence at Edinburgh. In this way ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 233 the volume thus purposed to be published, is intended to have its pages occupied and filled up. The Work is particularly recommended to the atten- tion of the Ladies. They are the fairest and most benign part of the creation ; they impart the first instru€tions to the youthful mind, and therefore ought to have their mind and understanding replete with every species of useful knowledge; and they possess, in general, more leisure moments to prosecute the now fashionable studies of Natural History and Botany than the other sex, who are too much engrossed by business abroad to allow their time to be otherwise diverted than that in which their minds never fail to be engaged. “‘ O czves, ctves, guzrenda pecunia primum est.” Save for the stilted verbosity of this notice there is not much to criticise, but some one evidently thought it a fit subjeét for a jest, as may be seen from the following, which was inserted in the next issue of the same paper (June 12th) :— “In the press, and speedily will be published, the Keekarra Kaakarra or Wonders of the Woods ; compiled during last and part of the present Century by DUGALD DALGETTY, Esquire, of the Marischal College, Aberdeen.” These Serpents, hideous to the minds of men, That crawl and fatten in the sedgy fen; Each prowling Tiger that infests the glade, And scowling crouches in his ambuscade ; The Fowls of air—and Finny tribes of sea— Each lowly Shrub, and ev’ry towering Tree Portray’d, to nature, in my fertile page Shall stand the wonder of each coming age ;— Delight the wise—the ignorant inform— And more than mortal make this Mortal Worm ! P,P. S. S. 234 TIMEHRL The above Work, which is the result of much fatiguing research and travel through the impenetrable forests and inaccessible wilds of Guiana, will be put forth in numbers, in order to gratify the unusual anxiety of the public, The first number will contain an interesting and accu- rate account of the GREAT SNAKE that was seen in this. country in the year 1790, and whose track from N. to S. now forms the bed of that immense inland River which unites the waters of the Amazon, Essequebo and Oronoco. This number also treats of the Crocodiles that inhabit the banks of the Apuré—one of which, in the year 1803, swallowed a large Canoe with several Indians in it; and further shews, that the best way of preventing similar accidents to one’s self, is to stay at home and read other people’s accounts of them, There is also an explanation of the most successful method yet discovered, of catching that beautiful produ€iion of nature, the humming bird ; which it appears, may be done without any injury what- ever to the plumage, by simply laying a little fine salt upon its tail. . N.B.—Wanted—Two aétive, smart-fingered Lads as Apprentices to the F/y-catching business,” It does not appear that Dr. FRASER’S “ Enchiridium”’ was ever published; perhaps it was killed by ridicule, which is a pity, for it probably would have been useful to the Naturalist. Under the heading of “ A New Work” a notice in the Chronicle of June 24th 1822, runs as follows :— | “ There is now in forwardness for the Press, a new Periodical Work, to be entitled The Ralezghan Weekly Miscellany, the Editor of which has been a frequent correspondent in the Guiana Chronicle, ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 235 The first number will be issued on the 7th proximo, and the publication will be continued weekly, as long as the Work meets the expected encouragement. The title of this M/zsce/lany is sele€ted in compliment to the Memory of that gallant, enterprising and accom- plished English Knight, whose charaéter and exploits adorn the history of his country, while his melancholy and undeserved fate has placed an indelible stain on its annals. This compliment is deemed appropriate from the evidence we possess, that in his ardent pursuit of Discovery for the Advantage of the Nation which gave him birth, he made along visit to THESE shores, enduring hardships of which we can at this time scarcely form a correét idea, and at the period when he could derive little benefit from that hospitality which then was, and yet continues to be one of the charaéteristics of the land. It is the view of the Editor to endeavour to combine the Utile with the Dulce and to make his Mzscellany at once the medium of instruétion and amusement to its readers. For the attainment of these objeéts, such abilities as he may possess will be exerted to the utmost ; and although almost unaided in the commencement of his career, he trusts that, with the encouragement of a candid and liberal public, he shall be able to continue his Work, until it shall have excited among men of acknow- ledged talents and ability (who are by no means scarce in these colonies) more of that attention. to the welfare of the community of which they are members, than has hitherto appeared, and have induced them to devote a small portion of their leisure hours to produétions by which the great obje& of the public good may be effe€tually promoted, HH 236 TIMEHRI. At its commencement The Raleighan Weekly Mis- cellany will contain about twenty-four pages o€tavo. Each number will comprise one original Essay on our Local or Colonial Politics, and another on Subjeéts of Agriculture in its more extensive sense, embracing all that is termed Rural Economy. It is also the intention of the Editor to have a Law Report (when he can pro- cure the necessary aid) in which every contested case before the Court of Justice will be briefly noticed, and those which tend to the development of legal prin- ciples—and the extension of legal knowledge—will be more diffusely detailed. The Miscellany will also be made the repository of such fugitive pieces in the Colonial newspapers as may appear worthy of being preserved, that they may be more easily referred to in a small pamphlet than when buried under the lumber of advertisements, foreign news, &c. The remainder of the Work will be composed of selec- tions from other publications, especially such as may appear most adapted to the circumstances of these Colo- nies, with remarks thereon; and it is confidently ex- pected that the collection will be enriched by the contri- butions of correspondents, when it is fairly afloat. The Editor thinks it necessary to declare, that no person has any concern or joint interest with him in the projected Work. Zhe Miscellany will be published at his sole risk and expense, and sold for his exclusive benefit. Subscriptions will be opened at the places under-mentioned, for no other purpose than that of regulating the extent of the impression; for the Work must support itself, and stand or fall on its own merits and the favour it gains with the public. No Subscriber, ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. aa therefore, will be held engaged to take the second or any other subsequent number, if the preceding one falls short of his just expectations. On the other hand, as the Editor never learned book-keeping, and truly has not the least talent or taste for accounts, he expeéts that his readers will send the price of each number, Fifteen Stivers (a quarter of a dollar) with their messengers for the papers—which will be deposited for sale at conve- nient places, to be hereafter pointed out. The first number will further develope the plan of the different branches of the Work, and will also contain as much of the Lz/e and Opinions of the Editor as he deems it necessary tocommunicate to his readers at the commence- ment of their acquaintance and by way of introduétion. Subscriptions will be received at the Store of Messrs. CHAMBERS and PATTERSON, Druggists, in Cumingsburg ; at the Guzana Chronicle Office, and at some place in Mahaica Village, to be appointed by JAMES SHANKS, Esq.” Although a later advertisement invited Subscribers for the quarter and gave a list of other places where their names would be received, announcing No. 1 for the 7th July, it does not appear that this number was published, There are two other literary advertisements in the same volume which are at least curious, the first, probably a “skit,” being as follows :— “In a few days will be published, A RECENT CORRES- PONDENCE between those late Literary Champions the ROUGH AND PLAIN PLANTER, with copious Notes, which contain Anecdotes respecting the copper-nosed Captain, and other Worthies——From the known ability of the parties, the public may expeét something curious and entertaining at least, 3 HH 2 238 TIMEHRI. ‘ When Greek fights Greek, then comes the tug of war.’ toth June, 1822.” The second is doubtful, but Mr. JOHNSTONE was well- known in connection with the deposition of President ROUGH :— “ Speedily will be published, Addressed to Earl BATHURST, His Majestys Secretary of State for the Colonies, by the Honourable ANDREW COCHRANE JOHN- STONE; An Account of the Use, Progress and Result of a New Law called RUBRIC LAW; introduced into this Colony under the auspices of the late Recorder of Hull, for the benefit of Proprietors of Estates, by which they are saved the trouble, not only of managing, but even of possessing them, by the simple and easy mode of first placing them in Custodia Regis ; secondly, of appointing Sequestrators, and thirdly of bringing them to Marshal’s Salex. ii ‘‘What tho’ his name stood Rubrick on the Walls!” On the 26th of June 1834, WILLIAM YOUNG PLAYTER, ‘‘Leéturer on Light,” informed the public through the . Royal Gazette that his work ‘‘The Horn Book, of the Lights that are in the Firmament for Signs to give Light upon the Earth ; being the Holy Bible, interpreted by its own Divine Light, and yielding Refreshing Doétrine,” was ready for the press and waiting for subscriptions. This had been announced in May as treating of the new light in the Seventy Ancient Galileans, and the Elders and Office-Bearers of the Wisdom of the Holy Gospel ; the origin and meaning of Signs; Hieroglyphics, Letters, Numbers, and analogies between ancient Mythologies, Esop’s fables and the Bible.’’ A correspondent in the Royal Gazette spoke favourably of the work, but the ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 239 Editor of the Courzer said he was reluétant to attribute wrong motives to the author, but could only suppose it to be the offspring of mental aberration ; whatever the cause, however, the effe& was, he said, so pernicious that “we cannot allow mistaken liberality, or ill-applied courtesy, to restrain us from expressing our unqualified contempt for the new doctrine.” It appears as if two parts out of seven were printed and on sale at eight guilders each ; the contents of these were enumerated, but whether the work was ever finished is doubtful. Mr. PLAYTER died on the 22nd of April, 1837, and in the Gazette of the 27th is a long obituary notice of his career. A relation of this visionary, Mr, J. L. C. PLAYTER, ad- vertised on the gth of March 1837, “ Letters to Proprie- tors and to the Commercial Interest,” for sale at one guilder, which from the verbose notice appzars to have been at least curious. He says his system was * calcu- lated to wholly prevent the vagrancy, and to promote the industry of the Agricultural Labourers of a low Country, dy affording them a greater reward easier got by staying quietly AT HOME ¢o produce from Mother earth—and capable of yielding the dire&t way to en- courage, and to substitute Commercial people instead of them, to take the chief carriage of the Country upon themselves, throughout the various channels of trade— which are (but with petty exceptions) at present wholly in the hands of the Agriculturalists, encouraging the increase of vagrancy of our Labourers, while it on the other hand, prohibits the rapidly increasing Populationof Georgetown from engaging themselves at such employ- ment—properly theirs, causing more vagrancy and vice 240 TIMEHRI. among the lower class of the Commercial Inhabitants too, than might otherwise be the case—were the honest and industrious emancitated from Idleness, in their pitiable stations on all the Roads around the town.” Mr. M. J. RETEMEYER offered, in 1837, a prize of 110 guilders for a short treatise on the observance of Sunday, for general use and more especially for the labouring classes, Among other things it was to contain a warn- ing against attending the Sunday Market, what Managers, Masters and Mistresses and Labourers might do to pro- mote this end, and how works of necessity could be done. Three essays were received, but not one of them was thought worthy of the prize. In the Guiana Chronicle of Jan, 17th, 1840, is an ad- vertisement occupying a column and a half, which opens as follows :— | | “The Subscriber is desirous of Publishing, in the News- papers, a SERIES OF LETTERS that he has written on subjeéts which are enumerated in a subjoined list, which he is positive will be of the greatest possible benefit, not only to the British Government, but to the rising gene- ration, and to the rational and legitimate liberty of mankind in general. He is, therefore, under the urgent necessity of applying to the liberal feeling of a generous community, craving their assistance by a yearly Sub- scription of Six Dollars for each Subscriber, that, with what may be subscribed, he might be enabled to pay the Printers.” The ‘ Subscriber” was H. W. WELLS, the Swedep- borgian, a well-known charaéter, who every now and again managed to get a letter inserted in one of the papers, His list of subjeéts shews that the letters were ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 241 to be somewhat of the type of Mr. PLAYTER’S leétures ; we give one example :— ‘to. Shewing the nature and quality of the NEW CHURCH that is to be established in the first instance by the British Government; thus by the Lord’s over-ruling providence, and shewing the surpassing excellence of the do&rine of that crown of all churches. This church is already established by an august Private Society in Great Britain.”’ | Mr. WELLS could not have got sufficient promises for his first idea, for on the 8th of July following he informed the ‘“ West Indian Public” that he expeéted, by the help of his Christian friends in Great Britain and upon the Continent, to receive a printing press, with which he would be enabled to bring out a paper :— ‘‘The FOUNDATION of the Paper, which isto be called The Christian Reformer and West India Free Press, is intended, without evasion or mental reservation, to be INTRINSIC IMPARTIALITY :—that is, its columns will be open to all parties and every individual of a party, and in no way influenced by any man or any set of men, and only to be governed and guided by truth and universal justice towards all parties. | * * * The Christzan Reformer therefore,—rising like a Sun in the strength and light of truth and universal justice, and rendering transparent, from free discussion, the clouds of prejudice and of dark ignorance and error which veil the brightness of his rays,—- will be open to all denominations of Christians, except the ARIAN and UNITARIAN, who indeed,—as blasphemously denying the Supreme Deity or Supreme Divinity of the Lord Jesus 242 TIMEHRI. Christ,—are not Christians, and certainly not the disciples of the Lord, our Saviour.” In January 1841, Dr. JOHN HANCOCK, who had travelled in the interior for many years, announced a work entitled “ British Guiana; including a journey into the interior to the Parime and El Dorado, and to the Carib Chief Mahanawa” in one volume 8vo. with map, price 15/, This would, no doubt, have been a useful publication, but probably, on account of SCHOMBURGK’S works being sufficient for colonial readers it gained nosupport. Seve- ral manuscripts now in the possession of the Govern- ment go to prove that Mr. HILHOUSE also projected two or three works on the Colony which were never published. In 1854, the R. A. & C. Society commenced the publi- cation of a Magazine, of which the following was the advertisement :— “ Prospectus of a Periodical Publication to be called the British Guiana Yournal, of useful information in Literature, Science and the Arts.” The attempts which have from time to time been made in various parts of that section of the Colonial Posses- sions of the British Empire to which we belong, with the objeét of establishing periodical Publications of a scien- tific and literary chara€ter, have so commonly resulted in failure, that it may appear presumptious to appeal to the judgment of the community on behalf of any similar undertaking. Yet it cannot be denied that the present time seems not inopportune for such.an experiment. It is believed that the class of readers in the Colony is much more numerous than is commonly supposed, al- though, for the most part, the matters which occupy ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS, 243 their attention are embraced rather under the popular definition of “News” than conneéted with the progress of social improvement. It is known that there is within the Colony itself no lack of literary and scientific talent, which, at present, it may be said, if not lying absolutely dormant, is at least producing no adequate amount of beneficial influence. There never was a time when ample stores of know- ledge, in regard to the pra€tical aims and pursuits of human society, were more carefully gathered or more liberally diffused throughout the highly civilized states of both the old and new worlds than they now are. We are ourselves engaged in the prosecution of an attempt to rouse into aétive and healthy exercise the talent, intelligence and energies of our people; and nothing would seem to be more natural and appropriate than to convey to them, through the medium of a peri- odical publication, that counsel and encouragement which are to be derived from familiarity with the labours, both intelleétual and experimental, of others, but which, under existing circumstances, can reach them but imperfeétly if at all. It is proposed then, with the sanétion and under the auspices of the Executive Committee of the Exhibitions’ and Museum Fund, to publish, at intervals, a Journal or Repertory of instru€tive papers, whether original or obtained from other sources, which, without being stri@tly limited to any particular branch of literature or science, shall keep especially in view the purposes for which the Exhibition and Museum Fund has been organised. In these Colonies, meetings of agriculturists or of manu- fa€turers, such as are usual in the Mother Country, at i 244 TIMEHRI. which they have the opportunity of making known and interchanging the fruits of their respe€tive experi- ences, are difficult if not impraéticable ; but there would be nothing to prevent any such person communicating through the pages of this Journal, matter which, in his judgment, might be worthy of further investigation or discussion ; thus leading to the diffusion of more accurate information, or possibly, to important discovery, While it may be advisable to explain that political and theological subjeéts must necessarily be excluded from the pages of this Journal, it is desirable to state that there will be no hesitation in treating of measures affect- ing general education or the sanitary condition of the people. Nor, eventually, should the Journal be likely to become permanently established in public estimation, would it be difficult to give to it, to some extent, a lighter charaéter than that immediately contemplated, and thus to make it acceptable to a wider circle of readers. With- out entering further into detail, however, enough has perhaps been indicated, to shew that it entirely rests with the community to decide the peculiar charaéter as well as the fate of the proposed attempt. It is hoped, therefore, that all who feel an interest in the advancement of this colony, and who are desirous of promoting, not merely its material but its moral progress, will co-operate in the trial of this experiment; and that all, who are in a position to do so, will assist its con- duétors, not merely by becoming subscribers, but by their communications and suggestions, and by their personal influence. As pecuniary profit is no part of the objeét of the promoters of this scheme, so also they do not feel called ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 245 upon to incur any pecuniary risk on its account, and the work, therefore, will not be issued unless the names of at least One Hundred Subscribers are received. In order to place it within the reach of persons of moderate means, the price of Subscription is at present fixed at the rate of 24 cents a number. The Journal will be printed in 8vo., each number ex- tending to 24 pages. Names of intending Subscribers, and Communications will be received by the Secretaries to the Exhibitions’ Committee at the Rooms of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society in Georgetown. W. WALKER, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Exhibitions’ and Museum Fund. 2nd June, 1854. The first number was issued on the 1st of August, and contained papers on Museums, Fibres, and Gum Arabic, besides Meteorological observations and notes and queries. It was noticed favourably in the Royal Gazette, the reviewer saying that “there will, certainly, be little patriotism in the community if this attempt is not liberally encouraged.” The second part, which came out over three months later (Novr. 25), dealt with the impor- tance of manures, and the effe& of the Russian war on the development of colonial fibres, besides other matters. Whether any further issues were put forth is doubtful, and, taken altogether, we think it may be considered as one of the abortive publications. As the Society has no copies of either number it would be de- sirable, if any exist, that they be procured. We may mention that one of the Secretaries to the Committee 2) 246 TIMEHRI. referred to, at that time, was GEORGE DENNIS, Inspector of Schools and author of “Cities and Cemetries of Etruria.” The last abortive publication to be mentioned is one that would have been very useful if we can judge from the author’s other work, “ Unter den Tropen.” No doubt his English would have been revised by some competent person and the result exceedingly valuable. But, unfortunately, Mr. APPUN died a few months after the advertisement appeared, and no one appears to have attempted to carry out the projet, although his diary and notes must have been taken over by Mr. BARSCHALL, his executor. The notice appeared in the Colonist of February 15th, 1872, and following days, the editor, in calling attention to it, remarking that Mr. APPUN had had abundant opportunities of studying both the Zoology and Flora of the country :— ‘ ‘“Natural History of British Guiana by CHARLES FERDINAND APPUN, Zoologie and Botaniki, with plenti- ful splendid illustrations, in 3 or 4 vols. This work, written with the elaboratest diligence, shall give a true living picture of the animal inhabitants of this colony. The greatest care will be taken to make it equal to the best works of this science, and shall be not alone a scientifical, yet a very amusing work for every class of people. The Author will also publish therein his own observa- tions in this science made during his stay on the Coast, on the rivers and upon the mountains and savannahs of the far interior of this colony, mixed with the observa- tions in the same matter of WATERTON, SCHOMBUKGK, HILLHOUSE, etc., while for the scientifical part of this ABORTIVE COLONIAL PUBLICATIONS. 247 work some of the eminentest naturalists of Germany have promised their assistance. The Illustrations will be made in the truest and most beautiful manner, after living or the best natural stuffed Animals of the Museums of Berlin and Stutgart, the first in the way of photographic, or painted by the author himself, the latter by the excellent painters of animals, Messrs. SPECHT and MEYERHEIM, at Germany. The same is to be said about the Plants, for which the author himself wiil paint the Illustrations, chiefly those of Palms, Ferns and Orchids of this colony. The Work will be given out in series of six sheets text and six leaves of illustrations each one. Also will be published by the same author a small compendium of this work for the use of schools in this colony” Agriculture in 1829.—ll. By William Hilhouse. (Further extracts from the MS. referred to on page 28, ante.) GRICULTURE—Such has been the bounty of nature to these regions, that the science of f—S Agriculture, in comparison with its European improvement, is still in its infancy. Little more is re- trytt } &@ ee # quired than to plant in the rainy, and to reap in the dry season, and the Earth gives her increase without manure, the plow or harrow. It is true that the whole labour of the field is performed by manuai exertion, but when it is understood that this labour, in the only instances where machinery could be substituted, is only required every 10 or 15 years, no machine would pay its expenses. A sugar estate once drained and properly planted for 12 or 15 years, requires absolutely no other field labour than that of weeding and clearing the drains, ig and re- planting the sugar. It is the general custom when lands have been so long in cultivation as no longer to answer the expe¢tations of the Planter, to abandon them altogether and leave them fallow for several years in the meantime clearing away virgin forest lands, the produce of which is so great and immediate as to pay the expense in one year, and does away entirely with the necessity of manuring the old lands. It is plain this system cannot last for ever, as notwithstanding the great abundance of land in most parts of the colony, the diffused and extended nature of AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 249 the cultivation will in time cause as great a diversion of labour as the pra€tice of manuring itself would. Ploughs have been from time to time imported and have been found to answer in turning uplands that have been long cultivated, but after the first essay, no further occasion has been found for their use, till they were rotten. At this moment a cart is an extraordinary ma- chine in the country, and a horse or mule with a pack- saddle is nowhere to be seen. Indeed so much has the colony availed itself of its advantages for navigation that every estate by its navigable canal, and the use of boats, renders unnecessary the ordinary implement of land carriage. To explain these circumscances it will be necessary to add, that all estates except those in the rivers, begin at the sea coast and run between parallel lines, to unlimited distances in the interior. The coast lands also, for some miles inland, are from one extremity to the other of the colony uniformly level, and when this level terminates the soil is found unfit for cultivation ; navigation therefore meets with no impedi- ment and the Planter has always a resource in the forest behind him, The following remarks may not be free from error from the want of more general discussion ; they are principally compiled from personal observations, A sugar estate of 300 negroes with all the works and proper extent of cultivation will be worth £60,000 at the present valuation. It will produce from 500 to 600 hhds. with proper management. This crop worth from £7,500 to £9,000 is, including interest, 8 or 10 years’ purchase. But it is seldom an estate can be bought with all these preliminary advantages, so that 12 or 15 years may not be an unreasonable time allowed to clear the capital, 250 TIMEHRI. — A Coffee estate of the same strength, worth about £45,000, may make too,ooolbs. of Coffee annually, or about £5,000, but the crops being very uncertain Coffee estates are generally longer in clearing themselves than Sugar properties. Cotton, in the earlier period of the colony, when the front salt lands were new and the plant gave a great comparative return, was for the first 10 years a very lucrative cultivation, requiring little expense beyond the first purchase of the negroes, and those negroes bought at 4 the present price. In the present day however with the value of the article so much reduced, and those parts of the soil most favorable for its growth exhausted, the purchaser of a cotton Estate involves himself in certain ruin. However desirable the abolition of the slave trade might have been on the score of humanity, it entails upon the mother country the certainty of losing the command of one of the principal staples of her manu- faGture. And for the future she will be dependent on America or other States for a supply of that article which it would ruin her own colonists to cultivate ; the British Government can never keep a cotton colony in its pos- session till it reduces the price of negroes to something less than £100 a head, as under present circumstances it would otherwise never pay its expenses. There is no country within the tropics so favorable for grazing as this. The immense savannahs and waste | or deserted lands preserve a constant supply of the finest herbage for cattle, particularly oxen. The beef and mutton, though not so fat, are equal in flavour to the best European. And the rapidity with which cattle increase when the least attention is paid to them, proves AGRICULTURE IN 1820. 