, 1873-01-01

above named, while some of the neighbour
ing islands have suffered. The year '72 has,
nevertheless, been severely felt by most
of the inhabitants of this Island. The dis
appointments, mishaps and failur of 1868
have, IS it were, thrown their shadow on
the year just gone by; tor Jtwithstand-
ing a bright ray Of hope seemed to have
reached us in 1871, with il rich crops and
good prices, events in the course~of that
year and in the one whose "Grav0l' the
good Christians drank last night before
Service, became darker and darker, and by
degrees assumed that uncertainty and un-
reliableneSs which characterized our trying
existence in 1868. First of all we have to
notice the unfaVourable weather, which
prevailed almost the whole year round,
our old trouble, the drought, having visited
us also this year even more severely than
for many years previous. As a conSe-
quence, ouU principal resource, the Sugar
Crop has but poor prospects, if we
get no change of weather very soon.
AS yet nothing definite can however
be pronounced upon the returns of the
present Crop, except that it will certainly
be below that Of 1871.
Another great loss has been caused by
last years drought, which, although it was
much felt every where, was most severely
SO on. the Eastend of the island, where
large numbers of cattle died of starva-
ton. Almost Involuntary every thinking
man will ask himself if something could
not possibly be done to prevent or mitigate
these evils, and it cannot but augment the
painfulness Of the situation, to be conscious
that much might have been done, hat has
been left undone. 1t is a ~well-knOwn fact
that constant cultivation of the same
plant, in the same soil, must render that
soil incapable of producing, if the ele-
ments consumed by the plant in the pro-
cess of vegetation are not conveyed to it
in some shape, and it is another fact that
all the attention it merited has not been
bestowed on this subject
The land is however naturally
fertile, and eminently adapted to
the plant we cultivate, if we could but
procure the necessary quantity of mois-
ture for the dissolution of the ingredients,
which can only enter into the composition
of the plant in that state. In those parts
of the East Indies which have the same
annual rainfall as this Island, contrivances
have been made ages ago, and with great
success, to prevent any Of the precious ele-
ment from going to waste, which u%nfortu-
nately is the case, not only in this, but in
most of the Westindia Islands, and it was a
sensible proposal made by the European
Mail" sometime ago, that all these islands
ought to procure a practical Engineer to
give advice with respect to what could be
done in this direction.
The old year has brought us an invalu-
able gift, the Steamplough, which is des-
tined to bring about a revolution in our
agriculture. 1t is only, as we understand
it, the poor p aspects of the pr ,ent crop
that have prevented the introduction of
more such machines, to which the sue
ce>sful working of this first one has given
every encou ement.-The idea of esta5-
fishing Central Facto;ies here is becoming
more and more popular. It is only that
helpIessnoss incident to a community that
has ben long under paterna1 government,
accustomed always to sit with folded arms
and wait for governmental do something
that has hitherto prevented the realization
OF the plan. The people, no less the agli-
" We sincerely hope that the movement just
begun for, the formation of q company for the uti-