, 1875-11-10

are painted by him. ana tnera IS every
reason to believe they are, that is a
sufficient reason OF itself for pointing them out
IN a Report which goes over the whole field OF
our rural economy. Our own views on squat
ting have been expressed in no ambiguous Ian.
guage. It's prevalence in Dominica is the
greatest obstacle to the material prosperity Of
the country as it is to the moral and social
Improvement of the l~abouring population, and
1t is not going too far to say that its thorough
suppression should be a main feature in any
scheme for developing the national resources
Of the Colony.
Mr.. PREsToE estimates the oulturable area
Of this Island at 90, 900 acres, whilst only
$500 is at present in nominal cultivation. OF
the waste land, generally covered with valua-
Bile timber trees, the greater portion is still
Grown Land, and therefore available for colonf.
cation and settlement. One tract known as
the Layou fats-an undulating country" Ia.
tersected by numerous streams. and stretching
from Hillsbro' to Hatton Garden-is evidently
destined for the locale of thriving. industries
and q we'll to do yeomanry. No other
part Of the Island contains SO much level
land "lying together ~; aud this tract has the
great advantage Of a double seabosrd to faoilk
tate the moving OF its produce which can be as
varied as possible.
We have, in previous numbers Of this Jour
nal, suggested the proper way of utilizing this
and the other public lands of the Colony.
The land 10 there, but worth nothing, unless we
can bring the people to 1t. The colonizing
spirit is dead in Dominica, and the energies of
our people are exhausted by an annual produc~
ton Of .E2 per head, against the &l2 per head
of Trinidad and other communities. The Ia
bour, therefore, the enterprise and energy to de-
velOp the natural resources of the Colony must
come from abroad and if Mr.. ELDRIDGE had
his own way, he would soon settle the LayOu
fats with a bustling colony of small cultfva.
tOrs-6ve acre men-from Barbados. The
Antigua Government, which will not allow US
to have a public library, and is anxious to close
every public school in Dominica, is also very
much in the way of Improvement and material
progress in the country. -.
Mr. PREsToE prints in his Report q list Of
tropical products which might properly enter
into the programme of the Dominica planter.
The cocoanut is one there are also, among
the spices, the Glove and nutmeg tobacco is q
profitable cultivation and so Is cinch0na.
An acre of land in nutmegs of full growth Is
calculated Ivy Mr.. PREsToE to pay at the rate
of ESQ per annum; while q fortune may be
made in oocoanuts, which, besides, may be
planted in the stony and barren place of a
property, on land not available for any other
cultivation. :
Much of the cocoa raised in the Island 10
sold at a figure which barely pays the cost Of
gathering Mr.. Prestoe shows that if properly
prepared for market, and sent to England or
France 10 the Royal Mail Steamers, Domipica
cocoa would realise as good prices as the Trini-
dad article. We may close these remarks with
the following quotation from his Report, giving
directions, for picking cocoa and preparing it
for expectation -
The process Of fermentiug consists of collect.
ing the seeds when taken from the husks or
pods, into barrels or ttoughs, or into heaps nice
ly covered with p'aDEain leaves or sacks within
the curing house for 2, 3, or 4 days. The
house in the meantime is kept closed. The frst
object in fermenting is to reduce the mucous
covering of the seeds, and the second lie 70 tone
the oolour of the kernel tor Gue glaucous purple
brown. o. being removed from the ferment'
ing process the beans are we'll rubbed and
mixed with q small quantity of q fne red earth
and then. Spsead ont evenly TO dry. The beans
rsquire.te be frequently stirred around in dry.
ing but very hot sun is avoided during this
part Of the process.
The whole process is very simple, but il
requires considerable practise 20 produce the
desired effect Of the fermentation with nicely.
The drying or curing house consist of 9
strongly built span roof fixed with wheels run.
ming on iron rails laid along a stout frame work
which supports a strong platform underneath.
and upon which the beans are manipulated and
dried. The gathering Of the Cocoa peds tjs'
aeoonapiished<by means Of an instrument eahe6
q "Cacao hook. and on the proper use of