251 the superior congeniality of food and climate. There is no doubt that by proper establishments the whole of the British Navy on the West India Station might be supplied with a better and cheaper description of dried or smoked beef than from any other part of the continent or islands. The Port of Demerara ought indeed to be the Grand Depét for provisions and fuel for the Navy in these seas. It moreover enumerates more than 50 differ- ent kinds of hardwood of the most superior quality, of which several, for size and durability, are the best calcu- lated for the construction and repairs of Ships of War, as a proof of which the strength and durability of the different species of colony craft may serve as a specimen. It is extraordinary, that with all these advantages of local circumstances, the Mother Country has never yet suspected that she was in possession of a colony, that under every circumstance would enable her to keep her Navy without intermission on a West India Station. The French and Dutch have been long aware of this, but the former have kept the knowledge to themselves from * and the latter when possessors, from that cautious system, that prevented them from showing all its advantages lest they might tempt the aggression of stronger powers. Accordingly, from the first we have little more information than what relates to botany, birds and butterflies, and from the latter nothing but accounts of agues, fevers and bush negroes. The English them- selves have been so long exclusively occupied with their mercantile concerns, that after a possession of nearly 20 years, the legislature at home, or many of them, still call * Omission in MS. KK 252 TIMEHRI. it, with Mr. Pott, the Island of Demerary, and the best informed on other subjeéts are still in the dark on the subjeét of the richest, the most extensive, and most ad- vantageously situated of all the British West India Colo- nies, the key of the Continent of South America, and the centre from which all communication with the Spanish and Portuguese Kingdoms of the South must hereafter emanate. PROPRIETORS OF ESTATES. Before entering upon this subject, it will be necessary to premise, that it will be impossible to convey a proper idea of the real and true meaning of the term proprietor, without giving some offence to the feelings of those who on the side of the Planters have not considered the nature of their tenure, or of the Merchants who do not wish the nature of that tenure to be generally understood. Such offence however must vanish before the conviction that a simple view of the fa€ts must convey. A colonist who has scraped together a capital of £5,000, does not conceive that the interest of that sum will enable him to live in the style suited to his ideas ofa West India fortune. He looks forward to a lapse of § or 10 years more when he could retire with a sum of £40,000 or £50,000, and upon that could manage to enjoy the privileges of European gentility. Accordingly he nego- tiates with a merchant who advances the balance be- tween the sum he has in hand, and the instalments due on an Estate of £50,000 value. For this advance, the merchant receives interest at 6 per cent. and the con- signments of all the produce of the Estate till the whole debt is paid; perhaps for a year or two after, as terms may run, At any intermediate time the merchant claims AGRICULTURE IN 18209. 253 the power of foreclosing the mortgage which he has upon the Estate, and the Planter binds himself in willing con- demnation on the law proceedings for that purpose. The £5,000 of the Planter being sunk in the Estate, the merchant, the 1st year, possesses security for at least that sum more than the first value—and every succeeding, year increases the security by the receipt of the crops and the diminution of the debt, whilst in all the subse- quent decreasing terms of the debt his great source of emolument, the consignments, has no diminution. It is apparent therefore from this statement that a Planter buying an Estate with a mortgage to a Merchant, merely gives that Merchant a premium down, to appoint him his Bailiff or Agent, on a Property that may in a given number of years restore to the Merchant his own capital, trebled by interest and consignments. At the expiration of that time the Estate becoming free, the Proprzetor, now also rich, returns to Europe to enjoy his boarding house at Cheltenham, or his wheel-chair at Bath. And let those who envy the possessors of West India fortunes, point out in this how the proprietor of £50,000 is superior to him of £5,o00—since the anxiety, the care, and the con- tumely of the rich proprietor, during the period of his occupancy, has merely entailed upon him the diseases of age, and taken away the power of enjoyment. It is evidently not the interest of the Merchant to en- courage the’ liquidation of his debt speedily, provided he sees that the Property does not diminish in value below his security. It is common therefore for the Planter to procure such pecuniary advances from the Merchant as may continue the period of consignment, and give the Proprietor means of entering into all the extravagances KK 2 254 TIMEHRi. of a trip to Europe, a tour to the Continent, etc. When the Merchant thinks the holiday time is over, he shuts his purse strings, and sends the Planter back to his Estate with a flea in his ear. The Planter returns from Turtle, Turbot and Venison, to his dry Salt Fish and Plantains, curses the Merchant for illiberality, lives as well as he can to console his spirits under the wretched alternative, and becomes again the Bailiff of the Estate. Esto Per- | petua. The Attorney of a Property is a person left in charge by the Proprietor during his absence from the Colony, and who is responsible for the proper condu€ting of the con- cern during such absence. The customary allowance for this duty is 10 per cent. But, with long established and extensive properties, where the revenue is very consider- able and the duty of the Attorney easy, a less sum is mutually agreed upon. The Attorney transaéts the mer- cantile business of the Estate, he superintends the supply of provisions, and clothing, the ere€tion of buildings, and all ordinary and extraordinary expenses. He in fa&t com- bines the duties of the Proprietor and his Town Agent. And his principal cares are to regulate the expenses of the Estate in proportion to its income, to provide it with a proper and efficient manager, and to see that the produce gets to a good market. An Attorney should, if possible, give over an Estate in the same (or a better) condition as that in which he received it. With regard to the number of negroes, this, from the pressure of a severe sickly season, will fre- quently be impossible, But it will be very easy to shew that proper attention has been paid to the comforts of the negroes, and to their proper medical attendance. —_— ee eee re AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 255 Keeping the buildings and works in a good state of repair is a duty of equal weight, and these duties will require the presence of the Attorney upon the property often enough to give him a proper idea of the manner in which the Manager discharges his duty, both with regard to cultivation and care of the negroes, It seldom happens that one man combines the requisite qualifications for both an Attorney and Manager, any more than of Pro- prietor and Manager, and as it is of most consequence to have a person in charge of the estate of an Absentee whose pursuits enable him to do the legal and mercantile business in the Capital, the Attorneyship and Manage- ment are most generally discharged by different persons. MANAGEMENT OF ESTATES. - The Manager proceeds to the Hospital to see how the sick fare, whether their medicines have had the desired effet, and also to receive complaints and new patients. When the doétor attends early, which is much to be desired, the Manager accompanies him in his visits to the sick, explains to him the charaéters and habits of the different cases, and receives his instru€tions, all cases and prescriptions being at the same time regularly noted in a journal kept for that purpose. It frequently happens that many present themselves for admission who have no visible ailment, and who in a Hospital of whites would be refused. But with negroes we must be more tender ; a day of rest, or a dose of salts, a€ting more upon the idea than the body of the negro, frequently prevents a serious fit of sickness. The Manager, by his attendance on the Doétor, soon acquires a practical experience of the common effeét of different remedies, and his acquaintance with the disposition of the negro, his prejudices and pre- 256 TIMEHRI. “« > possessions, renders him a most useful assistant, and gives him the power of superintending the duties of the sick nurse effe€&tually. The Manager or a trusty Overseer administers and mixes the Prescriptions of the Doétor during his absence, A disagreeable duty then occurs, the dressing of the sores, which from the dirty and care- less habits of negroes, are of a nature and frequency un- known amongst Europeans. He then inspects the works and building, aiid in the different departments of the manufa€ture of sugar, rum, drying or cleaning coffee, or preparing cotton for the market, his utmost attention is required to the state of the weather, the quality of the fuel, the cleanliness of the Boiling House, and the attendance of the overseers and their negroes to their duties about the buildings. He then proceeds to the fields to see that his canes are properly cut, weeded and supplied, his fields well-drained, his plantains in good order, all fallen ones cut close to the stool, and his watchman on the alert, coffee and cotton clean and trimmed, and no water sprouts draining the sap of the tree from the green coffee. He receives the reports of defaulters from the different gangs, com- pares them with the entries in the Hospital, and punishes, either on the spot or next morning, those delinquents’ who have been found missing at their proper hours of duty. A casual absence is punished by at the most half adozen lashes, but as absentees are generally habitual default- ers it becomes often necessary to be more severe. And here a few observations are necessary that may tend to correét the prejudice amongst Europeans, of believing that corporal punishment is amongst negroes infli€ted to excess, I make the assertion, and every man of candour AGRICULTURE IN 18209. 257 will support it, that in hardly any known instance of crime is the punishment infli€ted upon the negro one-half or one-third so severe as what would, in a similar offence, be inflicted on the white delinquent. It has been the writer’s lot to witness, in numberless instances, both in the execution of the civil and military laws of the Mother Country, corporal punishment commonly infli&ted so severely, as to confine the offender for many weeks afterwards in a Hospital, under the stri&t charge of a Surgeon. On an estate punishments are never infli€ted to such an extent as to prevent the negro from returning to his work immediately after. The law allows no more than 25 lashes to be given by the Master at any one time for any offence, and the interests of the Master seconds the laws. It is only in cases of notorious delinquency, when the Magistrate is called to punish publicly and officially, that punishments can ever be said to be severe. But even then they are far below the scale of European in- fliétion. The law may in some instances be broken, but when it is considered that the Manager who breaks the law is at the mercy of every discharged Overseer who may choose to inform against him, excessive punishment is a measure of serious risk, and is in faét rarely known to be practiced. It is the case with every gang of negroes, as withregiments in an army or crews of ships, that the punishments are the monopoly of a certain number of notorious delinquents, whose want of conduétandchara&ter is perpetually leading them into crimes and concomitant chastisement. Four or five desperate charaéters of this kind will keep an estate of 300 negroes in the perpetual necessity of corporal punishment. It is therefore most unjust to say, that because these few are marked with 258 TIMEHRI. the whip like an English deserter, that they have a hard or a cruel Master; and more especially when a further examination would show, that with the rest of the gang, scarce the mark of a lash is seen. The law of punish- ments is in faét too lenient, since it incapacitates the master from punishing serious offences as they deserve, and with desperate offenders has no effeét ; it should be extended to 50 lashes, but with this Ordinance, always to be administered before the gang, in the presence of the medical attendant and all the white servants of the estate; this exhibition is a more complete check upon wanton tyranny than any law could be, and with the negro, would have a much greater effeét than the mere pain of punishment. It would obviate the inconvenience of constant applications to the Magistrates, and without doubt, would considerably decrease the number of pun- ishments. Indeed, it is much to be wished that the cus- tom of punishing before the whole gang, in the manner of a court-martial, was in general use, as there is no doubt of its superior efficiency over the common method of infliction, and the shame attending the exposure would operate equally with the punishment. One of the most serious duties of management is attention to the Creole Gang of the estate. The negro parents, though not generally deficient in affeétion to their offspring, yet are always lamentably so in those habits of cleanliness and wholesome nurture without which it is impossible to raise their infant progeny. The manager must descend to the most minute particulars of the cares of the Nursery. And he will find his greatest stock of patience put to the trial by the filthiness, obsti- nacy, negleét and stupidity of the negro mothers. AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 259 Generally speaking, the creoles of an estate are raised more by the attention of the whites than of their own ‘parents, and the most constant and unwearied attention is necessary to prevent the most pernicious praétices of the mothers, even on the persons of their own infants, inoculation for Yaws or Leprosy, creating sores, and other disgusting tricks, being pra€tised by the women in order that they may be excused from their daily labour to attend the child, There is scarcely an instance where gangs have increased or kept up their numbers, however favorably constituted, without the intervention of re- wards to the parents for raising their offspring, united to the extraordinary cares of ahumane Manager. Every day must he see the creoles drawn up under the care of their proper nurses—with clean skins, and feet free from chigoes. A mess must be regularly made for them ex- clusively, of nutritous diet. They must by no means be allowed to ramble about the negro yard, but must be kept in a separate building or creole house, within a very short distance of the Managers dwelling, so as to be con- stantly under his eye. At proper seasons they must be physicked as they require it, to destroy the intestinal worms, with which they are most peculiarly infested. And the Kitchen Offal should be distributed to them | with a generous hand. Those from 5 to Io years of age should be colleéted into a small working gang, for trifling jobs, that they may acquire habits of industry, but should by no means be employed beyond the bounds of what might be deemed wholesome exercise. With these pre- cautions there is some chance of keeping up the numbers of an Estate, which is otherwise impossible. The apportioning of the labour to the strength of the LL 260 TIMEHRI. gang in general is another point of essential consequence, and the standard by which to begin is to require from the abie negro, one-third or at the very utmost one-half of the labour that would in the same time be performed by an able European labourer. With this proportion, an estate of 200 negroes, being a fair gang, should make 4oo hhds. of Sugar or 200,000lbs. of coffee, or 180,o00lbs. of cotton, supposing the soil to be good, the works adequate, and the cultivation of proper extent. But sugar is the only cultivation upon which this return can be expected. NEGROES. ' There is no subje€t upon which so much difference and error of opinion subsists as the description of the negro charaéter. On one extreme old Spanish colonial writers have laboured to prove them inferior in intel!eét, and designed by Providence to show the lowest state of degradation in humanity. In opposition to this, Les Amzs de Noirs wish to exalt them above all examples of civilized Society and to endow them with a greater share of instinétive abilities and natural virtues than the most favoured of Europeans. Between such ridiculous assumptions, the truth may be easily discovered by the simple test of those principles that constitute the superiority of science and civilization over ignorance and barbarism—that exalt the Union of Society over the feuds of individual in- terest. In Atrica, a number of petty tribes and Governments, formed upon the first rude principles of individual as- cendency, with laws scarce more than sufficient to make the authority of the despot acknowledged amongst his AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 201 subjects, forbids at once the introduétion of Science, and leaves each individual to depend upon the strength ofhis natural talents and the might of his own arm for sub- sistence. Establishments are destroyed as fast as they are ereéted, and the petty jealousies of a thousand despots keep alive in Africa the flames of war, desolation and slavery. Under such circumstances what must be the charaéter of the negro ; what even would the white man’s probably be ? ~ Barbarism in all countries and in all ages, gives the same picture of despotism amongst individuals who rule, and slavery amongst those who are governed. The character of the Celt, the Hun, the Goth and the Vandal, in the extreme Era of their ignorance and barbarism, is at this day, with allowance for the influence of climate, the character of the negro. It implies no extraordinary debasement of nature to account for the blemishes that appear at first sight so monstrous, The negro is cun- ning, the barbarian of Europe is politick; the negro is revengeful, so is the Goth; the negro is a thief, so was Ros Roy; the negro is a liar, so are all those who do not discover in society the virtue of truth. The negro is indolent, so are all those who can procure the necessaries of life without labour and who have no ideal wants beside. The negro is obstinate, treacherous and un- grateful—lascivious, intemperate and inconstant—so has nature formed all mankind, till religion and reason re- duces the selfishness of individual gratification to the standard of social expediency. It is ridiculous, because we find in the negro natural vice operating uncontrolled, to mark him as a monster ; we might, by a parity of reasoning, level the uneducated LL2 262 TIMEHRI. —— of our own colour to the grade of beasts, and it is equally ridiculous to suppose that to the negro, whose only pleasures are the gratifications of his natural appetites, and whose only pains or cares arise from the mortifications or denial of those appetites, that the same arguments would avail as those we should use to an enlightened European. Ignorance and barbarism, in all nations and colours, are alike the parents of violence—tyranny on the one hand and slavery on the other—and till the impulse of nature is brought under subje€tion to the laws of society, and the strong kand of Government reduces the violence of the individual to the bounds of common jus- tice, so long will the wiser be the masters and the ignorant be slaves, and so long will coercion be the only pledge of obedience, and all the vices we have enumer- ated be characteristic of the state of slavery. | _The creole negroes of the West Indies owe their superi- ority over the Africans to their being bred up in society, with the laws constantly operating before their eyes, and they are the more content with their situation by seeing that those laws are to them a sure proteétion from violence, in faét they begin to have some idea of the policy of good behaviour as it operates on their gen- eral state of comfort, and they comprehend the use of that self-denial without which the African is either out- rageous or melancholy. This is their dawning of politi- cal reason, and it would be highly dangerous to force the light upon them further than nature calculates them to bear it. To theorists it should therefore be said, time will accomplish all you wish, and the change will then, and ought to be, so gradual that the chain of society will still continue perfeét, and need fear none of those Oe AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 263 dreadful fra€tures, with which the party endeavours of misguided men have threatened it. CREEKS. Boerasiri Creek opens at the point of jun€tion of the West Coast with the East Bank of Essequebo river, It is not navigable for schooners above 14 miles from its mouth, and its source is scarcely 30 or 40 miles in the interior in the south-western savannahs. 7 The country about the rise of this creek is so plenti- fully endowed with the bounties of nature that it is astonishing it should never have been settled and culti- vated. Fish, game, excellent soil, and picturesque scenery, have long made it the retreat of runaway negroes, without having as yet attraéted the attention of white settlers, | It should be a point of policy to establish a strong Indian post at this point, which could be done with little trouble or expense, as the communication with Demerara and Essequibo is direét and simple, either by land or water. COLONIZATION, The Dutch who first settled the country proceeded some miles up the river before they established themselves, believing rightly enough that the sea shores, from being low and repeatedly overflowed, would be very un- healthy. In time, however, the interest of the planter overcame the love even of life, and as low lands were found to be infinitely more produétive than those more inland and elevated, the scene of cultivation gradually changed. There is now hardly a vestige remaining of the old capitals and seats of Government of either Demerara or Essequebo, that formerly stood on Islands 264 TIMEHRI. nearly equally distant from the mouths of both rivers. Georgetown, the present capital, on the East Bank and at the entrance of the river, contained at the last census * White, *Colored, * Negroes, *Houses, and extends nearly two miles in length by about half a mile in breadth, the distriét called Cummingsburg being laid out in such a judicious manner as to be justly considered a model for towns in the West Indies. Till very lately the comparatively small number of adventures and the speculating liberality of the merchant in England gave the colonists such hopes of acquiring speedy independence that few ever thought of being compelled to make the colony their home. It was looked upon as the land of sojourn, and the comforts of life were scarcely ever thought of. The only relaxation and the only substitute for their com- forts was an unrestrained indulgence in the pleasures ot the table, and an exercise of such unbounded hospitality as contributed in no small degree to thin the ranks of society of its most ambitious and enterprizing members. Of late years, however, a considerable alteration has taken place—capitals are confined. ‘The merchants at home are less profuse, and the colonist finds that the labour of 6 or 7 years, instead of allowing him to keep a car- riage in England, barely furnishes him with a few domestic negroes and the means of purchasing a dwell- ing whereby he may save the expense of house rent. In consequence of this limitation of prospeéts he becomes more economical, more temperate, and as he finds he must live longer than he calculated upon originally, to * Omissions in MS. | i a i i i i a ts AGRICULTURE IN 18209. 265 make his fortune, he begins to study the comforts and conveniences that make life less precarious. The change is very rapidly effeéting, and a few years will generate in the breast of the British settlers what has before been thought paradoxical, something like an attachment to the soil. When this takes place we may look forward to something like society and a public opinion, but where there is no permanent interest there is no public spirit, and accordingly we see that Demerara, com- pared with Barbados or Jamaica, has hitherto presented nothing but a selfish struggle of insignificant parties, and a total want of unanimity or understanding amongst all classes of the community. So well aware are the colonists of this feeling that if you ask one what is the reason of it he will tell you, ‘‘ We are too busy cutting one another’s throats to think of any thing that regards the interests of the community.” Some individuals have projeéted schemes for the colonization of the interior, which have never ripened into execution. It is beyond doubt that there are numer- ous situations at the heads of the different creeks, where good soil, high ground, salubrity of atmosphere, and great natural advantages would render a colony of whites particularly flourishing if they could be kept together. But the temptation to go to the Estates on the Coast, or to the Town, would, it is feared, operate too disadvantageous. It is however a feasible measure, and if persevered in might be carried to such an extent as to secure to the British the undisturbed possession of these regions. The colonist for this purpose must be drawn from the class of poor labourers with families, and as few artizans as pos- 266 TIMEHRI. sible, for it is with these that all the disorders originate that render such plans futile. On this subjeét a few words will be necessary concern- ing the granting of lands. It is well known, that with little labour, virgin land yields a great proportion of pro- duce, whereas lands that have been long cultivated require double or treble the labour to give the same return. Notwithstanding this the British Government refuses to make grants of the new or forest lands for pur- poses of general cultivation, on the humane plea of not increasing the labour of the negro beyond his present proportion. The absurdity of this measure shows the folly of legislating in detail for the Colonies on the other side of the water, since it is evident that if a planter is obliged to send home 500 hhds. of sugar from an estate that has been long planted he must keep 500 acres of cane in cultivation. Whereas if he is allowed to culti- vate new land, 250 acres will give the same return, by which the labour of his negroes is diminished one-half. The inhumanity of the restri€tion is evident, and where the quantity of fine land is so very over proportioned to the number of negroes it oughc to be the policy of Government to give the greatest range of choice, and rather to encourage the removal of negroes from worn out estates, where the labour becomes every day more severe, to newer and richer portions of soil, where the labour for the same return is much less. The same train of argument applies to the stoppage of the impor- tation of negroes from the W. I. Islands. Most estates are mortgaged to certain Houses till such mortgage is paid, The original slave population being cal- culated more for immediate returns of labour, than for the AGRICULTURE IN 1820. 267 propagation and continuation of their numbers, are daily decreasing in efficiency and numerical strength. It follows therefore that during the liquidation of a heavy mortgage, the instalment of the latter years will be paid off by an accession of labour exa€éted from adecreasing gang. This there is no means of preventing, because the debt must be paid, and the Merchant cannot, from the exorbitant price of negroes in the colony, increase his loan by supplying the deficiencies. There is no doubt that the ad- vantages of this colony over the Islands with regard to the food and comforts of the negroes, should, in point of mere humanity, direét the transmutation of the slave population from those of the islands that are barely fertile enough to support them. And the purest spirit of policy as well as philanthropy di€tates at this time that we import new island negroes to plant new lands. COFFEE. The cultivation of coffee is simple and much in favor of the health and comfort of the negroes. It is generally planted in rows at 8 or to feet distance, with interme- diate rows of plantains. The young coffee tree will not grow in these latitudes except shaded from the scorching rays of the meridian sun, and the broad leaf of the plan- tain or banana is found best calculated for this, whilst it ensures a constant supply of nutritious food for the gang employed in its cultivation. Anacre of coffee of 700 trees will yield in average fair seasons $300 of Coffee and often more, The plantains will also yield 400 ounches, making the whole produce worth near $400 per annum. An able negro can with ease keep 3 or.4 acres of this cultivation in excellent order. It is not therefore without reason that the old Dutch colonists, who were MM 268 TIMEHRI. eee shrewd calculators, gave such a preference to the cul- ture of coffee; the coffee of Demerary being known in Europe by the name of Dutch coffee bears a very high price in the market, considerably beyond that of the W, I. Islands, and only exceeded by the Turkish, from which it differs very little in quality. It blossoms in February, March and April, the fruit of which blossoms is ripe in August, September and November; a second blossoming in July, August, or September, makes what they call a first crop, which is picked in March, April, or May. When picked it is passed between a board and a wooden cylinder with perforated copper nailed round it, called a Pulping Mill. This separates the outward pulp of the coffee from the yellow husk which is after- wards washed in a cistern and spread upon an elevated pavement or droghery to dry. When dried perfeétly hard and crisp, it is put into the stamping mill, which consists of a heavy wooden roller that is turned round in a circular trough of the nature of a Cyder Mill. This breaks off the dry husk of the berry, which is afterwards winnowed, sifted, and sorted into the different qualities of pearl first quality, second quality, and broken coffee; and is then fit for the market. Coffee should be planted during the first four months _of the year, in a young plantain walk, sufficiently ad- vanced to shade the young trees. At 3 or 4 years growth the leading sprout should be broken off, so as to leave the tree 44 or 5 feet high, when it is low enough for the negro to pick over hand without breaking the branches. The green upright shoots that spring from the sides of the main stem should be stripped off with the hand. The trees should be kept clear of weeds and { AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 269 misletoe, and all dead branches carefully removed. In fa&t the tree should be treated as an experienced gardener would treat a standard shrubby fruit tree in Europe, to expe@t its full proportion of fruit. In the curing of coffee great care should be taken that the fermentation or heating of the berry, prior to stamping, should not be excessive, otherwise the coffee will become black and unsaleable. The colour for the market being a greenish pearl colour—if the coffee in the husk be not slightly heated it will be too yellow, but if too much so it will be dark and of a musty smell. { The best flavoured coffee for use is the berry that dries upon the tree and does not pass through the pulp- ing mill, but it is much more difficult to prepare than the other, nor would half the crop be picked if it was left till it arrived at this stage. PLANTAINS. The soil of this colony is peculiarly adapted for the growth of this plant, which requires a strong, rich clay, A plantain walk has frequently been known to produce, without re-planting, for 15 or 20 years. The facility it affords of feeding the negro population with the suc- cedaneum they prefer to every other, even bread itself, and its amazing produétiveness in this congenial soil, together, gave the colony an amazing advantage over the West India Islands, where it can only be grown par- tially and by no means equal to the supply of the popu- lation. By law, an acre of Plantains is required on all estates for every 5 negroes, But, for the first 10 years, an acre of goad land will feed 10 negroes, with common care, that is, it will produce in 10 years 10,400 bunches, each bunch weighing to lbs. of edible vegetable bread, MM 2 240 TIMEHRI. in the whole 104,000 lbs. weight, with the simple care of weeding and draining. It appears that, like the Papaya, there is a male and female plant, which is evident, from the internal sub- stance of the fruit, where the appearance of seeds is evident, but they are all abortive from want of the impregnating principle of the male plant. It is only grown therefore from divisions of the stool or roots, and the rapidity with which it is propagated by this means renders any care about the seeds unnecessary. Indeed, no good purpose could be effeéted by the introdu€tion of the male plant, as the fru€tification of the seeds would evident!y detra&t from the farinaceous principle, and those who ate the fruit would have the trouble of extra€&ting them, which in its present state is not required.* It possesses the nourishing principle in a greater degree than any other vegetable, combined with a slight astringency like that of new wheat flour, Men, horses, dogs, hogs and cattle thrive upon it. By cutting the green fruit into strips, and drying it in the sun, it may be pounded into a kind of flour called Congo Tea, from which soups, pap, and panada are made, most essentially useful in the hospital and the nursery. The broad leaf, when drooping and dried, is a good substitute for thatch. The fibres of the stem make excellent ropes. And the expressed liquor from the trunk is of so very astringent a quality, that it may be used with success for nut gall or oak bark. The man who introduced the plantain deserves this praise, that he ensured to a population that has no wants * Mr, H. is of course mistaken in his premise.—Epb, ee a es ——— AGRICULTURE IN 1820, at beyond the gratification of its natural appetites, the means of gratifying those appetites, with health, plenty andcomfort. And he has thus relieved the planter from a source of increasing anxiety, by providing in one article of food the good qualities that twenty other varieties to- gether could not substitute. DRAINAGE. This article embraces a wide field. Hardly an acre of cultivated land lies above the level of high water mark ; the whole of the vast plain of cultivation being formed by the deposition of the mud that discolours the sea for some leagues from the shore at the time of high tide, and would be again covered, but for the construétion of high dams, by which that is prevented. No country in this respe&t approaches nearer in resemblance to that of Holland, and none but Dutchmen would have thought of reducing such a mass of water into cultivated Terra Firma. To the glory and praise of the industry of that nation this has however been accomplished, and the rules and regulations adopted by the Government of the early settlers merit for their wisdom and public spirit the highest eulogium, To the negle& of these precautions are owing many inconveniences under which the colony now suffers. But private interest has preserved in most instances what the Government has in many forgotten. Every improve- ment of consequence has been effeéted by Dutch or French Governors. ‘The British have been better con- tented with pocketing their salaries in peace and quiet- ness, and letting the colony stand by its own strength, which fortunately it has been able to do without their fostering assistance. It has been an excuse with them, 272 TIMEHRI. that the want of unanimity amongst the colonists pre- vented being carried into effe€t works of improvement, and indeed it has happened that a petition for a Canal has been followed in a few weeks by a petition against if, and both with the same signatures. But this is not surprizing. Individuals with their own interests in view are the worst judges of works of public utility, and it is the province of Governors and Govern- ments to serve their country even against its will. This principle with regard to public works is unim- peachable, for opposition dies with the experience of the benefit resulting,—and had it not been the principle of the earlier Governments, Demerara would still have been a waste of waters, It is said that before there were any public roads of consequence, a Field Piece with a Com- pany of Artillery were sent from Stabroek to Mahaica, a distance of 25 miles, with orders to make free quarters on every estate till a road was made through it praéti- cable for the Artillery. The road has been excellent ever since, and the French or Dutch Governor with whom this device originated has done more for the Colony than any succeeding British Governor has done after him. What renders this sluggishness most unaccountable is, that there is at this moment a sum of money in the British Funds belonging to the colony, the simple inter- est of which would be adequate to the annual expendi- ture required for such public works as were necessary without any additional taxation. It is equally a faét that the Legislature are absolutely at a loss to find out to what purposes this funded property is applicable. These observations under the head of drainage may appear irrelevant, but the faét is that they are as inti- AGRICULTURE IN 18209. 273 mately conneéted with it as the administration of the Funds of the Netherlands is with the Dikes of Holland ; without the union the country would cease to exist. The praétical drainage of estates is effected by means of a sluice or koker with a valve door, opening to the sea ; the latter is most simple and common. A wooden trough 6 feet square, 24 feet long, with a door of the above description, will drain 400 acres, but for a greater extent an increased diameter is necessary on account of the ex- traordinary accumulation of water during the heavy rains. Cast-iron kokers on the same plan, but cylindrical, are used with equal effe&, but they are generally of too small diameters. A koker should always be large enough to prevent any fall of rain from raising the water to the sur- face of the earth, as in this instance the light vegetable mould, with all its salt, is washed into the trenches, and the land becomes impoverished. Nothing is so injurious to land as imperfe&t drainage. When drainage is entirely stopped, vegetation decays and remains upon the surface, and the superabundance of water loosens the soil and causes it to imbibe the nu- tritious particles. But where land is allowed to be at one period overflowed and left dry at another, the very prin- ciples of fertility are destroyed altogether. It is evident, therefore, that one of the most serious duties of a Manager is constant attention to the drainage of the estate, and the Proprietor should spare no expense in securing this, to secure the fertility of bis fields. An empolder is a dam of earth formed by digging a trench inside, which circumvents the portion of land taken into cultivation. This trench constitutes the main drain of the estate, with which all the fields communicate 274 TIMEHRI. by smaller or succour drains; 10 or 12 feet is sufficient for most main drains, but if the soil is low, or loose, a greater width will be required to make the exterior dam of sufficient strength. The best form of these dams is that of a military field work, but with the ditch inside instead of outside. No dam or trench should be without its parapet, which in a dam answers to the parapet of a field work, and in a trench to the covered way. The parapet of a dam is a support to the foundation. That of a trench, by taking off for the breadth of 2 to 4 feet from the outside of the trench, the earth from 1 to 2 feet deep, for the whole length, preserves the trench from being filled up by the falling in of the sides. One is astonished to see the immense length of drainage re- quired, but the ease with which a trench is opened in a fat moist clay, without a single impediment of rock or stone, renders it a labour of great facility. The most faulty part of the drainage consists in the improper con- struction of the sea dams in which no attention is paid to those principles which in Europe are commonly praétised with the greatest success. Almost the whole length of coast is at different periods liable to an accumulation of surf, that destroys the dams, and in many instances washes away great traéts of land from the front of estates. A dam is generally repaired by driving piles in rows along the beach, facing the sea, and carrying earth to fill up the breach. It is well-known to Engineers in Europe, that in many instances even a strong wall of brick or stone is insufficient to stand the swell of the sea when opposed to it without any intermediate gradual check. The breakwater at Plymouth, having a base of 3 times its height and 6 times its breadth at top, would be | et ' : | AGRICULTURE IN 18209, 275 rn ee ee ee insufficient, if the rocks of from : to 4 tons each of which it is composed, were cemented together ; by being loosely piled, the wave gradually loses its force amongst the interstices before it reaches the top, or the upper tiers would soon be displaced. The sea damsin Holland, and those of Dunjenness and Romney Marsh in England, should be the models for those works in Demerara. Those of Romney and Dunjenness being on the same coast with the breakwater at Plymouth, and subje& to the same channel swell, we shall instance more par- ticularly. They are composed of rows of oak posts driven into the beach, parallel with the coast, at a considerable distance from the dam outwards. These rows, tier over tier, at intervals of from to to 20 feet, form a gradual set of barriers, behind each of which the sand and gravel accumulates, till it reaches the high water mark on the shore, where a dam becomes perfe€tly safe and praéticable. By this method the force of the sea becomes gradually weakened, and the base of the dam is not only proteéted from the wash, but is strength- ened by the deposit left behind each of the rows of posts. In Demerara this plan is equally praéticable, as it is frequently the case where old dams, in spite of constant piling, have been washed entirely away, yet these piles that were insufficient to save the old dam have saved the new one ereéted behind it by a€ting as a breakwater in its front. FERTILITY OF THE SOIL. The powers of vegetation within the tropics are such as never fail to astonish travellers from more northern regions. The Papaya, in 12 months, will rise 20 feet high NN 276 TIMEHRI. upon a straight single stem, and be perpetually loaded with fruit from the 3rd month after planting. The banana, from a single eye, or stool, will in the same time produce from 12 to 20 perfe&t succours, each from 15 to 20 feet high, 2 or 3 feet in circumference, and its broad foliage able to cover a space of 1,000 square feet. Ina year it has been known to produce 8 cwts. of wholesome and nutritious aliment. But of all other vegetables the bamboo and the large gourd have the quickest growth; in the wet season, they have frequently been known to in- crease a foot or 16 inches in the course of a night. European fruit trees grow weakly, but do not produce fruit. The descent of the sap to the root and its re-ascent after a dormant period appear to be essential to the pro- duétion of the fruits of temperate climates. The partial regurgitation of the sap, produced in the tropics by the changes of the moon, is not sufficient for that purpose in European plants transplanted to within the tropics. Though the deficiency of my experience has not enabled me toaccount scientifically for this phenomenon, I am yet convinced that there is a marked botanical distinétion between the fruits of hot climates and those of temperate ones, which should render a chara€teristic division ne- cessary beyond that of the mere Linnean distinétion, some particular conformation of the generative parts by which tropical plants essentially differ from those of temperate or northern regions. Most tropical fruits have strong evergreen leaves and a consistency and flavour approaching to that of the bay or laurel. Europeans in most fruits dete¢t a very strong flavour of turpentine, not perceptible to creoles and long residents. And all unripe fruits are so powerfully astringent, as effectually ; “4 . : q : : EEE AGRICULTURE iN 1829. 377 to deter the unwary and ignorant from using them, Astrin- gency seems to be the predominating quality ‘of three- fourths of all the vegetables and, from the infusion of their leaves in the pools and creeks, persons unaccustomed to the use of such water are frequently, in first drinking it, seized with a violent cholera morbus; this is however merely a transient inconvenience. One would suppose that nature had so generally diffused this principle to counteraét the predisposition to laxity of the solids pro- duced by the heat of the climate. Be this as it may, the- Gallic Acid is here without a competitor in the work of vegetable analysis. The rainy season is the period of quickest vegetation ; from March to June succulent European herbs may be raised with great success, and indeed throughout the year the kitchen garden in careful hands may be brought to produce a daily supply of most European vegetables, which form a pleasing variation from the usual indige- nous produétions, highly salutary and gratifying to the palate. SCIENCES AND ARTS. This is rather a barren subje&t in Demerara; indi- viduals of talent and abilities are not rare, but no public establishments exist to give the Arts and Sciences “a local habitation and a name.” The Essequebo Agricul- tural Society has indeed latterly been making consider- able efforts to reverse its former fame, having hitherto been little more than a Mutton and Madeira Club. The late promulgation of certain rewards and prizes for im- provements within its sphere, gives great hopes that it will become as respeétable as a body as it has ever been in the charaéters of the individuals that compose it, NN 2 278 TIMEHRI. There is no colonial school. This want, while it exists, reflets the greatest disgrace on the country, since the education of the free people of the colony is the surest pledge of their industry and good condu@, and gives them the greatest superiority over the slave population, with which they are otherwise confounded. This is meant of the lower orders and free people of colour, who are unable to procure European education. A colonial school, on the Lancastrian plan, would rescue a most im- portant portion of the community frem ignorance at the expense of one half the income of an useless sinecure office. There is no Botanical Garden, though many of the most valuable medicinal plants are commonly trod under foot, or felled with every portion of the forest ; there is no colonial or circulating Library, though books are too expensive for general reading and though many think themselves obliged to take an extra glass of san- garee or grog, for want of better means of passing an hour or two of the most sultry part of the day. In short there are no Literary or even Mercantile Associations of any kind, but there are cock clubs and whist clubs, patro- nized by gentlemen whose countenance would raise and support institutions of the greatest public utility and respectability. The public press, amidst all this, is infinitely superior to that of any other colony within the tropics, and proves at once, that if society in Demerara is not in a high state of cultivation, it is by an affeétation of barbarity, and a degrading disregard of its latent advantages, which refleéts shame upon its members, beyond those of any other colony under the British Crown. The extraordinary adaptation of the colony in favor AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 279 of scientific pursuits is by no means ideal. Enlightened individuals who have sought a refuge from pecuniary exigencies, from every nation in Europe, have brought with them their natal tastes and propensities, and the constant intercourse has worn down uncharitable pre- possessions and national prejudices, to a most desirable temperament of general charity and enlightened feelings. What is good in all has been duly appreciated and adopted, and what is objeétionable has been with equal judg- ment discarded. Fashion has not been able to exert her influence in perverting taste and overthrowing reason, and the man of mean origin and of the poorest education, after a residence of some years in-Demerary, returns to Europe with his wits so much enlightened as to figure in Socie- ties where before he dared not hope to be admitted. The theatre of his pursuit of wealth has been also his school of manners, and whilst he has hoarded his savings he has enriched his understanding. Many a footboy has returned to be the master of the mansion where he was once a menial; many an igno- ramus has learnt to write by signing bills of exchange, and many who know nothing of their birth, parentage or education, live to see an Honourable prefixed to their ignoble name, and to become the patrons and discrimi- nators of sele& societies and good company. These faéts refleét the highest credit, both on the colony and its inhabitants, and prove beyond doubt that it possesses the means, independent of the mere acqui- sition of wealth, of enabling those of good natural abili- ties to elevate themselves from want and obscurity to opulence and respe¢tability. | 280 TIMEHRI. To what other origin can the oldest nobility be traced ? SLAVERY. What a fertile thesis has this been to men in every age, whose imaginations have disdained the guidance of their judgments, and whose enthusiasm has set at nought the immemorial ordinance of their Creator. In every clime, in every age, in every nation since the creation of the world, has God ordained that a class of human beings should exist, as ‘‘ servants of the servants” of the rest of the human race. And surely, if any thing could ex- emplify the wisdom of divine Providence, in the distri- bution of power and command in the proportion to the powers of intelleét requisite to exercise it, it is this very fa&t, that slavery, from the beginning of time, has been the portion of the lowest order of humanity. It is to no purpose that casual instances of superior intellect are brought forward to contradiét our ideas of the mental imbecility of those whom Providence has allotted to a state of slavery. Mind and genius, where they exist in a mass, are sure to rise and emancipate their possessors from the very lowest physical state of bondage. To en- deavour to destroy the grades of society, by a levelling system that would merely reverse the duties of cifferent classes, is an attempt that defeats its own object, and that revolutionizes without reformation. Las Casas on this very scene of South America, with the warmest feel- ings of beneficence, and with a perseverance of soul devoted to his obje&, succeeded in part in the arduous work of alleviating the miseries of slavery to which the poor aborigines were reduced by the avaricious Spa- niards. But how did he accomplish this ? To the disgrace of Las Casas, and all his succeeding disciples be it — oe ee > ie ———ee——— Oe ee ee a - AGRICULTURE IN 1829. 281 spoken ; that he freed the Indian at the expence of the negro, and was the first phz/anthropist that introduced the traffic in negro slaves into the West Indies. ROBERT- SON in his History of America speaks on this head with his accustomed accuracy of authority and justness of feeling, as if he had contemplated in our day the change that would again be attempted, of freeing the negro at the expense of the poor unoffending Hindu. We whose hopes are centred in cultivation by the hands of a hardy race of negro slaves, may be supposed to have somewhat of a bias in favor of their employment. But whilst it is known that, in the East Indies, a certain caste of natives are bought and sold with the soil, and that their labour is compulsory by the owner of that soil, with the sole obligation of allowing them a subsistence, not equal to one-third of the usual allowance to negroes, what purpose can it answer, that the manufadture of sugar should be transferred from the West Indies to the East, or taken from the shoulders of the robust negro, to crush the slender frame of the Hindu slave. It is true that the distance of the East Indies is greater, and they may suppose from this, that the tears of slavery from that cir- cumstance may be weakened in their effet, or drowned in their passage. But how is humanity bettered by this sub- terfuge ? Slavery must still exist, though at the distance of a six months voyage instead of six weeks. Norcan any arrangement prevent it as long as commerce gives the in- habitants of one climate the means of enjoying the luxu- ries of another situated within the tropics. In these regions, where indolence and ease are the natural pre- disposition of mankind, nothing but compulsion will procure that superfluity of the produ€tions of nature which 282 TIMEHRI. is necessary to carry ontrade and commerce. The power that compels this, in whosever hand it lies, must create in the inferior grades that state of forced subservience ‘which can only be denominated slavery. It signifies not whether England be herself the slave trader; as long as she uses coffee, sugar, cotton, rum, indigo, silver, gold, chocolate, rice, tobacco, so long must she virtually sup- port the system of slavery, for without slaves and their labour, either negroes, Indians or Hindus, Europe would never enjoy their luxuries. To what purpose then is this outcry against slavery that has blinded the eyes of politicians and nearly thrown the staff out of the hands of Great Britain. Ships, colo- nies and commerce; are they not the sinews of her strength, and how are they supported? Without freight how many fleets would train their crews in voyages to either India? And what is that freight? All that she procures from her own dominions is produced by the labour of her slaves. Nor can it be otherwise. The European labourer is unequal to the influence of the . tropical sun. Should he escape his seasoning, and labour to his utmost, even that utmost dwindles to a com- paratively small proportion, and a very few years reduces him, with relaxed habits and an emaciated frame, to the miseries of a premature old age. Under the same sun, the negro thrives and enjoys himself, and though he would willingly not work, yet his labour keeps him in health and temperance. The power that tempers the wind of heaven to the shorn lamb knows this, and has also declared to man in all his shades and colours “ In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread,” | Even the stoppage of the slave trade of Great Britain AGRICULTURE IN 1820. 283 has only had this effe&t, that it has thrown that trade into the hands of other powers, with whom it is notorious few of the scruples of humanity. exist that di€tated the comparative care of their unfortunate crews for which the British traders were famous.. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, in ill-appointed ships, deficient in every con- venience, still drag the African from his native shores, ~and enable other powers to undersell the British Colo- ‘mies in every European market. WILBERFORCE, how- - ever good his motives, has only accomplished. this; he -has taken from: the negro a lenient master to give him “one with a hand of iron. He has destroyed an English monopoly and admitted the whole world. He has lite- rally, to use a coarse proverb, like the tinker, mended ‘one’ hole, ‘but he has made ten. By raising a furious -outery, he has secured to himself the charaéter of an venthusiast, but future ages will for ever deny him either ’that of a philanthropist, or a politician. oOo Our Peasant Population—Their Past Condition and Future Prospects: ed By Seaforth M. Bellairs, aE} 1 would burden a short paper like this too much ) colony, nor is it necessary, as I imagine that the amount of money that finds its way into the pockets of our ‘Peasant Population’ from timber, charcoal, coffee, &c., &c., is very much the same now as it was in the early eighties. In the present article I shall endeavour to show the effeét on the pockets of our Peasantry, caused by the economy necessarily praétised in the produétion of our staple ex- port, sugar, with its ‘ offal,’ to use the convenient but not very pleasant word, and also to try and see what, we may hope, will supply the blank caused by such economy. In order to show the difference in the incomes of the . peasantry, let us compare the wages paid across the pay tables of the sugar estates some few years ago with what are paid at the present time. Let us take the five years, 1881 to 1885. On looking up the books of an East Coast estate I find that the crops of those five years was 4,880 hhds., and that the total amount paid in wages was $218,217.11 or $44.72 per hhd. The total exports of the Colony for the same period were 616,028 hhds. or an average of 123,205 hhds. per year. Therefore if we take the low figure of $40, as the amount per hhd. paid in wages, and that | think is low, for the estate whose figures I have quoted was conduéted on careful with statistics to go into all the exports of this — a ie eS TE oe TE ee ate eg i oe OO Our PEASANT PorULATION. 285 and economical lines, the amount paid in wages across the pay tables of the sugar estates of the Colony during the year averaged $4,932,200. The crop for the present year promises to be a good one, but, even if it reaches 110,000 tons, the amount paid for wages shows a fearful falling off. One of my planter friends assures me that his wages account for this year will not exceed $21 a ton. Suppose that the wages. paid throughout the Colony average $25 a ton, which I believe is rather high, then the amount paid for wages will be only $2,750,000, as compared with $4,932,200 twelve years ago, showing a deficit of $2,182,200. This deficit would take nearly the whole of the gold exported during the year to fill. The gold industry came into existence just at the end of the period I have quoted. Praétically it began in 1884, before which date the amount exported was so trifling as not to merit consideration. I suppose it may be con- sidered that nearly every penny of the value of the gold exported has found its way into the pockets of our peasantry, for, for one of the employers who have made money, there must be ten who have lost. But there is another side to the question of the deficit in the amount of wages from sugar that finds its way into the pockets of our peasantry which makes the matter worse still. The present wages, small as they are com- pared with what they used to be, are paid almost exclu- sively to the indentured and resident labourers; very little indeed goes into the pockets of those who do not live on the sugar estates. There are at the present moment about 18,000 indentured immigrants, and if these | earned an average of $1 a week, it would take $936,000, } leaving one $1, 814,000 for other labourers, of which aie IR sx x Mi) 286- PiMeHRt the unindentured immigrants and the resident labourers would have the first refusal. The unindentured immi- grants alone number about 70.000 persons, a large proportion being, however, women and children. The last census showed.a population of agricultural labourers: numbering 108,225 in the whole colony. I do not assert. that the indentured immigrants do earn an average of $1 a week, but, if they chose to work with a will for the- whole six days, they could easily do so, and they. must be provided with work first. © It will therefore easily be seen what a terrible falling off there is in the income of our peasantry from the sugar industry, and up to now | nothing seems to have taken its place except gold. Gold cannot provide general employment; none but the young and strong men can work in the gold bush, and what they earn does not benefit the Colony as much as did what was paid across the pay-tables ot the estates. In the first place, a great part of their earnings is paid in food, and nearly the whole of this food is imported. The existence of these men in the bush is but.of very little use to the provision grower, the cattle farmer, or cow minder. On the estates the labourers bought plan- tains and cassava from the farmers, occasionally a bit of meat from the butcher, and a pint of milk from the cow minder, but in the bush it is nearly all imported food. Again the amount of their earnings which is paid in cash is not paid as on estates, it does not come as a fine, gentle shower every Saturday, no, it is a deluge of money after months of privation and the consequence is that like a deluge of rain, instead of fru€tifying the soil, it rushes off and disappears no one knows where and benefits no-one knows whom, —- Our PEASANT POPULATION. 289 If—or may I say when—quartz crushing is established the:gold industry will be on a very different footing, but. up to the present it has not proved the universal panacea that. was expe€ted. If gold does. not fill the pockets of our peasantry what else will: ? Cane-farming has been suggested, but the ideas of our people must be less exalted than they are, at present before they will take to Cane-farming,. The ordinary labourer does. not like planting canes if at the time he: plants he does not know what he will get for his crop when he» reaps it. He will tell you. that it jis different with plantains and such things, if he is not satisfied with what SMITH offers he:can sell to JONES, but with Cane-farming he is obliged.to sell to the Manager of the Faétory to which he jis attached, and he thinks, to use his own Jan-, guage, that the Manager ‘ will take advantage, of him,’ A man having canes at—say—Beterverwagting must. sell them to La Bonne Intention, and.a man at Plaisance must, sell. ito Vryhezd’s Lust, but even if the peasant would learn to believe that he would be fairly dealt. with, the: prospeéts are not very encouraging in the present state of the. sugar market. Even, by combination 100 men could scarcely manage to tackle, 400 acres, that is a man to 4 acres; these 4 acres would only produce 6 tons of sugar. Many people talk glibly of two or more tons to the acre but the, statistics of the colony do not bear. out these figures. The acres under cane, cultivation in 1894. were Officially declared to be 70,012 and the ex- ported crop, was. 102,502 tons of sugar, less than a ton and ahalf tothe acre. If 2,516 tons were consumed locally the production would be exaétly a ton anda half to the / 288 TIMEHRI. acre. Now if a man grows 6 tons of sugar a year, the Fa€tory would take half, leaving him with 3 tons as repre- senting his year’s work; 3 tons are 6,720 Ibs. which at 2c, means $134 40. Supposing $30 to have gone in manure, the net income would be $104 40, or just over $2 a week. Many planters think that too men could not tackle as many as 400 acres, but I think that if it could be arranged that 200 acres were cut in O€étober and the other 200 acres left over until the first 200 were ‘ established’ it might be done. Under the present system of cutting nearly everything within three months, the men would have more work to do than they could manage when cutting canes and for some time after, and then scarcely anything at all to dofor several months. Under the present system of reaping all the crop at one time it might be advisable that the men would adopt the Barbados system and plant only 200 acres in canes and the other 200 acres in provisions or other produce. In this case their sugar crop would average only 3 tons of sugar per man, or dedu€ting the half claimed by the Fa€tory, only 14 tons, or $67 20 a year per man from the Cane-farms. Cane-farming is only another development of the Sugar Industry, let us see what fresh fields and pastures new we might have. Wel!, after considering Sugar and Gold the next most important thing is, perhaps, Rice. But here again our black population would have to enter into competition with the East Indian Immigrant, who probably will almost monopolize this industry, The ‘ coolie,’ to use the usual but incorre&t designation, is perfeétly happy if he has a trash house with a smooth mud floor, good grazing for his beloved cattle, a plentiful supply of good water, and Our PEASANT POPULATION. 289 congenial society. He likes to live in a healthy place and delights in seeing his family sleek and well. The paradise for coolies seems to be parts of the Corentyne Coast, There they find everything that they desire to make life happy, and the time they devote to rice culti- | vation is to them recreation for their spare hours. They. pay no wages, and if they were not busy with their rice | they would only be idling. Rice growing to them is in a way what cricket or bicycling is to us. The grow- ing of rice has been the occupation of the coolie for thousands of years, and if the principles of heredity are at all corre& the coolie will take to rice growing as naturally as a setter will take to setting. The black) 2 man is quite different. Although the coolie is so penurious } ‘ \ yet the black man is fonder of money than the coolie, \ : ; iss with this great difference, the black man likes money for what it will bring ; he likes to spend it, whereas the coolie likes money for itself, he lrkes to hoard it; the black man likes to earn a lot and spend a lot, the coolie is content / to earn a little and spend less. If rice growing ever; | y becomes a big ARONA aun there is no reason why it hands of thé coolie. We must also consider coffee and cocoa, but these are scarcely applicable to our coast lands; they take many years before they yield anything, and, I am told, that if this cultivation were attempted on the coasts, a breakage of the draining engine or any accident that might put the cultivation for 48 or more hours under water would result in the loss of several years’ labour. Dr. MORRIS pointed out that when our population spreads from the coast to the interior they will probably find a great variety ho V/ 290 TIMEHRI. of land andclimate, and possibly British Guiana may beable to grow everything that can be produced in the tropics. ‘There is also another produét that is now engaging the attention of well-wishers of the colony, that is fibre ; it seems strange that a colony like this, where there ‘are so very many fibre producing plants a€tually growing wild, should import ciose on a million bags every year ; bags made in India, a country not so very dissimilar to British Guiana. The Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society have asked the Government to try and incept this industry by offering a large premium to any- one who produces and places on the Colonial market a bale of bags suitable for sugar or rice, which bags must be exclusively creole, that is, the material must be from plants grown in the colony and the making of the bags, from the steeping of the plants to the sewing of the bags, must be entirely done in the Colony. NAPOLEON the First offered an enormous reward to the first person who would put a certain small quantity of sugar entirely French on the French market, and that small quantity has grown into the enormous beet sugar trade of the continent of Europe. If we cannot export bags, at all events at present, I see no reason why we should import them. ‘The great argument against the fibre trade is that we should have to compete against India and that fibre is produced so excessively cheap there, that it would never pay. Labour in India is paid in silver whereas we pay in gold. A man getting ten rupees in India’can buy with it nearly as much as he could before the rupee was depreciated, when ten rupees went to the Pound, therefore the mer- chant who buys bags by the rupee and sells them by sterling ie >. es —_—* Our PEASANT POPULATION. 291 makes an enormous profit out of the depreciation of value of the rupee. He has only to send out a little more than half a sovereign to pay the tenrupees. To paraphrase Mr. STEAD, it is impossible for the black man with the yellow money to compete with the brown man with the white money. This argument, just as powerful against growing rice as it is against growing fibre, may or may not be true; experience alone can tell. Fibre grows quickly, there is not very long to wait for the result of one’s labour, and if we are not content to export the fibre in its raw state but make bags, we establish new industries of spinning and weaving, in faét all that we should have to import for our bags would be the needles that sew them. Another industry which may grow up in the future is the fruit trade. Here the trouble is our distance from the market ; how can our fruit compete with that from Jamaica and the Canary Islands when it must be two or three days longer in transit? But we might export canned fruits or jams. The specimens of jams exhibited at the Horticultural Shows are not very encouraging, and I expeét they cost much more than they would fetch in the market, but no one would dream of making jam for com- mercial purposes in a copper stew pan over a charcoal fire in a coal pot. Perhaps if guavas were grown by the hundred acres, and jelly were made carefully whole- sale in a “copper wall,” or perhaps even in “ vacuo,” it might be turned out so cheap that it could compete with European jams in the markets of Europe and the States. Some say that our jams would never suit the taste of the people. All I can say is that I remember well when the acme of luxury was supposed to be turtle soup, roast venison, pine apples and guava jelly. I have seen PP 292 TIMEHRI, canned pine apples in England, but I do not remember ever having seen any other of our tropical fruits canned, I think that the mango, if not quite ripe, and the mammee | apple, would bear canning very well, in fa€t I should | think that any fruit that will bear cooking would stand | being canned. Iam afraid that such fruits as pansy and sappodilloes would not bear it. Another small industry is butter ; why should we import | so much butter? Mr. HARRY GARNETT has shewn us | that butter can be made here and that too of excel- lent quality. I do not know if it pays Mr. GARNETT, but we must remember that it is not his business, only a! hobby, and hobbies rarely pay. Because an Earl does( not make anything out of his green-houses it does not follow that a market gardener cannot make them pay. I should like to be able to say something about tobacco, but I know so very little about the capabilities of growing tobacco. Weall know however that the Island of Cuba is in a very bad way, and “there is always something not wholly displeasing in the misfortunes of one’s friends.” It is quite possible that tobacco of excellent quality might be grown in some parts of the colony, and there is no reason why we should not learn how to cure it both for cigars and ordinary tobacco, Again there is cotton, we know that cotton can be grown here, and the reason why the export of cotton was abandoned was the high wages asked by our labourers, but now that the wages have come down so tremendously, it is possible that cotton may be grown at profit, espe- cially as the oil from the seed is now in so great a demand. When Mr. HoGG was giving his evidence before the a ge OE ot hore « OuR PEASANT POPULATION. 293 Sele& Committee on Sugar Industries in 1879, he said that Demerara was like a garden, and Mr. ONSLOW asked him (question 4,487) :—‘ That is to say that although Demerara is like a garden, you can only grow onecrop.”’ Our present attitude would make this question still appli- cable, only the words ‘and export a little gold” might be added. If we do not find some other produce besides sugar to make up for the downfall in the wages paid to our pea- santry we shall approach the condition of that unfortu- nate island, whose inhabitants, according to the midship- man, ‘ made a precarious living by taking in each other’s washing.’ Me ' PP 2 / The Boa-Constrictors. By F. F. Quelch, B. Sc. Lond., C,M.Z.S. 4 LESE reptiles possess a somewhat special in- terest for residents in tropical America, seeing that they are at once a pest and a pest- destroyer i in the general economy of nature. The term, boa-constri€tor, in common parlance, is applied to any snake that secures its prey by enwrapping and crushing it to death, and it is more frequently used perhaps to denote the great pythons of Asia and Africa than the constri€ting snakes of tropical America, to one species of which—the great land boa—in a stri€t system of nomenclature, the name rightly belongs. The Boas are - thus, typically, the constriétors of the New World, though they are not confined to it. Locally, the word Camoodie is synonymous with boa- constriétor, and the various species are denoted by such terms as Water Camoodie, Land Camoodie, Tree Camoo- die, etc. Generally, however, the water species is re- ferred to particularly as Camoodie, this being the commonest, or at any rate that one which is found most frequently, close to the haunts of man ; and as it is also the largest, it has come to figure in the public mind as the typical boa-constri€tor, in place of its land congener to which the name belongs. This group of snakes will readily be recognised here by two very simple charaéters, The jaws are long, and carry each a series of more or less curved and elongated teeth; and the top of the head is covered with small Tue Boa-CoNnsTRICTORS. 295 scales, of much the same size as those over the body, and not with the larger shields or plates met with in the harmless snakes. Of all the species, the water boa, which is known techni- cally as Eunectes murznus, will be most easily recognised. Its markings and colour are nearly the same in all individuals and at all ages. Above, it is of a glossy brownish black, with a double row of large oval black marks, arranged transversely: below, it is mottled or streaked with black and yellowish white; while along each side there is a series of yellow patches surrounded _ by a black border. During life the tints are vivid enough, but when the snake is preserved, or the skin taken from the body and dried, the colours become dull. The skins, however, are in great request for slippers, belts, pouches, and other similar, useful or ornamental, objets. In size, this water boa seems to exceed all other snakes ; and it would appear to be more deserving of the ancient name, Anaconda, than the Eastern forms to which it was first applied. In faét, it may be said that the name is almost limited nowadays to this tropical American species. The length is known to reach quite 37 feet, but it is said that much larger specimens have been taken. On this point, however, it is hardly safe to express an opinion, since unless definite measurements are made, the estimate of size can be of little value. A case in point, which would suggest caution in ac- cepting the great lengths ascribed to certain animals, may be quoted from the writer’s experience as regards the large Black Alligator, locally known as Caiman (Alligator niger). The length of this form is given by 2096 TIMEHRI. various travellers in the colony, as for instance by both . BROWN and SCHOMBURGK, as from 20-25 feet, WATER- TON even recording 30 feet ; but there is no statement of actual measurement. In the writer’s experience, the largest forms of this species, taken in the very distriéts referred to by the forementioned travellers, hardly ex- ceeded 14 ft., though when seen in the water they ap- peared to be considerably larger. A similar example may be found in the great Arapaima fish (Arapazma gigas), which is recorded as from 16-18;feet in length, while in reality they hardly attain to more than half that size. Aé€tual measurement is requisite in all such cases. Skins of the water boa, of from 18-25 ft. in length, are frequently obtained; and in the sheltered swamps, and along the creeks in the recesses of the forests, it may well be that considerably larger animals would be met with. The following experience along the higher Esse- quibo River tends to support this. In 1894, while pass- ing by a wide outgrowth of closely matted grass from the swampy bank, the boat disturbed an enormous snake, of which the head, neck and part of the body, were clearly seen at a distance of certainly not more than five feet. It was noticeable that the head was considerably more than twice as large as that of one of about 2o ft. and this seems to indicate a snake of very large propor- » tions. The unfortunate part of the matter is that snakes of very great size are most likely to be seen in places where it is out of the question to secure them, as it happened in this particular case. The body of the water boas is thick in proportion to its length, and cylindrical, owing to the strongly de- / —— a THE BOA-CONSTRICTORS. 297 veloped dorsal muscles from which they derive their great strength. The males, asarule, are more elongated, and the females thicker towards the end of the body. In this species, as in the other constri€tors, rudiments of hind-limbs are found in the form of claws, one on each side of the vent. | These snakes are aquatic, and frequent especially the grassy and sheltered banks in the still reaches of the streams, and the wide, open water-savannahs. They are widely distributed in all such places over the colony, and are abundant in all the coast distri€ts, more especially in the sheltered water-ways close to settlements in the country where poultry is reared. Small specimens up to about ro feet in length are very frequently caught in such shallow waters, and larger specimens are met with occasionally lying on the grass or tree-stumps by the water-side, or in the aét of constricting or swallowing their prey, when they seem, as a rule, altogether disinclined to move, except so far as the contortion of their body for swallowing is concerned. It is mentioned on apparently good evidence that after having swallowed an animal of large size, these creatures lie torpid, and are incapable of escaping if disturbed ; but to the writer’s knowledge no such case has ever been met with in the colony, and it may be doubted whether snakes that were big enough to take in large animals would be afterw irds incapable of move- ment, the more especially that they are little likely to be far away from the moist bank of some waterway. From the habitat of these reptiles, it is not difficult to see that they are well situated tor securing their food. From the abundance of creatures that slake their thirst 208 TIMEHRI. by the waterside, the boas are able to secure all that they need, and they certainly make good use of their oppor- tunities, for when caught, they are always well-nourished and fat. Rodents and birds seem to be favourite articles of diet, not only with this species, but with the generality, if not all, of the constricting snakes. The part which these and kindred reptiles play in maintaining the balance of nature in a group of such remarkable fecundity as the rodents, must be therefore of considerable importance to man in the tropics, the more so that the greater number of rodents are among the most serious depredators on cultivation in general. It must be stated, however, that the range of food of the boas includes a great variety of other animals, such as the great Salempenta or Teguexin lizards, and the alligators, besides the smaller mammals generally, and even the small wood-deer and the peccary. The securing of prey such as the mammals or birds, is ordinarily an operation of short duration, since the highly organised animal being once enwrapped, succumbs rapidly under the enormous pressure of the folds about its body. It is not often, therefore, that an observer comes upon the field during the process, except when poultry bas been seized close to a dwelling, and their cries have attraéted the atten- tion of the inmates. _In the case of the alligators it is far otherwise, and the process is always a long one, taking on the charaéter of a combat except where the snake is disproportionately large. In one case observed, the contest certainly ex- tended over two days; and it would seem that, if the snake once succeeds in infolding the alligator in its coils in an advantageous position, the latter must succumb, THE BOodA-CONSTRICTORS. 290 the result being only a matter of time depending on their relative size. | In all the cases observed, the contests took place in the grass-covered swamp or marsh by the riverside, the alligator struggling fiercely with head, legs and tail, turning about, heaving and wriggling, in a vain endeavour to cast off the boa. It is remarkable that even when the alligator is of a size such that it might by wriggling reach the deeper water, it seems to avoid it, perhaps from the recognition that, in the water, where they would both sink to the bottom, its chances of holding out, under the pressure of the snake’s folds, would be lessened. On land, the continuance of the struggle depends on the crushing power of the boa, and the resistance of the alli- gator—dependent on its size—to suffocation—a process that in these mixed biooded creatures is only effe€ted with considerable difficulty. Possibly cases may occur where a small boa attempts the impossible and has eventually to abandon it ; but in those that have been under observation, the sizes have been such that, while by means of the head, tail and toes, the alligators have been able to toss and wriggle about to a greater or less extent, they were evi- dently under stress of partial suffocation. For loyg inter- vals they would remain perfe€tly still, perhaps from collapse, or with the expectation that the boas might con- sider them dead and proceed to unfold them: and then again they would struggle furiously, but equally to no effeat. It is a curious thing that under such circumstances, a boa will allow of quite close approach without its attempting to escape or attack if interfered with, and in faé& the Q2 300 TIMEHRI. same thing takes place where poultry has been seized and is still in the coils. Disturbance only causes the snake to bind its folds tighter about its prey, as if to prevent its escape, and the reptile can be easily killed— the only compensation in the case of the poultry. In isolated country settlements where there are quite water-ways with grassy or bushy banks, the water boas become a serious nuisance, and cause considerable loss of poultry; and if there happen to be no open spaces, except the dams along the waterside, where the birds are constantly liable to be seized, the keeping of poultry may be quite an impossibility, These snakes, and in faét the boas generally, thrive well in confinement in the tropics ; and if they be kept regularly supplied with water and food they can be handled with impunity at almost any time except during sloughing, when they are apt to beirritable. The water should be sufficient to allow them to immerse themselves entirely. Their growth is by no means slow, a small specimen of less than four feet, fed on a diet of rats—of which they are very fond—having reached a length of nearly ten feet with proportionate thickness, in about six years. Occasionally a specimen refuses to take food, and it is surprising for how long a time they are able to exist without feeding, and with but little apparent decrease in size, if any. A specimen, kept in a narrow-meshed wire cage in the Museum, some years back, refused to eat for 19 months, though it would lie in the water for long inter- vals ; and it seemed at the end of the time to be about as plump as it had been before. Here there was no chance of food being obtained surreptitiously, for the small THE Boa-ConstricTors. 30% meshes prevented even a mouse from penetrating inside and the cage was always under lock and key. Cases of even longer intervals are mentioned as having occurred, but it does not appear that the element of chance feeding was eliminated. With but two exceptions, in an experience of 10 years with several dozens of boas of different species, living food (rats) had always to be given to them; and if this seems a cruel proceeding at first sight, one has only to be reminded that it is about the quickest way of destroying the rats, certainly quicker than drowning them oneself, or allowing one’s dogs to kill them. The sentimental pi€ture of these creatures trembling with fear under the dreadful fascination of the snakes, is but a figment of the imagination. After an experience of many years with a very large number of S. American snakes, poisonous, constri€ting and harmless, in relation to living animals— mammals, birds and other creatures—both in confine- ment and in open nature, the writer knows of no single faét, nor has come in contaét with any observer who can produce any fa&t, supporting the so-called fascination of animals by snakes. That certain animals may become absolutely paralysed by fear and incapable of movement at the sight of a snake’s approach, is in no case different from the corresponding manifestation of profound fear and collapse on the part of many animals in the presence of extreme danger. . In the case of rats, at any rate, there is not only no sign of any such fear, but they even appear to be more than callous, often attacking and badly biting the snakes if the latter be not hungry, and rendering their removal necessary. QQ2 anne 3028 TIMEHRI. The instances of the two snakes—one a land boa and the other a water boa—naturally eating dead animals placed in their cages, appear to be quite exceptional, for in other specimens such consumption was only brought about by strategy. Properly fed and taken care of, the water boa, and the land boa also, become extremely quiet and gentle—per- haps, more truly, sluggish—in their movements, and a large specimen of the former, over 20 feet in length, manifested in confinement not the slightest inclina- tion, nor made the slightest attempt, to attack when disturbed, or even when quietly handled. These reptiles are no¢turnal in their habits, and, when they have the chance, seek out dark corners in which to shelter them- selves from the light. When these snakes have become accustomed to a special diet, such as rats for instance, they seem at times to negleét, even when they are in want of food, other creatures that at first they would have seized upon at once. Thus a large Salempenta or Teguexin Lizard has remained for years in a cage with a water boa, unmolested, even when the latter has been hungry, and has taken four large rats in succession. It is a common belief that the boas jaibttielee their prey before swallowing it. There is really not the slightest foundation for the belief. After the objeé& is dead, the snake usually passes its head along or about the body, perhaps to get some idea of the size, but more likely to find the situation of the head, at which part it almost invariably starts to swallow. At this stage, there is no saliva on the objeét; but if, after it is partly swallowed, it has to be rejected on account of a es a By THE BoA-ConstRicTors. 303 too great size, that part of the body which had been in the snake’s mouth and throat will be found to be abun- dantly covered with the saliva poured out during the process of swallowing. In confinement, at any rate, it not unfrequently happens that objeéts are thus disgorged after being nearly taken down ; and it would seem to be due to their being too large, thesnakesattempting, through hunger, to prey upon what, ordinarily, in nature, would be left alone. The salivation, therefore, is not the prelimi- nary to swallowing, but the result of it. The operation of swallowing, which in all snakes is very considerably prolonged, becomes slightly modified in the constri€tors owing to the use of the folds of the body in holding the prey, so that they are enabled to push their jaws more easily over it. As in these forms there is generally a greater disproportion between their size and that of the obje&ts swallowed, than in other kinds, this hand-like a€tion of the coils. of the body be- comes of importance. Their anterior teeth, too, are stronger and more re- curved than in other non-venomous snakes, and are direGtly of use in securing a firm hold of their prey, and thus in allowing the coils of the body to be thrown with certainty and lightning-like rapidity around the objet, ere any aét of defence can take place. Animals with strong and sharp teeth, such as the Peccary and the Capybara, would make but short work of the slen- der neck of the snakes were they not rendered per- feétly helpless by the enwrapping coils at the very instant of seizure. Thus secured, any movement or struggle on the part of the prey, is only met by a tighter clasping of the coils of the snake, nor are they relaxed until all 304 TIMEHRI breathing has ceased, the cessation of the respiratory and circulatory movements being easily deteéted under the tight clasp. Even after the death of the obje&, the tightening of the coils about it can, by artifice, be at once brought about by the slightest disturbance of the body, even at the very time of uncoiling preliminary to swal- lowing. There is a natural dread of these great water serpents among all native people, but attacks on man by them would seem to be of very rare occurrence, and only one instance has ever come direétly to my knowledge. In this case, a boy washing rice in a calabash by the waterside of one of the large creeks, was seized by the hand by a medium- sized snake, and it would perhaps have terminated fatally, but that the boy’s father, who was chopping wood close by with a cutlass, at once despatched the reptile. From the circumstances of the case, it is very likely that the attack was accidental., In the charaéteristically dark-coloured water of the creek, it is hardly possible that the boy could have been seen by the snake. The probability is that the sound made by the calabash in the water, was mistaken for that of some animal drinking, and the attack made accordingly. This seems more likely still from the fa&t that there was not the immediate coiling around the boy so charaéteristic of the attack of these creatures, and it is probable, that if the boy had been able to keep still and allow of the withdrawal of the long curved teeth, the snake would have sunk again from sight. The above explanation may seem a fanciful one, but it is hardly possible that, under the abundant opportunities for the favourable attack on man by these water boas under local conditions, there should not be many cases ee ee ee _ THE BOoA-CONSTRICTORS. 305 known, if man were not naturally exempted. The fear of being seized by these reptiles, which deters so many timid people from bathing in the creeks and rivers, is no doubt natural enough, even if such seizure may only happen by mistake; but the chances of danger are so infinitesimal that they are hardly worth regarding. Unlike the other boas, but like water snakes and vipers generally, the anaconda is ovo-viviparous. The eggs are retained in the body until the young are fully developed and are able to look after themselves. It seems to be generally thought that the young are hatched out in the body of the parent, and crawl forth themselves, but to judge from what has been observed in other ovo-viyi- parous snakes, this is not really the case. The egg membranes are complete and unbroken at birth, and the young break through after extrusion. This was certainly the case in three separate instances observed by the writer,—two in the rattlesnake, and one in the closely allied labarria—in each of which more than twenty young ones were thus brought forth. No doubt, at the time when the young are sufficiently developed and are ready for birth, their wriggling movements induce their extrusion, but the eggs are stri€tly not hatched till afterwards ; and the young can Le seen closely coiled inside the trans- parent membranes, until they disrupt them and crawl about, It may possibly be the case at times that the adults are placed under conditions not suitable for the bringing forth of the young, and that the latter are then re- tained until they do aétually crawl out; but in the light of the three instances above quoted, this can hardly be regarded as striétly natural. That unfavourable con- 306 TIMEHRI. ditions do modify the breeding habits of snakes, is of course well-known, and a case in point may be given from the egg-laying Aboma (Epicrates.) A specimen which was brought to the Museum, some years ago, in a closely nailed box, was observed at the time to be laying, a few eggs being found in a corner of the box, of which two are still preserved in spirit. The snake was placed in a large wire cage—open ‘to light on all sides— together with a set of reptiles, which included four land and water boas, a Teguexin Lizard and an iguana. Some six months afterwards the Aboma was noticed to have brought forth several young ones, which were quite strong and healthy. Whether it was due to the change from the dark box to the exposed cage, or to the presence of the other occupants, there was no doubt but that the snake had retained the eggs until the young were born, and thus departed from its normal habits. This case was reported in this journal at the time (Zimehri, 1890, p. 370). The sense of hearing in the anaconda appears to be much more acute than either sight or smell. On frequent occasions when rats have been placed in close proximity to the cage, not until there was a squeak from them did the snakes begin to move about from one part of the cage to another as though seeking them. And even when the rats have been placed inside the cage, the snakes have often seemed unable to deteét their position unless they have come aétually in contaét with them. The slightest touch, however, is generally sufficient, not simply for the grasping of the prey by the teeth, but for a rapid coiling of the body, independently, at whatever part the touch may take place. In this latter way, THE BOA-CONSTRICTORS. 307 Teguexin Lizards have sometimes been grasped while moving about (after having been in the same cage for months or years), being mistaken, by contaét, for the rats whose squeak had been heard. It would appear that this acuteness of hearing, as com- pared with sight, has been brought about by the condi- tions of life in the water, in which sound would play a very large part in notifying the approach or presence of animals. In the land and tree boas, as in snakes gene- rally, the sense of sight is much more acute. Sight no doubt, even in the anaconda, must be of great importance, since the recolle€tion or remembrance of surroundings would presumably depend on this faculty. A noteworthy example of this may be given in the case of a small specimen of about 8 feet, which, when placed on the Museum floor while its cage was being cleaned, after a time found out and occupied a dark recess—where it was entirely hidden from observation—some distance away, and reached by a circuitous route between the exhibition cases on the floor. More or less time was occu- pied in finding or reaching the shelter at first, but aftera little while, the snake invariably made for this place assoon as it was taken out of its exposed cage, and it was always found coiled up in the furthest corner from the light. This was the regular procedure for more than two years, until the cage was moved away into another room. But the most striking feature in the matter is that now, four months after the transference, it is still able to remember the shelter, and the way to it from its former position. Before leaving the subje&t of the anaconda, it is per- haps worthy of mention that, among many of the common people, there seems to be a belief in the efficacy of the RR 208 TIMEHRI. ~ oil obtained from its fat, for the treatment of rheumatic and such like pains, just as there is also in the case of the fat of the ele€tric eel. The shocks from living eleétric eels are equally believed in by the East Indian immigrants as curative of such pains, Very different in appearance from the water boa is the common land boa or land camoodie (Boa constrictor). The body is crossed by a series of purplish or reddish- brown, irregular or bi-concave saddles, conneéted at the sides, and enclosing between them lighter oval or irregu- lar patches, which are usually emarginate in front and behind. Along the sides, arranged transversely, there are elongated or oval purplish patches with lighter centres. The head, too, is much more angular and wedge-shaped, and the scales on top are extremely small and fine, The general colouring is very variable in this species whether the individuals be young or old, being at times very dark and intense, and at others quite pale, indepen- dent of the brightness and iridescence which always ac- companies exuviation. These are the snakes usually taken for performances in menageries and circuses, but it may be doubted whether they are as suitable for the pur- pose as the water boas, which, when regularly fed and sup- plied with water, are altogether more quiet and sluggish. The largest specimen of this snake taken in the colony to my knowledge, measured just over 14 feet, but much larger are said to occur, a length given by one bushman being 26 feet, As the latter specimen, however, was not secured, the apparent size may well have been consider- ably larger than the actual. Snakes of from 8 to 12 feet are not of common occurrence, but they are occasionally met with, Smaller specimens are more common, ES THE BOA-CONSTRICTORS. 309 It is somewhat curious that this is the only species which in confinement has ever, to the writer’s knowledge, dire&tly attacked other snakes, Accidental cases of the swallowing of one boa by another, as recently happened in the Zoological Gardens of London, are well known to be due to the fa&t of two snakes attempting to swallow the same object. Such an attempt will very frequently be witnessed among young snakes in general when they have not been fed for some time, and in faét, almost invariably happens where several specimens are kept together. In the cases referred to, however, the attack was direct, In one, as reported in this Journal (Timehri,. 1887 p. 133), a young boa of three feet in length attacked a large yellow-tail (Spzlotes corats) of eight feet, and attempted to constriét it, but was even- tually defeated and swallowed by the yellow-tail. In another, also narrated in this Journal (Z7zmehrz 1890, p. 371), young specimens of another boa—the Aboma (Epicrates), were attacked ard swallowed, In these instances there was no attempt at swallowing the same objeét, there being no food in the cage. That the two occurrences were unusual, would certainly seem to be the case, however, for other land boas have frequently been kept with other snakes without any such result. In this, as well as in other species, the chief differences in habits from those of the anaconda, arise from the difference in their habitat. Though the land boas are frequently found by the waterside they are. seldom, if ever, actually in the water. They secure their prey on land, or among the branches of trees, and are as truly arboreal as terrestrial The hollow trunks of trees, or the sheltered corners between their buttresses, are RR 2 310 TIMEHRt. favourite places of resort; but while seeking their prey, these snakes take up more advantageous positions, such as on the low bushy growths or decayed stumps by the banks of the creeks and large rivers. Though they are at times encountered in open daylight, they are chiefly nocturnal, asin faét is the case with the group of snakes as a whole, and they are much less frequently met with, therefore, than the general reader would suppose, A fertile imagination no doubt pictures the tropical forests teeming with snakes and other noxious forms, but the reality is far otherwise. The Aboma or Ringed Boa (Epicrates cenchris) has already been referred to. It will readily be recognised by the bright ruddy-brown colour, and the series of large, thin, black irregular rings along the back. The sides are -marked with dark blotches having lighter areas within. The neck, as in the water boa, is but slightly thinner than the head, which is thus not distinétly wedge-shaped as in the preceding species, and the scales along the lips are slightly depressed, forming shallow pits. The vividness of the iridescent tints of this snake in sunlight, more especially when it has just cast its skin, is altogether indescribable, and in the path of sunlight, the curving body presents a continuous series of rainbow- ~ tinted gleams. Out of direét sunlight, it is quite sombre, giving no indication of remarkable brilliance, and it would be difficult to imagine that any such oe could take place. The habits of this species are practically the same as those of the common land boa. The size to which it attains, however, appears to be much less, a length of twelve feet being quite exceptional. They are found i a i ie THE Boa-ConstricTors. art much more frequently in the forest distriéts than in the open lands. The three remaining boas—species of Cora//us—are very sharply marked off from the preceding forms, by the deep labial pits, which are distinguishable at a glance. The most striking of the three is the green tree boa (C. caninum) which, as in the case of young anacondas, frequents the low bushy growths by the riverside, on which, owing to their colour, it is very difficult to dete& them. | The prevailing green colour of the back is varied by a series of white mosaic mottlings arranged transverse to the body, giving to the species a very charaé€teristic appearance. In young specimens, at any rate, the colour seems to be very variable, the green often giving place to bright red, the white mosaic being the same. In the writer’s experience, no small green specimens have ever been met with in the colony, while young red ones are fairly common. On the other hand, no large red indi- viduals have ever been seen, only the green ones, In preserved specimens, in which the tints have been more or less lost, the red and green examples are almost in- distinguishable; but while the red colour is quickly des- troyed and the specimen becomes quite pale, the green lasts quite brightly for a very long time, more especially in spirits. In life, however, the difference in colour is most remarkable. Throughout the colony generally this form is often confounded with the green labarria, the enlarged anterior maxillary teeth being mistaken by the ignorant for poison fangs. The struétural differences, however, are very great, while the very noticeable white markings along 312 TIMEHRI. the back will at once distinguish this non-venomous species from the Crotaline form. Among the Carib tribes this snake is known by the name Wy-o-pomoi. It is termed by them a “ bad” snake, and possibly this refers to the severe gashes which it can infli€t with its long teeth. : The two remaining species of Corallus very closely resemble each other in their general form. They are elongated and slender, much more so than the other boas, and the neck.is sharply constri¢ted giving a tri- angular shape to the head. The body is marked by alternating series of transversely elongated, dark brown or purplish blotches, often enclosing paler spaces ; and on each side of the head, behind the eye, is an oblique dark-brown streak. y In the commoner species (C. hortulanum), the ground colour is a pale brownish-grey, and the head is marked by a dark streak in the middle, and by two at the sides, One passing along each eye; while the blotches along the body are sub-rhomboidal and more or less clearly defined from each other, In the other species (C, cookzz), the ground colour is much more yellowish; the head is more irregularly mottled or marbled, and the Llotches on the body are much more variable, being less distinétly defined and separated. Size for size, too, the scales are less nume- rous than in the former species. In their general colouring both these snakes are very much like the venomous labarria, and in faét are often mistaken for it by colonists generally, the elongated anterior teeth being confounded with true poison fangs. Time after time, the commoner species has been ,¥ OOO THE BOA-CONSTRICTORS. 313 brought to the Museum under the name of the venomous crotaline snakes, even the native Caribs being deceived by their appearance. They are both terrestrial and arboreal, and are most frequently met with on the low stumps or the fallen trunks of trees, close to the riverside. In their move- ments they are the most rapid of all the boas, and they seem to be much less sluggish then their congeners, The ’ commoner species has frequently been kept in the Museum cages, but without exception they have remained wild and untamed, if one may use the expression—in marked con- trast to the other boas which under ordinary conditions can be handled with impunity. Among my Books. By $. G. Cruickshank. I find my joy and my solace in literature. There is no gladness that his cannot increase, no sorrow that it cannot lessen. Puiny’s LETTERS. “ P 10 Logs Purpleheart = 645 cubic feet. 2 H® 4+) 43) Hloobaballi>);==, 249 oe # w 2 , Wamara == iF 26 ee al Kirit® 445.) eabukalla f=. 286 a 21 Logs Total 1197 = These measurement accounts were received from the Dock Co. on the 21st inst. We have inspeéted the goods and report as follows :-— 10 Logs Purpleheart.—These are a very fair lot, but some of them should have been made more square. Two of the longest logs are nearly round at the small end. We have sold the 10 logs at 3/6 c. ft., landed terms as per contract enclosed. 11 Logs various Woods.—These are not very favour- able specimens, most of the logs are nearly round, in- stead of being made square, and all have a great amount of sap wood, which should be hewn off. We have shewn REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. RA" these logs to some of our buyers, but none of them care . to make an offer at present, as they do not see what the wood can be used for. None of these woods appear to be similar to the samples our buyers suggested should be sent, but we will do our best to dispose of them, Yours very truly, FOY, MORGAN & CO. The Secretary said that this sale would probably pay the cost of all the timbers. Mr. L. M. Hill said he was sorry to see the remark about the squaring of the timber, but it agreed with his experience of the carelessness of the woodcutters of to- day. Mr. W. Cunningham said that in reporting on these timbers before shipment he had said that the squaring was not very good, but as the logs fairly represented what they were prepared to supply he allowed them to pass. | In reference to the inlaid tables, which were before the meeting, the Secretary reported that after the ad- verse report of Messrs. Foy, Morgan & Co. the Dire€tors had got them returned through Mr. Nevile Lubbock, the Resident Direétor in London. Mr. Cunningham had seen the tables unpacked and had sent the following letter :— Georgetown, Demerara, 14th O€tober, 1897. Thomas Daly, Esqr., Hon. Seéty., R. A. & C. Society. Sir,—In accordance with the request contained in yours of the 12th inst., I inspected the two tables returned from Messrs. Foy, Morgan & Co., and I am pleased to say that they appear to be in fair order with the exception of a little shrinkage, which caused the centres to bulge YY 348 TIMEHRI. out which any cabinet maker could have put right in an hour or two, we found the screws and turnings of these tables tied up as we sent them, and it is our opinion that these parties never took the trouble to set up the tables, so could form no correét idea of what the tables were. The tables are herewith sent back and members may judge for themselves as to the truth of the statements made. We certainly think for the good name of the workmen of this Colony they should be refuted by the Society. I am, &c., WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM. The Secretary said the tables, which cost $7000, were now left on their hands. Mr. W. Cunningham said he did not think the Society would lose anything by them. He would be willing to sell them for the Society if they wished ; he was certain he could find a market for them. It was decided to let them remain in the Rooms for a time, when, after consideration, the Direétors might take advantage of Mr. Cunningham’s offer. The thanks of the Society were accorded for the fol- jowing donations :— To the Library—from Dr. Jos. Simms, Physiognomy Illustrated ; from Albert M. Kerr, Photo of Society’s Buildings. The meeting then terminated. — Meeting held November 11th.—Professor J. B. Harri- son, M.A., &c., President in the Chair, Members present 8, ReporT OF SOCcIETY’s MEETINGS. 349 Eleétion.—Associate: Mr, A. A. Cummings. The following report of the Committee of Correspon- dence was read and adopted :— : The Museum, November 11, 1897, R. T. A. Daly, Esq,, Hon. Seéty., R. A. & C. Society. Sir,—I have the honour by direétion of the Committee of Correspondence to forward herewith a report on the Horticultural and Poultry Show, 1897, for the infor- mation of the Society. The Committee regret that, owing to unavoidable circumstances, the report has been so long delayed. I have, &c, J..J.. QUELCH, Hon. Secretary. REPORT ON THE HORTICULTURAL SHOW, 1897. The Committee have the honour to report that the Horticultural and Poultry Show, held on the gth and toth September, was a pronounccd success both as re- gards thenumber of exhibits, and the general attendance of visitors; and from an exhibition point of view, the arrangements worked much more smoothly and efficiently than in previous shows. The adoption of the various suggestions made by last year’s Committee contributed a good deal to this end; and there can be no doubt that the experience gained each year tends largely to promote the efficiency of succeeding ventures. The most striking feature of the exhibition was un- doubtedly the great preponderance of the artisan exhi- ¥¥2 486 TiMEHRI. bits, more especially in the classes of Fruits, Vegetables and Economic Produéts. The artisan exhibitors not only took full advantage of the sections reserved for them, but contributed the great bulk of the exhibits in the open seétions, and carried off the greater number of | prizes. The Society thus has the satisfa€tion of know- ing that these Shows are benefiting the very class aimed at, and that year by year a wider interest is being aroused among the people. The addresses given by various. members of the Committee in the village distri€ts, to make known the obje€ts, and to explain the various con- ditions of the Show, have tended largely to popularise it, and its advantages are being more clearly recognised. It is worthy of remark that a very large proportion of the exhibits came from the West Bank, Demerara, the villages along Canals No. 1 and No. 2, Stanley Town, and Bagotville, and Good Intent and Sisters, being far ahead of any others in the Colony. The East Bank, and the East Coast, Demerara, particularly Golden Grove and Buxton, were also fairly represented. It is to be regretted, however, that many large distriéts: within convenient reach of town were almost entirely unrepresented, in spite of the facilities so kindly given by the Directors of the railway and the Sproston Dock and Foundry Company, in the free carriage of exhibits to and from all their stations. It is pleasing to note that the great increase in the, number of exhibits shewn in 1896 has been well main- tained in 1897. A comparison of the returns for the five years 1893-1897, in the various classes, very clearly illus- trates the growth of the Shows, as may be seen from the following table ; Report OF Society's MEETINGS, 48. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. Class A. Plants ee ROT Hil OS! h. 835, .5:3904 5572 95 a sEONVEES); CLG? 039 5-47 2/45... 69.147 Pan Cote hast oes 74.6 168),.105), 271.541 sige WeSetaUNes. 4065580 wi 7A uuh2 54-27 Es) 552 » E. Econ. Produé&ts — 84 71 298 479 s, . tay Miseellaneous... 5: 17) | 12.;4 30 7 » G.. Poultry we = 42, G6 87 Totals «+» 235 596 535 1,425 2,086 To still further illustrate the difference in the amount of material which has now to be entered, arranged and judged, in comparison with earlier Shows, it is sufficient to point out that the exhibits in each of the two classes of Fruits and Vegetables, in 1897, more than exceeded the total number of the whole Show two years ago. - The entries under different heads were in many cases very numerous, there being for instance 123 under sweet and bitter cassava, 97 for starches, and 76 for limes. In the great classes of fruit, vegetables and | economic produéts, the chief competition took place under bananas, pines, guavas, sweet and seville oranges, pomalloes, limes, shaddocks, cocoanuts, plantains, yams, sweet and bitter cassaya, tannias, ochroes, peppers, cornmeal, plantain meal, cassava meal and starches there being little—in some cases none—under pumpkins, cucumbers, vegetable marrow, radishes, lettuce, celery salads, cabbage, watercress, shallots, citrons, grapes, melons, custard apples, star-apples, cocoa, kola, rice, Liberian coffee, vanilla, tobacco, black pepper, pimento, ginger, chutnee, bees wax and crushed feed. Under a tew heads, such as grapes, chutnee and crushed feed, there was,not even a single entry. 352 TIMEHRI. By the adoption this year of the principle of a larger number of smaller prizes, and of extra prizes, even of small value, much greater satisfa€tion has been caused, more especially where, owing to numerous entries, many exhibits were deserving of recognition over and above the number specified in the prize-list. As will be seen from the detailed statement attached, 274 persons took prizes, varying in amount from one shilling to one hun- dred and six shillings, the aggregate being $546 96, thus considerably exceeding the Government vote. The opening of the Show for a second day, at a lower rate, proved to be a great success ; and in faét the gate- money thus gained becomes a necessity for the defrayal of the increased expenditure due to the extension of the Show, The Government vote remains stationary; the prize-list steadily increases ; and the expenses of running the Show are very considerably increased, year by year, owing to the larger number of exhibits. It is to be noted that owing to this additional gate-money, but a small part ($78 23) of the $300—guaranteed by the Society, has been required, in spite of the faét that the prize-list had been extended on the strength of this guarantee, and that forty-eight wire coops with fittings for poultry, and a large amount of extra material for sheds, and other fittings, had to be provided, all of which remain as assets of the Committee. Experience of the last two Shows makes it advisable to limit the times for the making of entries. In the earlier exhibitions when there was but a comparatively small number of exhibits, it was possible to receive en- tries even on the day of the Show; this year the time for entries was closed the day before ; but for the proper REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 353 accommodation, arrangement and judging of the large mass of material now exhibited, it is desirable that still further limitation be made, the day before being reserved purely for the receipt and arrangement of exhibits. Interesting non-competitive features of this year’s Show, were the excellent floral and decorative, exhibits of the Ice Fa€tory, and the pottery making, with the potter’s wheel, of the Vreed-en-Rust Pottery works, Demerara River—both of which attraéted very great attention. Special mention must here be made, too, of the orna- mental and economic exhibit of the Botanic Gardens, designed as an objeét lesson for the proper staging of plants for show purposes—an exhibit that not only at- traéted a great deal of attention, but was calculated to be of considerable public benefit. The Committee beg to express their appreciation of the kindness of His Excellency the Governor in opening the Show, and in lending the Government House Marquee as a Committee’s tent. They are glad to report also that the services of the Police were obtained free during the time when the grounds were opened to the public, and that the Militia Band was allowed to play on the after- noon of the first day, both of which caused a consider- able saving of expenditure to tbe Committee. The very efficient service ot the Police, not only in the keeping of order, but in the guarding of the exhibits, both by day and night, throughout the whole time of the Show, is - worthy of special mention. The Committee would make acknowledgment to the Mayor and Town Council for permission to use the Promenade Gardens; to the Dire@tors of the Railway for ‘354 TIMHERI. free carriage of exhibits to and from all their stations, for granting cheap return tickets on both days, for running a special evening train on the first day, and for the loan of tarpaulins; to the Sproston Dock and Foundry Com- pany for free carriage of exhibits and for the running of a late ferry steamer on the first day; and to Messrs. Booker Bros. for the loan of tarpaulins—all of which so largely conduced to the success of the Show. The Committee desire to record the giving of special prizes by Prof. I. B. Harrison, the President of the Society, five dollars being offered for the best colleétive artisan exhibits from Berbice, East Demerara, West Demerara and Essequebo ; also of the receipt of $2,16 from Mrs. Seedorff, being half-prize money returned to the Committee for the encouragement of artisan exhi- bitors. The Committee were largely indebted to the Press for many free notices of the Show, which helped to keep it constantly before the public ; and also to many persons, in the country distriéts especially, who worked to promote a healthy interest in these annual exhibitions. Special thanks, indeed, are due to Mr. H. J. Gladwin of the East Coast, who undertook all the duties of local Secretary in that distriét, and thus materially lightened the work of the general Secretary. The following gentlemen kindly aéted as Judges of the various ‘Classes ; Mr. G, S. Jenman and Mr. R. Ward for Classes A and B; Mr. A. R. Gilzean and Mr. J, Rodway for Class C; Mr. John Junor and Mr. W. T. Binnie for Class D; Hon. B. Howell Jones and Prof, J. B. Harrison for Classes E and F; and Mr, G. B. Steele for Class G. The Committee as a body aéted as Judges REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 355 of the Botanic Gardens Exhibit, Mr. T. S. Hargreaves kindly summarising the results of the judgment. The Dinner Table Decorations were judged by ballot among the visitors who attended the Show during the first hour of opening, each being furnished with a ticket on which was to be written the number of the table that was considered the best. Special duties were undertaken by the following mem- bers of the Committee :— Mr. L. M. Hill, aSub-Committee for Sheds; Mr. S. Vyle, Sub-Committee for Illumina- tions; Dr. Ford and Mr. Gilzean for Refreshments; Mr. fE. D. Mackay and F. I. Scard for Gates and Admis- sions; Mr. S. M. Bellairs, Mr. J. B. Woolford and Rev. D. J. Reynolds in charge of No. 2 Tent; and Mr. T. S. Hargreaves in charge of the Committee’s Tent. Several suggestions have been made by various mem- bers of the Committee for the further improvement of the Horticultural Shows; and these have been recorded in the minutes of the Committee for consideration next year; but in view of the pronounced success of these exhibitions, and their public utility, and the desirability of beginning arrangements in good time, the present Committee would urge upon the Society that an early application be made to the Government for the usual grant of five hundred dollars ($500) towards the prize-list of the Show for 1808. Reports by the various Judges on the different classes of the Exhibition, together with a statement of expendi- ture, are herewith attached for the information of the Society. j. J. QUELCH, _ Hon. Seéty. of the Committee of Correspondence. ZZ 356 TIMEHRI. REPORT ON THE RECENT HORTICULTURAL SHOW, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF FUTURE SHOWS, BY G. S. JENMAN, F.L.S. Except for the overcrowding of exhibits, which occurred in the Economic Division, of which I shall speak pre- sently, the arrangements provided for the Horticultural and Poultry Show, | think, were as convenient and accom- modating to the several and varying needs of the Exhi- bition as the circumstances and conditions required, leaving very little, and this in minor details only, that one could suggest in the way of criticism for improve- ments in the future. The plant and flower shed was large enough for the purpose,—for the large plants of crotons, palms &c., shown every year, are seen to much greater advantage arranged on the turf around the outside of the building, which they set off and give a necessary finish to, than they would be inside the building. The whole of the inside should be kept, as now, exclusively for flowers, ferns, orchids and other of the smaller sized subjects ex- hibited. One small improvement that would entail no extra expense, which I mentioned last year, is very neces- sary in the accommodation of the plants and flowers inside ; that is that the staging be considerably lowered. The steps of the staging arising from the benches should not be more than a few inches above each other. This would allow the plants or flowers to be seen to the best advantage, while the pots, tubs, buckets, &c., would be almost concealed. No other system of staging could be adapted so adopted to make everything so unsightly as the present one, under which all the varying kinds of vessels used are exposed to full view, standing in isolated : : : , 1 : ; ‘ ’ | ll se Report oF Society’s MEETINGS. 387 lines, away up above and clear of each other, with the evening sun shining through the open spaces between them, revealing their heterogeneous charaéter and naked outlines. As to the quality of the material exhibited at the past Show—there was much difference and variety in worth, a small minority of the exhibits being good, evidencing care and interest on the part of the exhi- bitors in their cultivation and form of presentation, Where these instances can be singled out, higher prizes might be given them, as a recognition of their merits, and the interest taken by the cultivators in their growth _&c, The great bulk of the stuff, however was poor, much of it not fit for room on the benches and tables, and clearly indicating that it had not been cultivated at all, but just left to nature to grow, to be used for show purposes when required. From this point of view, and to encourage the good exhibits and discourage the poor and worthless, I would, using reasonable con- sideration of course, recommend a stringent curtailment of the liberality with which prizes are now given. My opinion is that this generosity does not encourage the 'exhibitor to grow or prepare better stuff, but the very reverse of it—it induces him to take little or no trouble at all, believing that whatever he may put on the table the chances are it will secure him a prize. In the observance of rules for the guidance of exhi- bitors an initial step in advance was made this year, in the passing over without comment certain exhibits which failed to conform to the conditions laid down in the prize list of the charaéter and limits of size of the vessels used for the plants shown in particular groups or single plants, ] am confident this firmness had a salutary effect on the 644 868 TIMEHRI. exhibitors, who thus failed, after all their trouble, to have the merits of their exhibits judged. This good educational beginning should be maintained, for it will make intending exhibitors much more careful than they appear to be now in reading their catalogue, and atten- tive to the disqualifications for non-conformity with the conditions (of all kinds) in cases where conditions are prescribed. Besides not giving prizes to inferior mate- rial, that which is obviously bad, all plants lifted from the ground for the occasion, should be rejeéted at the staging, and removal from the Exhibition grounds in- sisted on. These disciplinary aids in the education of exhibitors, or would-be exhibitors, would I think in time have a beneficial effe€t, and, once they got to realise the absolute necessity of conformity, the rules would be care- fully observed by them. The Artisans’ and Labourers’ exhibits, taken on the whole, were commendable, leaving, however, much room for the improvement which we may fairly hope the experience of this year’s Show will bring. Some of the exhibitors entitled to exhibit in the Artisans’ and Labourers’ classes did not do so, but showed only with the Amateur exhibitors, thus losing the double chance they had of exhibiting in both, to which privilege their attention was specially called in the Rules on the back page of the Prize List, But this may have been due to their want of sufficient material to show in both seCtions. Among the Crotons exhibited in the Artisans’ and Labourers’ classes there were some groups of very good stuff, nice dwarf well-grown plants, showing on the part of the owners a good perception of the points re- quired in a prize plant, taste in variety, appreciation of rarity, and evidence of good cultural skill. Needless to hin Report of Society's MEETINGS. 389 say these plants took the prizes. The arrangements were somewhat complicated in having two sets of exhibits, one from Artisans and Labourers only, and the other from Amateurs, in which the Artisans and Labourers were also allowed to compete, of which liberty, as just said, but few availed themselves. It has been mentioned that some of the Artisan and Labourer exhibitors failed to take advantage of their double opportunity, and in prac- tice it seemed, while giving extra trouble in arranging and judging, no benefit was evident from the distin€tion; | for it appeared that few possessed the material to com- pete in both classes, while the Artisans and Labourers manifested that they could hold their own against the Amateurs, easily, in the latter’s own classes. Therefore, in future Shows, I think this dual arrangement might, with advantage to exhibitors and judges alike, be dropped. Besides, except in the Plants, Flower and Poultry Classes, Amateur competitors are ngcessarily very tew, The only loss arising would be a few prizes the less in cases where exhibits are now duplicated for the two classes of exhibi- tors, However, speaking of the plants and flowers, thanks to the admirable care and forethought of the Secretary, who had arranged the two divisions separately, though unavoidably’ in and out together in some groups, the judging was easy, enabling it to be expeditiously per- formed. A novel arrangement this year was adopted in judging the ladies’ dinner-table floral decorations by a plebiscite of all the visitors entering the grounds during the first hour in the evening after the ele€tric light was turned on in the sheds. In the shed devoted to Fruit, Vegetables, Economic Produéts, Miscellaneous, Poultry and Bees, the great 460 TimBukt. variety and plethora of material caused a good deal of embarrassment in getting it all into order. The faé&t is the shed was only about half large enough to hold all the stuff, and allow at the same time elbow room for working. This shed had really only sufficient accommodation for the Fruit and Vegetables, and another shed as large was required for the Economic and Miscellaneous Produéts. This further accommodation is absolutely necessary if the goods are to be shown to advantage, and would save much labour and the confusion and perplexity that now exists as the exhibits come pouring in on the heels of each other from morning till night and over a good part of the following day, taking up on the latter day the time required for making and supervising the final arrange- _ ments, before the judging begins and visitors are admitted, It would also be a very great convenience to the Judges. The inclusion of such a miscellaneous and heterogeneous gnantity of stuff, huddled together on the same benches, often one thing over another, conveys only an idea of in- extricable confusion, though one may know full well at the same time that this is only an impression, there being order, as was the case at the past Show, thanks to the members of the Committee in charge, in the apparently helpless and hopeless confusion. With sufficient room the Economic se€tion would lend itself readily to the pre- cise and orderly arrangement and display of such material that is so charateristic of well-kept Museums in which such material is made a feature of. Had the Fruit and Vegetables been given necessary space to show each ex- hibit clearly on its own merits they would have filled the entire shed, with no room wasted. This, however, is only a suggestion for another year and another Committee to tenes te pe REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 361 consider, as its realisation is based on pounds, shillings and pence. I pass but few comments on the merits of the exhibits in this tent, as I was not officially concerned in it, and full detailed reports on the individual exhibits will be furnished to the Committee by the Judges of the respeétive Classes. There is one remark, however, that I may venture on without trenching on this duty of the Judges, and that is, how much the people have to learn of the great extent a sample gains in not only popular but commercial estimation and appreciation by attention toits sele€tion, get-up and finish in preparing it for show, , or market. There were samples in the Economic Classes of excellent quality, which if put on the market in the state they were shown would have realised only about half their intrinsic value owing to this negle& of atten- tion to the details of general and uniform preparation and finish. In fa& this negle€t was so general that there were few samples exhibited on which a demonstration of what they might and ought to have been like could not have been given there and then. There were a few, how- ever, well sampled and prepared, that would compare favourably with the best exhibited at any of the Shows held during recent years. Of presenting the more rapidly perishable kitchen-garden vegetables, such as salad, seasoning (pot herbs) and culinary material generally, displayed in suitable vessels harmonizing one withanother, it might be in contrast, in water, none of the exhibitors seemed to have had the slightest idea. This, as on all previous occasions, was one of the weak points in the vegetable exhibits. Now, after the very considerable labour and sacrifice of time and personal interests of the Secretary and 362 TIMHERI. two or three of his coadjutors on the Committee in going about through the rural distri€éts speaking and le&turing to the people on the subjeét, the question may be reasonably asked ; “ Was there any marked improve- ment in the Exhibition this year over previous years ?” This I fear must be answered in the negative, though there was a vast increase in the number of entries and of stuff sent to the Show. All that can be said, as men- tioned before, is that there were some good exhibits, but not a larger number proportionately—less I think—than at previous Shows. The evidence of steady advance from year to year, it may be said, should be the crucial test of the utility of these annual Exhibitions, but clearly the Georgetown public hold that it is not the only one that should be regarded ; for, year by year, though the quality of the shows may not have improved as much as was hoped for at first, they have grown by leaps in attra€tion, popularity and general esteem, the very great attendance this year attesting this beyond question. The accommodation for the Poultry &c., though not all that a home fancier might desire and insist on, was greatly improved this year, really, indeed, revolutionised. At a very considerable expense on the part of the Com- mittee, through the good offices of one of the members, galvanised wire pens were provided for each exhibit, and a wide bench to stand them on. Unfortunately, just at the last, when everything had been settled, a lot of entries were made, when the accommodation had already been exhausted. This caused much crowding and in- convenience, and as a consequence, some of the coops had to stand on the ground. Shading from the early morning sun was at first forgotten, but this Mr. Quelch REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 263 promptly provided, himself, much to the relief and com- fort of the birds, as soon as he noticed it. I mention this incident only as evidencing the forethought and alertness of mind required of any one undertaking the responsi- bility of running a successful Exhibition. Without saying anything on the general merits of the ‘Birds, I am at liberty to mention that the Show drew two delightful surprises to itself in the form of a pair each of wild geese and ducks, The former were exhibited by Mr. M. L. Da Costa. The species is known as the “ Oronoque Goose,” though those at the Show were labelled and judged as “ Vicissi ducks,” and as such took the first prize. They are very beautiful, rare, and highly inter- esting creatures, and very difficult to procure by resi- dents in this colony. The other wild species is known as the “ Bahama Duck” and was shown by Dr. Reid. It resembles in size and features the common lowlands Vicissi of this colony, but with the under half of the face white, Unfortunately one of this pair died at the Show. These two exhibits of rare wild birds added greatly to the interest of the “ Poultry” section. There were, I should mention, two or three pens of the com- mon and often semi-domesticated lowlands Vicissi duck, with, of course, other pens of both of the really domes- ticated ducks, the English and the Muscovy, To close this very limited survey, which has touched only on points here and there, a word of regret must be expressed. After the great. expense incurred by the Committee in advertising the Show, by posters, pam- phlets, prize lists, &c., from end to end of the land, large distri€ts of the colony took no notice, and contributed nothing. Some few cultivators in the villages took an 34 264 TIMHERI. interest in contributing, but they were not numerous, the bulk of the exhibits from the rural distri€ts coming from the peasantry, (who bestirred themselves heartily in the matter,) resident on the Canals No.1 and 2. This seems to show a great deal of apathy among the general popu- lation ; and that yet greater efforts require to be made to move their inertness. One does not forget of course that the more distant peasant cultivators reside from Georgetown the more difficult it is to get their produce to the Exhibition without local agencies, which, in one case at least, on the East Coast, Demerara, Mr. Quelch succeeded in securing through the ready co-operation of Mr. H. J. Gladwin—a gentleman resident among the villagers. It is still more regrettable that the owners and cultivators of more or less large estates under econo- mic produéts other than sugar, almost as a body abstained from contributing. Two or three spirited gentlemen took an interest, and contributed, but the majority took no heed, missing the opportunity thereby of picking up what might perhaps be valuable ideas in seeing the results of each other’s work and the measure of success achieved by each, in different ways possibly, in the subjects of com- mon cultivation. G. S. JENMAN. REPORT ON CLASS C. Georgetown, Sept. 13th, 1897. J. J. Quelch, Esq., Secretary, Horticultural Show. j Dear Sir,—In compliance with your request for a ; report on the Class of the recent Show in which we ¥ Report of Society’s MEETINGS. 365 ated as Judges (C. Fruit), we have the honour to tender the following :— Bananas.—In the se€tion for 3 bunches, different kinds, there were only four exhibits, and these not so good as ‘we have seen, but that for one bunch was better, with 16 exhibits, those to which the prizes were awarded being very fine. Pine Apples.—There were 11 exhibits, and the prize winners were very good. “fangoes—The colleétions of three kinds were very poor and none worthy of the first .prize ; one was dis- qualified from being wrongly entered. The baskets of one kind were better, but as mangoes are not now in season, we cannot expect anything very grand in the way of a competition. Mammee-Apples.—There was a good show of 13 exhibits. Sapodillas—Some very fine samples were shewn and it was difficult to award the prizes, Star Apples.—Only one exhibit of the purple variety was shewn, and this not so good as we have seen. Sour-Sops.—Two exhibits, fair quality. Sugar-A pples—Three exhibits, good. No Custard- Apples. Granadillas.—Seven exhibits, good. Simitoes.—Six exhibits, rather poor. Bell-Apples.—Two exhibits, fair. Guavas.—In the se€tion for two varieties there were g exhibits and in that for one, 21 baskets. The samples were generally good. Avocado Pears.—Six exhibits, good. Melons.—As usual these were not numerous, (three. 342 366. | ‘Timeukt. each of the two varieties) but they were good, and the 1st prize Musk Melon a fine fruit. There were no grapes, and we notice that at former Shows only one or two bunches have been shewn, which goes to prove that they are out of season at this time. Oranges,—These exhibits, together with others of the orange family, were the most difficult in the whole class. There were 46 samples of sweet oranges, 22 Seville, and 5 Tangerine, nearly all of which were good of their kind. In judging these as well as shaddocks, limes, &c., we took into account thinness of skin, absence of pith, amount of juice, and flavour. Some of the oranges were very good indeed, the prize-winners standing the tests well in every respe&t. We should recommend that, in view of the fa€t that at some future period a fruit trade will probably be done with the United States, some of the best marketable varieties be introduced. Forbidden Fruit and Shaddocks,—Some of these.were very dry and pithy, one sample shewing at least two- thirds skin and cellular tissue. It appears as. if. size alone were taken into account in some cases, which is certainly undesirable. | Citrons.—-There were only four exhibits, and as these are grown for their rind rather than pulp the size was. considered of more importance than in the other mem- bers of the orange family, The prize winners were good. Lemons and Limes.—Like the oranges, these were difficult to judge; there were 14 exhibits of the former and 35 of the latter. The prize winners were excellent, thin-skinned and very juicy. We should advise exhibi- tors in future to take these charaéters into considera- tion, for a big lime with a thick wrinkled skin, that on Report of Society's MeeTiNds.’ 369 squeezing hardly allows a drop of juice to ooze out, is absolutely useless. Cocoanuts.—A very fine colle&tion difficult to, judge. Some very large nuts with thick fleshy kernels were.con- sidered the best. Fruit, other kinds.—Exhibits of figs, golden-apples, so-called psidium cherries (Flacourtia) Mandarin oranges, Otaheite gooseberries, and ground nuts were awarded prizes. The last were thought worthy of commendation, as an experiment, which we hope will lead to large culti- vation on some of our sandy soils, where alone the nut. would be likely to flourish, In the se&tion for artisans and labourers the exhibits of fruit were on the whole very good. The baskets of mixed fruit, however, were hardly as good.as might be expected, and would have been better for a little tasteful. arrangement. A. R. GILZEAN, J. RODWAY. REPORT ON CLASS D, VEGETABLES, The various vegetables cultivated in the Colony were. fairly represented, but the quality was far below the exhi- bits of former Horticultural Shows. The cause forcibly impressed on the Judges was defec- tive tillage, want of careful supervision while the plants were in progress of growth, and a limited supply. of manure. In the working of future Shows it will be,a, useful. innovation for exhibitors to attach the local name to each variety, such as. butter stick cassava, barooma plantain, to which experts would attach the Botanic and correét, 368 TIMEHRI. common names. If this were done it would not only centre the interest of the visitors, but initiate a fixed nomenclature to be applied to all vegetables cultivated in British Guiana. The utility of the Agricultural or Horticultural Exhi- bitions is to give him an opportunity of observing the qualities of the various varieties of each species. By taking the prize variety as the standard, and criti- cally studying the other varieties of the same species, the agriculturist may then determine how he may adopt measures to enable him to cultivate and reap in a profi- table way a whole crop equal to, or better than, the prize exhibit. By this means an acre so cultivated will give a better return in money if the price is low than an inferior crop at high price. One variety of bitter cassava is said to give more starch, pound for pound of raw roots, when manufactured, than other varieties. This being the case, the planter has to discover by experiment if this particular variety, when planted on the soil he occupies, will produce more starch from a whole acre, or bed, than the other varieties ; these others might turn out a much greater weight of roots per acre than this particular variety mentioned above and thereby overtop the yield of starch per acre or bed. We may add that the variety must be chosen to suit the kind of soil, whether the vegetable be cultivated for the root, fruit, or leaves. . There is a very exhaustive paper on the plantain in in the Kew Bulletin of August 1894, which is worthy of being read, REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 369 Plantains were of medium quality and size, and the prizes were awarded to the best varieties. Roots were generally inferior, there being more diffi- culty in deciding what was worthy of an award than what was not. Pumpkins were without exception inferior to the two previous Exhibitions, both in quality and number. Corn; most of the exhibits were badly grown, and some not ripe; the basket awarded the first prize was well grown and ripe, Herbs should be represented by a bunch of each herb, and not a bunch of one sprig of each herb. Ochroes were fairly well represented ; awards were given to those in best condition for culinary purposes. Papaws, for preserving, were really good, two exhibits being fine and superb. Peppers were well represented. The exhikits of Beans were the poorest possible. Cab- bage and Lettuce were equally so, We must here em- phasize the want of care and manure evidenced by eacb sample. We may here observe that it is necessary for the purpose of obtaining good heads of Cabbage and Lettuce to place an awning of Palm leaves, 3 feet above the plants, from 9g a.m. till 4 p.m., the plants will then get the benefit of the dew during the night and be pro- te€ted from the scorching sun by day. With the exception of the Tomatoes that obtained first prize, the samples evidently were deteriorated by having grown from bad seed. It is well known that seeds reaped and sown in the same soil year after year become deteriorated in size and quality and deformed in shape, Cucumbers and Indian Corn suffer from the "370 TIMEHRI. same cause. To plant Corn in pegass soil the seed should have been grown on sandy loam or clay soil. If occupiers of land who cultivate vegetables will attend to the above by obtaining suitable seeds and plants, and suitable to the soil intended to be planted, and devote careful ingenuity to the maturing of the plants, they will be able to produce exhibits worthy to compete successfully with those forwarded by the most experienced planter or gardener. We desire to thank the gentlemen who carried out the arrangements, for the efficient manner in which the ex- hibits were placed for inspe€tion and the considerate attention bestowed by Mr, Quelch. W. T. BINNIE, JOHN JUNOR, Judges of Class D. THE BOTANIC GARDENS EXHIBIT. Having been deputed by the members of the Com- mittee of Correspondence to report on the Botanic Gar- dens Exhibit at the recent Horticultural Show, I beg to submit the following :— The exhibit was not for competition but intended solely as a display of how plants are staged at Shows at home, and the uniformity required there in the character of the pots or other receptacles used in showing plants at Exhibitions. Half the bench on one side ,of the plant house was devoted by the Committee to the display. This com- prised a superficial area of 180 square feet, which space, however, though an extension of the area allowed at the previous Show, proved again too limited for the satisfac- a a) - Leal REPORT OF SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 371 tory display of the exhibit. The plants were arranged in a dozen or more groups, partly based on their natural affinities, and partly on their economic uses and qualities. Several groups were composed of subjeéts in which ornamental foliage and flowers were combined; other groups again simply for their foliage or flowers alone. The former were chiefly Aroids; some with strikingly handsome foliage, and nearly all with very curious, at- tractively coloured and often grotesque inflorescences, which differing much in particular wereall muchofthesame form and general charaéter. Other groups of ornamental foliage plants, well seleéted for variety, were begonias, (some in flower), marantas and calatheas, crotons, dra- czenas, ferns and selaginellas, palms, Aralias, &c. A defe& in the exhibit as a whole was the lack of the varied light colour afforded by bright flowering plants—such colour as dominates and gives the chief charaéter to Flower Shows as well as gardens at home ; but Shows in tropical lands necessarily partake of the character of the gardens, meadows and forests of such lands, which are rich in leaf colour, but, with few marked exceptions, poor in flower display at any time of the year. There were several sets of economic plants, grouped according to their kinds, but not very effective, as the plants had of necessity, through the exigencies of space, to be se- le€ted for smallness of size rathet than for good cultural appearance. These plants, however, are familiar to visitors resident in the tropics and if ever so well staged would not create the interest they do in hot houses and at Shows at home, and perhaps the extra space, which the more showy plants require for their better display, could be secured by dispensing with these, without any notice- 3B 372 TIMEHRI. able loss to the general effe€tiveness of the exhibit. The colleétion attra€ted much attention from visitors inter- ested in pot plant culture, Each group had a conspicu- ously placed printed ticket describing its charaéter, and each plant its botanical name attached. T, SYDNEY HARGREAVES, Vice-Chairman, Committee of Correspondence. REPORT OF THE JUDGES IN CLASSES E AND F. As in the preceding year, a great increase in the Class E had taken place, but this increase, we regret to say, was almost entirely confined to this point, little or no improvement being noticeable in the qualities of the articles exhibited. CLass E.—ECONOMIC PRODUCTS. Section 1.—Open to Amateur Exhibitors. — 125. Coffee, cleaned.—-There were thirteen entries for this article. The exhibit was not up to the standard of the preceding year either as regards colour or cleaning. A good sample of peaberry coffee was sent which received the first prize. We would again impress upon cultivators that it is pra€tically useless to produce other than high grade coffee for export purposes, and that for this, coffee must be of good colour, perfe€tly clean and even in size of the bean, and that the presence of broken beans must be avoided. 126, Liberian Coffee.—Only three exhibitors com-. peted. A sample from the Onderneeming Reformatory was far in advance of the others in every way, it was of fair colour, excellently cleaned and even in charaéter. 127. Cacao Beans, cured.—Six competitors only, The exhibit was if anything inferior to that of 1896. The Report of SocietTy’s MEETINGS. 373 first prize was awarded to a well cleaned bean of excel- lent flavour and of good colour. 128. Kola.—Pra€tically nocompetition, the only sample sent was not thought worthy of a prize as it was too dark in colour and appeared to have been scorched during drying. | 429. Rice.—Only five samples were exhibited, no one of them of marked merit. The exhibit this year struck us as being far inferior to that of 1896. 130. Cornmeal.—Twenty one exhibitors competed, and several of the exhibits were of great merit, that to which the first prize was awarded, being excellent in colour, flavour and fineness. 131. Plantain Meal,—Forty four samples competed, several of the samples being of excellent quality and possessing an inviting pale cream colour. Few of the samples showed to any marked degree the obje€tionable grey colour to which we alluded in our remarks last year. 132. Cassava Meal Farine —Fifty three competitors entered for this, and a very excellent show of exhibits was the result. The first prize was awarded to a sample of excellent colour and flavour, and uniform in grain. Many other samples closely approached it in these par- ticulars, and we, in consequence, awarded several extra prizes. 133. Arrowroot.—Ten competitors; several excellent samples were shown. 134. Tapioca.—Three samples were exhibited, two which received the first and second prizes being of very good quality. 135. Tous les Mots.—Two exhibits only, neither of any marked merit. 3B2 374 TIMHERI. = 136. Other Starches.—Forty two competitors, many of whom sent exhibits of high quality. Several extra prizes were awarded in this se€tion. 137. Vanilla.w—Two samples only, neither of very good quality. . 138. Honey.—Seven samples were exhibited, one only possessed any merit. 139. Tobacco, cured.—One sample only exhibited which was of fair quality. 140. Cayenne Pepper.—Eight competitors; the sam- ples showed much variation in colour and aroma. Those prized struck us as being of high quality. 141. Guinea Peppers, dried.—Eight samples were exhibited and several of them appeared to be of high merit, 142. Black Pepper.—Two samples only, the first prize being awarded to one of very fine quality. 143. Essence of Pepper.—Four exhibits. That to which the first prize was awarded was of pleasing colour and aroma. 144. Pimento.—Twosamples only, of moderate quality. 145. Dried Ginger.—Three competitors exhibited, but the samples sent were not of high quality. 146. Pickles.—Six exhibits, generally of fair quality. 147. Hot Sauce.—Eight exhibits, none of which were of marked merit, ‘ 148. Chutnee.—No exhibits. 149. Curry Powder.—Six exhibits, That taking the first prize was of excellent colour with an exquisite flavour and marked aroma. The others were all of high merit. 150. Guava Felly.—Seventeen competitors, The exe | f Report of Society’s MeETINés. Ba8 hibits as a whole showed more merit than in the pre- ceding year, the samples prized being of very fair quality. 151. Other Fellies.—One sample only which was not prized. 152. Fams.—ITwo competitors, neither of whom sent samples deserving of a prize. 153: Marmalad?. of very good flavour and appearance. 153. Marmalade (extra).—Six samples, one of which —Guava Marmalade—was of excellent flavour, colour . Those prized were and appearance. 154. Stewed Guava.—Ten competitors, several of whom sent samples of much merit. 155. Cassareep.—Seven samples entered. Those prized were of fair, but not excellent quality. 155. Extra.—An exhibit sent as Cassareep vinegar, which called for no remarks. 156. Prepared Chocolate.—Six samples, one prize only awarded. A most disappointing exhibit as com- pared with that of 1896. 157. Bees Wax.—No exhibit. 158. Crushed Feed.—No exhibit. In conneétion with this se€tion, a colleétion of jams, jellies, etc., were sent marked as not being for compe- tition. The colle€tion, while in marked contrast as re- gards the taste shown in putting up the articles to the jams, jellies, etc., exhibited in the se€tion, was, in our opinion, very judiciously labelled as not for competition, for in almost every instance the flavour and quality of the articles exhibited was inferior to that of those prized by the judges. — 46 TIMEHRI Section 2.—Open to Artisans and Labourers only. 159. Preserves.—Six exhibits of, on the whole, very fair quality. 160. Fellies.—Thirteen competitors sent samples, those to which prizes were awarded being of good quality. 161. Pickles and Hot Sauce.—Nine exhibits. Weare of opinion that there was a marked improvement over those shown in 1896. With reference to the exhibits in Nos, 159 to 161 of this se€tion and also in many cases to those in Nos. 146, 147,150 to 154 of the preceding se€tion, we would call the attention of exhibitors to the fa& that the not unfrequent lack of uniformity in the bottles used and the idleness con- spicuously shown by the non-removal of old and defaced labels from them, are eyesores not only to the Judges but to visitors. These points could easily be remedied by a little care. ‘62. Coffee, cleaned.—Fifteen competitorssent samples. All shewed marks of defe@tive cleaning, and, as a rule, the colour was anything but good. 163. Coffee, Liberian.—One sample only of moderate quality. ‘64, Cacao, cured.—Three exhibitors only, none of any merit. 165. Rice-——Seven competitors, shewing excellent samples. 166. Corn.—Eighteen persons sent samples of high quality. 167. Starches.—Thirty-nine competitors contributed an excellent show of Starches, and, in consequence, several extra prizes were awarded to samples which in quality closely approached thesamples receiving the prizesoffered, REPORT OF SOCIETY’s MEETINGS. 377 168. Leaf Tobacco, cured.—One exhibit, only of very fair quality, 169. Raw Cotton.—Six samples exhibited, all of good quality. The 1st and 2nd prizes were awarded to two samples of excellent quality, long in the staple, good colour and very finely cleaned. Thirty-four exhibitors sent in samples as extras to the general list. Among these were Crab Oil, Cocoanut Oil, Preserved Tamarinds, Preserved Limes, Lime Juice, Papain, Castor Oil, Rice Paddy, Gums, etc. Several re- - ceived extra prizes for their exhibits. Such exhibits are useful not only as shewing certain of the resources of the Colony, but also as supplying suggestions for prizes to be offered at future Exhibitions. CLASS F.—MISCELLANEOUS. 170. Flower Pots —No entries. 471. Orchid Baskets.—One exhibit not prized. 72. Plant Baskets.—One exhibit to which a second prize was awarded. 173. Plant Tubs or Boxes.—No exhibits. 474. Pieces of Bamboo or Rustic Furniture.—No exhibits, no prize awarded. 175. Hive for Bees—Oneexhibit, to hel was awarded a first prize. We desire to call the attention of the Committee of Correspondence to the very unsatisfa€tory nature of the competitions in this class. We have noticed that year by year interest in it has steadily diminished and we venture to suggest that neither the interests of the Horti- cultural Show nor the general public would suffer by the removal of the se€tion from the prize list. We must congratulate the Royal Agricultural and 378 TIMEHRI. Commercial Society on the increased success of the sec- tion of the Show dealing with economic produéts. Our remarks of last year in the concluding paragraph of our report apply equally to the exhibits shewn this year, and we must emphasize the faét that if success is to be hoped for in meeting the critical demands of foreign markets, far more care and knowledge must be exercised in the preparation of the articles. We, at the samé time, fully recognise that this has been emphatically this year a small producers’ Show, the great majority of the larger growers refraining from exhibiting. But our small producers are faétors of great economic importance in the general welfare of the Colony, and they are the ‘people to whom it is desirable that the annual Show should appeal. For instance, in the case of Coffee, dif- ferent degrees of care in the picking, curing and cleaning will make differences of from £1 to £2 per cwt. in the selling value of the produ& in the London market, and similarly with Cacao. Possibly in certain cases this year exhibitors in this section have found reasons for question- ing the corre€tness of our adjudications, but in the cases of Cacao, Coffee and similar produéts we felt it our duty, as a rule, to lay more stress upon the preparation of the articles for market than upon properties due to cultural and soil conditions. B. HOWELL JONES, Chairman of the Agricultural Committee, Royal : Agricultural & Commercial Society. J. B. HARRISON, Government Analyst. Georgetown, Oétober, 1897. REPORT OF SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 379 CLASS G. Georgetown, September 16th, 1897. J. J. Quelch, Esqre., : Dear Sir,—I understand that a few remarks are ex- pected from me as one of the Judges at the Horticultural and Poultry Show, that took place on the oth inst. Poultry having been the Department that I had the judging of, I may say that in point of number the ex- hibits were much the same as last year, but as to the quality of the same there was a very marked improve- ment. The wire netting coops for the birds are an advance in the right dire€tion, a great improvement as to the com- fort of the birds as well as giving a better view of them tothe visitors. I think, however, that a thin board should be placed at the bottom of each cage or pen ; so allowing the feathered inmates to have a flat surface to tread on, instead of the wires of the netting, this especially in the case of web-footed birds. Again, it would be better to have the tins for water and grain fastened some 3in. up in the side of the pens, instead of on the bottom, where the birds upset the water and grain, in their attemps to scratch, ‘‘as is their nature to.” As to the prizes, I may perhaps be allowed to suggest that there seems little use in having more than three prizes, except for poultry. The money for 4th and 5th prizes might be added to the first one. In fact I think if the value of the three first prizes were increased, it might help to draw more exhibitors in poultry. lam, &c., GEO. BAGOT STEELE. 3c 380 TIMEHRI. On the motion of Mr. Thomas Daly, seconded by Archdeacon Gwyther, a vote of thanks was accorded to ' the Committee for the trouble they had taken in getting up the Horticultural Show, and for their valuable report, The Secretary reported that the Directors had received an application from Mr. Ellis Barton for the sum of £50 to enable him to perfeét an invention for the improved manufaéture of sugar; to which request they regretted they were unable to accede. The Secretary also reported that the Directors had authorised the Librarian to enforce the rules in regard to the time for keeping books, and to impose the fines for detention beyond the number of days stated in them. Mr. T. S. Hargreaves brought forward his motion for printing the proceedings of the Society, in view of the discontinuance of Zzmehrz. He had been asked the other day, he said, by a friend in London, if he was responsible for the discontinuance of the Journal. He certainly could not remember that such was the case, as all he had to do with the matter was to propose in the Committee of Correspondence, which Committee he then believed had the control of the Journal, that a Sub-Committee should be appointed to assist the editor, However, this had fallen through, and the next thing he heard was that the Directors had always had the control of the Journal, and that they had decided to discontinue it. He thought it would bea pity to give up printing the proceedings, for he had found them very useful, and he also thought they might con- tinue to use the name. He would like, with the consent of the meeting, to alter his motion to the following :— ‘That the Directors be requested to print the Pro- ae RePort OF SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 381 ceedings of the Society half-yearly or annually, under the name of Zzmehrz, | Mr. Hargreaves was continuing when Mr. Luke M Hill called attention to the fact that, owing to the depar- ture of a member, there was no longer a quorum, the Chairman therefore declared the meeting to be informal and allowed Mr. Hargreaves to lay over his amended motion until the next meeting. The Secretary hoped that there would be a larger attendance at the next meeting, which was that for the eleétion of Office-bearers for 1898. Donations to Museum :Frog-fish, collection of in- se€ts, tobacco, india-rubber, deer’s antlers, presented by Mr. G. S, Jenman; British Guiana birds’ eggs by Miss M. Harding; piece of pottery by Mr, Menzies; palm beetle by Mr. J. Graham; long-legs and pica plover, chirps and knots by Mr. H. L. Humphrys; knots, white winged plover, sanderly by Dr. Egan ; Colubrine snakes and ocelot by Mr. J. A. Barclay ; blue slag by Mr. H, See- dorff ; fasciated tannia by Mr R. A. Barclay ; snakes and marabunta nest by Mr. J. L. Theobald ; hawk-moth by Mr, A. A. L. Stoby ; fig-moth by Mr. Owen Forbes ; fused glass by Mr. W. P. Kaufmann ; bees’ nests by Hon. B. Howell Jones ; spider by Mr. H. Smith; Bahama duck by Dr. Reid; bunya nest by Mr. C. Simpson; Turkish coin by Mr. G. Malouf; rare little owl by Mr. A. B, Barnard; fresh-water hemipteron by Miss Parrett ; sun-beetles by Mr. J. Grant ; crustacean by Mr. W. G. Fulton ; grass- hopper by Mr. H. Winter; racoon by Mr. L. M. Hill ; -bufo toad and inseéts by Mr. F. A. Conyers; gannet by Mr. Straker; manjack by Mr. S. T, Hassell ; fire-fly— ‘three lights’””—by Mr. A. J. Pemberton ; hedge-hog by | 3C2 382 Timenri, in Mr. W. T. Johnson; mixed coins by Mr. T. J. Semple; a beetle by Mr. C. Alstine; Dynastes hercules by Mr. J. G. Houston ; mixed inseéts by Mr. H. G. S. Hassell ; jumping beans of Mexico by Mr. F. V. McConnell ; small moths by Mr, John Christopher ; smooth melanias by Mr. G. F. Franks; Indian basin-pottery by Mr. E. F. im Thurn; photographs of Niagara Falls (2) by G. A. Zabriskie ; colle€tion of Barima rocks by Professor Har- rison and Mr. H. I. Perkins, The meeting then terminated. —__ = ———_—___— Meeting held December 16th.—Professor J. B. Harri- son, M.A., &c., President in the Chair, Members present 19. Ele€tion.—A ssoctate: Mr. A. W. Edghill. The Honorary Secretary reported on behalf of the Dire€tors, in reference to the resolution in regard to a Tobacco Premium passed at the General Meeting of July 8th, that at their last meeting it was resolved :— “ That at the next General Meeting, the Members be informed that the Dire€tors had been unable to take a€tion in the matter for want of sufficient information, and that they request the mover, Mr. T. S. Hargreaves, and the seconder, Mr. Atneas D. Mackay, to supply such information.” Mr. Hargreaves said that he was hardly prepared to tormulate the necessary conditions, but he would suggest that the matter be referred to the Commercial Committee, which suggestion was adopted. Mr, Hargreaves brought forward his motion :— * That the Dire€tors be requested to print the proceed- a i Retort of Sociery’s Meetinds, 383 ings of the Society half-yearly or annually, under the name of Zimehrz.” | Having read an extraét from the European Mail sug- gesting that efforts be made to gain the support of West Indians in London, before giving up the Journal, Mr. Hargreaves remarked that this suggested that the Society was too poor to continue its publication. This question of poverty was, he thought, a bogey raised by the Directors. They had found it possible to stand the loss tor fifteen years and it had never before been stated that the Society could not afford it. If the expense was too great it might be published less often, or perhaps at a lower cost. That, however, was a matter for the consideration of the Direc- tors, but he must say that if they stopped the publication, they discontinued the means they at present possessed of passing on the Society’s work to future generations. Sometimes they had papers read at the meetings which were the result of years of work and experience, and al- though these were published in the newspapers, this mode of publication was necessarily’ very ephemeral. If Zimehrt were discontinued these papers would be almost useless. If the Society was to exist as a semi-scientific Society it should do as other learned Societies through- out the world did, z.e., publish their proceedings. The editor would bear him out in saying that many valuable exchanges were received. If the Journal were stopped it would undoubtedly lower the status of the Society and give reason for the taunt of Dr. Carrington that the Society was nothing more than a Circulating Library, Mr. A. R. Gilzean, in seconding the motion, said that the President was aware that there was little life in the Society, and he thought that the best thing they had done 484 TIMHERI. was the publishing of the Journal. He was quite sure the money was well spent, and if the Society was to con- tinue and do some good for future generations it was of much consequence that the publication should not be dis- continued. In reply to a question from the Revd. W. B. Ritchie, the President said that in the last nine years they had lost $2,798°51, being an average of $295'56 per annum. Mr, Quelch, as one of the former editors of the Journal, said that when he took it over in 1886, at the request of the Direétors, it was guaranteed that the loss to the Society should not be more than £100 per year, and he could say that it had never reached that amount since. Under Mr.im Thurn, himself, and the present editor, the Journal had been more appreciated outside than in the Colony. He could not say what was the reason for this, but he could affirm that it had given publicity to matters affeGting the Colony that would otherwise have only been printed in a newspaper or not at all. Timehri had raised the status of the Society and if less money had been received from its sales lately it still went to outside Societies by which he was sure it was _ highly valued. From these Societies a good number of publications were received in exchange, which might be seen upon the tables. It would be a pity to discontinue the Journal, but possibly the Directors might see some way of reducing the cost. They could not expeét it to pay directly, but he was convinced that it did so indirectly in kudos to the Society and the Colony. The President said the motion was to print the Pro- ceedings, not to continue Zimehri in its present form, ’ : 4 a a ae ee ee ee REPORT OF SocieTy’s MEETINGS, 385 Mr. Gilzean said he understood that it was to continue the Journal. Mr. Hargreaves explained that he purposely worded his motion in that way, leaving the Directors to say whether other than the Society’s papers should be printed ; he would like however to see the Journal continued. Mr. A. E. Messer moved as an amendment :— “That the publication of Zimehri be continued in its present form at such cost to the Society as the Directors may arrange.” Mr. Jacob Conrad seconded. Mr. L. M. Hill said that, although a Director, and although it might appear to be bad form to support the ‘amendment, he might mention that he had always been opposed to the discontinuance of the Journal. It was “much appreciated at home, and extraéts from it were often published in scientific periodicals, In reply to a question from Rev. W. B. Ritchie, the Assistant Secretary said that tenders had been asked from three printing offices. Mr. Hargreaves said he was quite prepared to accept Mr. Messer’s amendment, which, on being put to the vote, was carried unanimously, The Secretary read the following letter from Mr. R. W.S. Mitchell, Calcutta :— Government Emigration Office, 21, Garden Reach, Calcutta, 21 September, 1597. Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th August last, and am much grati- - fied by the vote of thanks recorded in my favour. I may mention that, by last mail, I sent to the Colony 386 TIMEHRI. some grain known up country as “ Ka Keon,” much used by the poorer classes, which might prove of use. I have also submitted estimates furnished by a local Firm for the supply of Rice Mills capable of turning out from 10* to 25 tons of clean rice daily. The price being in Rupees, I fancy it would be cheaper than importations from Europe or America. As regards the cane plants from Burdwan sent some time ago, I planted one or two slips here, that appeared unlikely to stand the voyage, and they have developed into splendid stools of fine juicy looking canes. Should therefore the plants sent fail entirely, I shall be able to supply plants grown under my own eye here, I understand the Natal Government has applied for 10,000 cane plants of the Puna variety. I have, &c., ROBERT W. S. MITCHELL, C.M.G., Govt. Emigration Agent for British Guiana. The Secretary, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. This was referred to the Agricultural Committee. The following Government communication on the same matter was also read and referred to the same Committee :— Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara, toth November, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to forward herewith for the information of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, a copy of a letter from Mr. R. W. S. Mitchell, * The 10 Ton Mill would cost about $1,296, ‘panera REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 387 C.M.G., Emigration Agent for British Guiana, in India, enclosing copy of a communication from the Manager, Chetta Rice Mills, submitting estimates of three sizes of Rice Mills and quoting prices in rupees. I have, &c., CAVENDISH BOYLE, The Honorary Secretary, Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society. From Emigration Agent, Calcutta, to Govt. Secretary. 16th September, 1897. Sir,—I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a letter of 16th inst., from the Manager of the Chetta Rice Mills, submitting estimates of three sizes of rice mills, quoting prices in rupees. I presume it would becheaper purchasingsuch machines in India, owing to the difference of exchange, besides their being in praétical use here, and therefore well adapted to the work required of them. The 10 ton mill, with the various appliances, at Rs. 21,455. 0. 0, at 1s. 24d per rupee, would cost in _ sterling about £1,296. o. o. I have, &c., ROBERT W. S. MITCHELL. Government Emigration Agent for British Guiana, From Manager Chetta Rice Mills to Emigration Agent, Calcutta, 16th September, 1897. Dear Sir,—With reference to your conversation with me on the 15th of July last, about the construétion of three small Rice Mills, in British Guiana, I beg to enclose 3D 388 TIMEHRI. herewith the estimates for them, in different shapes, for your approval. The particular novelty of my new patent polishers is that they give only 1 per cent. broken rice and no more, whereas the other polishers generally give 5 to 6 per cent. broken rice. Yours faithfully, (Sgd.) F. SCHWARZLAS, ‘Engineer and Manager. PRICES OF RICE MILL PLANTS.—DELIVERED AT CHETTA. Capacity No Re No ne ee Polisher at vee 4,500 2 3,000 2 3,000 2 3,000 Husking Mill at... 4,600 3 4,800 5 8,000 6 9,600 Fans, at .. yan? > QOOT- 2 1,800 2 1,800 2 1,800 Main Shafting, at 2,980 Set 2,980 Set 2,980 Set 2,980 Counter Shftgs.,at 575 1Set 575 2Sets 1,150 24 Sets 1,437 Sieves, at ack, ODO MIE 2,400 8 4,800 8 4,800 Elevator Gear, at... 700 2 1,400 3 2,100 3 2,100 Engines & Boilers 12 Hp. 1 4,500 20Hp.6,500 34 Hp. 13,200 Rs. 21,455 Rs. 30,330 Rs. 38,917 A second Government communication calling atten- | tion to the Omaha International Exposition was taken for notification. The Secretary read the following letter and enclosure from Dr. Morris :—- Kew, 29 O€tober, 1897. Dear Harrison,—I am in receipt of your letter of the 28 September, respe&ting the samples of coffee sent from British Guiana. The latter were duly received and I was greatly interested in looking over them. There is no doubt coffee can be grown in British Guiana. That was evident from the samples. But it was equally evi- dent that the preparation of the produce is in a very ee Report oF Society’s MEETINGS. 389 crude and primitive state. In order to obtain a commer- cial opinion upon the various sorts of coffee, | seleé&ted two of the best of the Arabian and Liberian samples and forwarded them to Messrs. Lewis and Peat, the well- known. Produce Brokers in Mincing Lane. I enclose their report. Considering the great fall in prices recently, this is a very promising statement. It is admitted that the coffee itself is good, but it has been so badly prepared that it has lost nearly one-half its value. You will notice that if the coffee had been properly prepared the market value would have been from 60/ to 80/ per cwt, The suggestion in regard to shipping coffee to this country in parchment is one that should receive serious attention. You will find plenty of information on the subjeét in the Kew Bulletin. See June, 1893 p. 128. I enclose one on Liberian coffee herewith. When parch- ment coffee* is cleaned in London, it costs only about 2/6 per cwt. This is much less than the cost of cleaning by hand and the produét is of much greater value, Libe- rian coffee is not so readily cleaned; but it can be done. It would be of great service to those engaged in coffee growing to let this be widely known, All that really need be done in the Colony is to pulp the coffee. This is a simple process and sevetal good machines are available to be worked by hand or by _power. Particulars ofsuitable machines as used in Jamaica could be obtained from Fawcett. The suggestion made by Messrs. Lewis and Peat in regard to Cacao is an important one, Cacao was very * I send a sample of parchment coffee in a separate packet by this Mail, 3D2 390 TiMeuri. ee depressed not long ago, but it has apparently picked up again. There is always an ebb and flow in the price of Colonial produce, but there is one matter always to be borne in mind and that is, a really good commodity well prepared and skilfully presented will always stand a better chance than an inferior one. 4 I am glad to hear Rice is being taken up so vigorously. With kind wishes, &c., D. MORRIS. Professor Harrison, F,C.S., F.I.C. Messrs. Lewis & Peat to Royal Gardens, Kew, 6, Mincing Lane, London, E,C. ' O€tober 26, 1897. Dear Sir,—We duly received your favour of the 23rd instant, with samples of coffee from British Guiana, which we have carefully examined, and beg to report upon same as follows :— ARABIAN. No. 1 Canal, small, broken, and very mixed in colour, some green and some foxy, apparently grown from East India seed and badly prepared, value about 38/ to 40/ per cwt. West Bank, ditto, peaberry, value about 55/ to 60/. LIBERIAN. West Bank, mixed in size and very poor in colour, value about 38/- per cwt, Essequibo River, good, bold, clean, and well prepared, value about 45/- per cwt. In reference to the Arabian samples, it is quite evident that they have not been prepared in the right way. The . 1 } a 7 Report of Society’s MEETINGS. 391 Coffee is a good deal damaged and broken in cleaning, and of all colours. We would suggest sending home small parcels, well cured and dried in parchment that can be cleaned here, taking great care that berries which have fallen on the ground and thereby spoiled are not mixed with the good berries, We should probably get a much better result. Coffee, such as samples now before us, owing to the very low prices now ruling for Santos and Rio descrip- tions from Brazil, cannot possibly pay, but might eventu- ally do so if cured and cleaned properly, in other words, good and fine Coffees may keep up in value, and good ordinary sorts remain very low. Our opinion ts that if a well cured sample could be produced it would bring 20/- to 30/- per cwt. more, say 6o/- to So/-. At present there is no chance of Liberian going up, there is too much Brazil. Have your friends thought of cultivating Cocoa? We should recommend this if the ground is suitable. Present prices range from 65/- to 75/- per cwt. and the prospeéts are good, whereas except for fine Coffees the outlook is not bright. | We are, etc., (Signed) LEWIS & PEAT. On the motion of Mr. Messer, a vote of thanks was accorded to Dr, Morris for the trouble he had taken in the matter, the Secretary being dire€ted to convey the same. | The Secretary read a circular from the Imperial Insti- tute stating that a Commercial Reading Room had been opened at the Institute, which was ordered to be laid on the table, 493 ‘TIMEURI. The President then gave the following vale address :— Some months ago I was required to deliver an in- augural address as the newly-elected President of the R. A. & C. Society, and now I am about to say a few words on the occasion of the termination of my period of service as President of this Society. During the year I regret to say that our number has somewhat diminished. I have not been able to ascertain in what class of members the decrease has occurred, but there isa lossof six members. This is less than one would have expected, having regard to the depression which marked the year. Amongst the losses we have that of Mr. Henry Kirke, an ordinary member. We have not wholly lost Mr. Kirke, however, as he has become an honorary member. The losses due to death are few. We have first of all Mr. H. H. Cunningham, who for sev- eral years was a member of the Correspondence Com- mittee, and each year took a deep interest in the Horti- cultural Show. In faét, he was one of the first members to suggest that we should have a class in the Exhibition devoted to artizans and labourers exhibits, and that department always commanded his greatest interest. We have also lost Dr. J. R. Hill, Messrs. J. A. Hill, and T. W. Phillips. But little interest appears to have been taken in the meetings of the Society during the year, and the absence of the more prominent members of the Agricultural and Commercial sections of the Society has been noticeable at the majority of the meetings, I cannot hide from myself that this apparent lack of interest on their part has probably been due to the unfortunate sele€tion of a rte cee REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 393 President who belongs to neither of these bodies, and hence is not cognisant of theirrequirements. (‘‘ No, no,”) At the same time it does not seem to be generally recognised in the colony that the details of the agricul- cultural questions which crop up here from time to time are, as a rule, fully discussed at the monthly meetings of the Agricultural Committee of the Society, and that much useful, though quiet, work is there carried on. The programme for the year, as indicated in the short address I delivered in January last, has not been carried out in its entirety. I have failed to obtain ad- dresses or papers from members who are well qualified to prepare and deliver them. The Royal West India Commission visited the colony soon after our January meeting, and two special meet- ings of the Society resulted therefrom. At the’ first Dr. Morris, who accompanied the Commissioners as scientific botanical expert, delivered an address dealing with the possible agricultural produéts of the colony other than sugar. The le¢éture was an able summary of facts, the majority of which were already well known, and, to my mind, the value of the meeting depended largely upon the expressions of practical experience on, in several instances, large scales, which fell from the later speakers. A valuable and possibly somewhat novel sug- gestion was made by one of the speakers—the cultivation of ground nuts, but strangely this has not been foilowed up by either local or foreign capitalists. On the whole the meeting appears to have had but little effect on the present or future industrial pursuits of the colony. The later meeting was the one recently held in this hall in conjunétion with the Chamber of Commerce and 394 TIMHERI. the Planters’ Association, at which resolutions dealing with the Royal Commissioners’ Report were passed, Some complaints have since been made that the meeting confined itself to one subjeét of discussion—the desir- ability of the cessation of bounties on sugar, or of the imposition of countervailing duties. When the failure of the efforts to obtain these, to my mind, almost certain remedies for our present distress, has taken place, then will be the time for discussion of the very few sugges- tions offered by the Commissioners or by Dr. Morris on the cultivation of economic agricultural produ&s to take the place of our present staple. The latter has alluded to the great fertility of the interior of the Colony. I do not know on what grounds he based his supposition of this great fertility. Ican find no grounds for believing that in a country having the geo- logical structure the interior of this has—sandstones and some hundred of conglomerates, archean granites, gneisis and crystalline schists—great tracts of land of excep- tional fertility will occur, although possibly traéts of limited area may occur in valley land and river bottoms or on the lines of dykes of certain classes of intrusive rocks. I may mention that as far as our analytical ex- aminations of some hundreds of the soils of the interior and seaboard of the Colony extend, no indication of ex- ceptional fertility in soils, other than those of our alluvial coastlands, have been obtained. All point to the wisdom of our Dutch predecessors in ceasing their attempts to raise economic agricultural produéts on many of the soils of the interior. In my January address I alluded to the necessity of the Agricultural Committee dealing with certain obscure REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS, 395 plant diseases. Fortunately for us, during the year, but fewopportunities have occurred for their study, and, owing to climatic conditions, and in part, doubtless, also to the efforts of the planters in combating these diseases, at pre- sent, on the whole the canefields of the Colony are fairly free from the diseases prevalent in certain years, although these still linger to some.extent among us. And in com- bating the diseases, it is a matter of congratulation for us that the planters have not been compelled to abandon the cultivation of the Bourbon cane and to resort to that of the heterogenous mixtures of canes now raised in Bar- bados. The Committee of Correspondence have continued their efforts during the year to stimulate the interest of the farmers and labourers of the Colony in the culti- vation of minor agricultural products and that these efforts are bearing fruit to some extent was clearly shown by the excellent exhibits at the annual Horti- cultural Show. This, as you are all aware, was a marked success; it again showed that the Colony can produce samples of agricultural produce other than sugar equal to those raised elsewhere. The artisans and labourers were well to the fore and this fact alone should act as a reward for and as an incentative to the labours of those in charge of the exhibition. And in speaking of the exhibition I must not omit to mention the untiring efforts of Mr. Bellairs, the Chairman, and of Mr. Har- greaves, the Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Corres- pondence, the valuable services rendered by Mr. L.M, Hill, Mr. Mackay, Mr. Scard and the other members of the Committee, all of which united with the incessant labours of the indefatigable secretary, that best of showmen, Mr. 3E 396 | TIMHERI. Quelch, in rendering the exhibition a marked success, The steps taken by the Committee in increasing the prize list and especially the giving of considerable numbers of prizes of comparatively low value, were highly appreci- ated by the class of cultivators the encouragement of whose love of horticultural and agricultural pursuits is the primary object of the holding of these shows, al- though, perhaps, that appreciation was not fully shared by certain of the judges whose duties required them to adjudicate on the merits of the articles exhibited. The Society has continued its efforts, but without much success, to develop the timber trade of the colony. There are many obstacles in the way of the desired development, among which, to my mind,one of the most important is the lack of knowledge among the woodcutters of the method to be adopted to insure the proper curing of the timber. I must express my deep regret and disappointment that the year of my office as President has proved such a depressing and disastrous one for the colony at large, and especially for the Sugar Industry, that it should have been one in which any hopes based upon the appoint- ment of the Royal West Indian Commissioners have been overshadowed by the dread shown by the majority of the Commissioners of their fetish—so called “free trade,” and that during it, the interest taken by the Agricultural and Commercial members of the Society has apparently shown signs of waning rather than of increasing. I trust that in the future far brighter prospeéts may arise for the Colony than those we at present can per- ceive, and that those brighter prospeéts may be in part due to an increased interest in agricultural matters on the part of the members of this Society. REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 397 During the period of my office I have been greatly assisted by the kindly advice of the Vice-President, and by the services so willingly and ably rendered by the Honorary Secretary snd the Treasurer. Nor must I omit to add my high appreciation of the valuable services so freely given to the Society at large by Mr. Quelch, the Curator of the Museum, and of the constant courtesy shown to me by our able Librarian and Assistant Secre- tary, Mr. Rodway. Mr. Gilzean moved a vote of thanks, saying that they wished to take exception to Prof. Harrison’s deprecia- tion of himself. He was perfectly certain that the Chair had never been more ably filled, and he was also sure that the President’s services had been appreciated by all the members. It was very unfortunate that the attendance at the meetings was so small, but the same thing had been experienced by every President. Mr. Hargreaves, in seconding, said that he believed the President’s tenure of office had been popular, not only with planters but with all classes of Members. The motion was unanimously carried, and in thanking the meeting the President said his remarks especially referred to Agricultural and Commercial Members. The President then proposed Mr, R. G. Duncan as President for 1898, which was seconded by Mr. L. M. Hill and carried unanimously. Prof. Harrison was elected Vice-President and the other Office-Bearers for the ensuing year were also duly elected as per annexed list :-— 398 _ ‘TIMEHRI. Office-Bearers for 1897. Patroness: THE QUEEN. Vice-Patron : His Excettency Sin AUGUSTUS WILLIAM LAWSON HEMMING, K.C.M.G., GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER IN Cuter, &c., &c., &c. President : R. G. DUNCAN. Vice-President : Prof. J. B. HARRISON, M.A., F.G.S., F.1.C. flon. Secretary: THOMAS DALY. Hon. Treasurer: F. A. CONYERS. Ordinary Dtrectors : Sir CAVENDISH BOYLE, k.c.m.c. Hon. B. H. JONES. JAS. GILLESPIE. E. C, LUARD. Rev. W. B. RITCHIE, m.a, Hon. A. WEBER. Managing Directors : A. DUNCAN. GEO. GARNETT, F.r. LUKE M. HILL, C.#., A.M.1.C.E. Exchange Room Directors : F. H. ANDERSON, m.p. A. SUMMERSON. C. WIETING. ’ eal ae REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 399 Agricultural Committee: Chairman : Vice-Chairman : Hon, Secretary : ROBT. ALLAN Pror. J. B. HARRISON, ».a., GEO. BAGOT F.G.S., F.1.C. S. M. BELLAIRS Hon. B. H. JONES G. M. BETHUNE J. B. LAING JACOB CONRAD | E.C. LUARD R. G. DUNCAN | J. B. MAYERS J. M. FLEMING, m.a. F, I, SCARD H. GARNETT | W.R. SPENCE J. GILLESPIE | Hon. W. A. WOLSELEY A, R. GILZEAN | H. VON ZIEGEZAR Commercial Committee : Chairman: Vice-Chairman : Hon, Secretary: J. Y. BALDWIN | A. P. MACKEY W. W. BIRCH G. H. RICHTER JACOB CONRAD A. SUMMERSON W. CUNNINGHAM JAS. STUART S. A. H. CULPEPER C. G. A. WYATT J. H. pz JONGE | and the Exchange Room Direétors. Committee of Correspondence : Chairman : Vice-Chairman : Hon. Secretary : |. J. QUELCH, Bsc. Hon, Treasurer: F, A, CONYERS. 400 TIMEHRI. GEO. BAGOT L. M. HILL, c.£., A.M.1.¢.£, G. M. BETHUNE Hon. D. M. HUTSON S. M. BELLAIRS Hon. B. H. JONES Very Rev. Dean CASWELL G. S. JENMAN, F.1.s, Dr. H. B. FORD ZENEAS D. MACKAY A. R. GILZEAN Dr. A. MATTHEY T. S. HARGREAVES, r.a:s. Rev. D. J. REYNOLDS Pror. J. B. HARRISON, ™.a., Rev. W. B. RITCHIE, ma. F.G.S., F.I.C. F, I. SCARD H L. HUMPHRYS J. B. WOOLFORD W. H. WOODROFFE. Book Committee : Chairman : Vice Chatrman : F. H. ANDERSON, o.p. T. S. HARGREAVES, +f.a.s, S. M. BELLAIRS C. H. G. LEGGE Hon. H. A. BOVELL, g.c. ZENEAS D. MACKAY Sirk CAVENDISH BOYLE, Rev. E. POCKNELL | K.C.M.G. J. A. POTBURY, m.a. Very Rev. DEAn CASWELL Rev. D. J. REYNOLDS Hon. N. D. DAVIS, c.m.c. Rev. W. B. RITCHIE, m.a. G. F. FRANKS, M.A., F.G.s. _ F. I. SCARD Dr. C. J. GOMES G. B. STEELE JAS. GILLESPIE | H. W. SCONCE, B.A. Pror. J. B. HARRISON, m.a,, F. G. THORNE, B.a. F.G.S., F.1I.C. : eg Local Secretaries (Berbice) Dr. E. D. ROWLAND. (Essequebo) Dr. J, E. A. FERGUSON, Curator of Museum: J. J. QUELCH, B.sc. Assistant Secretary & Librarian : }. RODWAY, F.L.s. Resident Director in London NEVILE LUBBOCK. Mr. A. R. Gilzean gave notice of motion as follows :— “That, as it is desirable that Agricultural and Live Stock Shows should be held in the Colony, be it resolved REPORT OF SOCIETY’S MEETINGS. 401 that the Society desires the Agricultural Committee to give the subject its attention.” The thanks of the Society were accorded to Mr. A. J. Patterson for 3 vols. and 1 atlas, Report of U. S. Vene- zuela-British Guiana Boundary Commission and to Hon. B. Howell Jones for a copy of the Royal W. I. Commis- sion’s Report; also for the following donations to the Museum :— South African minerals (3), Mr. H. I. Perkins ; crabs (5), Dr Young ; silk moths, Mr. Chas. Ross ; variegated crab Mrs. Pringle; abnormal egg, Dr. Matthey; barn owl, Miss Davis; water hemipteron, Mr. J. Thomson; silk moth, Miss Thomson; three bird’s eggs, Mr. W., Sharp; swallow’s egg, Mr. A. S. Abbot ; moth and beetle, Mr. A. Lennox; model of battel, Mr. J. Rodway; alligator and young waterhaas, Mr G. S. Jenman; globe fish, Mr. A. Houston; astrza coral, Mr. G. F, Franks; stone- implement, Mr. W. N. Sargent; Oberon butterffy, Mr. A. Gordon; horn caterpillar, Mr. F. A. Conyers; silk moth, Miss F, M. King; hairy caterpillar, M. G. Kaufmann; three fossils, Mr. M. F. Juister ; Confederate States note, Mr. John Gomes ; wood fungus, Mr. Samuel Fraser. The meeting then terminated, > Crd ‘ | rs 1, y leat i ; Faye uy at ‘ ‘ . j iA i; A i Alyy ) a as | if y 14! 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