, 1876-11-25

effected by the action Of Government in
preserving and protecting the forest vege-
tation which now exists or may be brought
into existence by such means. The last
hurricane occurred in 1887, as st. Croix
appears to be situated somewhat south of
the usual route OF those atmospheric dis
turbances, and was not, for instance, affect
ed at all by the terrific cyclones which
ragged in 1867 and 1871 on the neighbour
ing islands only s Danish miles distant.
In September this year q rather severe
hurricane was, however, experienced in st.
Croix. The author proceeding to por-
tray the vegetable kingdom as represented
in this island, inquiries first into It's original
Vegetatiye conditions, and in this connec-
ton briefly touches on the history of the isl
and. When the French had left it in 1906,
the Colonists, 10 spite of their protests, hav-
ing been transported to ST. Domingo, it was
LETT to Itself for about 40 years. In 1885
Denmark bought it. At that time it Yves
covered with a thick forest, which had to
be cleared to give room for cultivation.
Among the trees common at that time
are mentioned Mahogany, Fustie, and
Lignum vita, valuable as timber trees and
as dye wood. These trees are now rare.
The soil at that time was so rich that the
sugar cane commonly attained the height
of 10 feet. It was not, however, before
the instruction CT the slaves in st. D0mln-
90 at the close of last century, when the
cultivation of the cane nearly ceased
there, and many French c%olonists fled to
the surrounding islands, that sugar produc-
ton attained any Importance in St. Croix.
In 1897 28,655 acres w8ro under c|ultiva-
ton (the whole area Of the island is 1861
acres) and in this state it continued nearly
10 sbe emancipation in 1913, after which
tune the altered labour relations as well
As the exhaustion Of the soil caused about
20 estates, mostly situated in the eastern
part Of the island, to go out of cultivation,
becoming stock %estates," the fields being
converted into pastures more or less cover
ed with " bush" At present about
1900 acres, or / Of the whole area, is in
cane cultivation. The cultivated portion
is principally the more or less level part.
The rest is partly pasture land, partly for
ests, chiefly in the rocky portion to the
northwest, or in the eastern part a more or
less shrubby vegetation. According to
these general facts, the author divides
the vegetation of the whole island into 4
groups, each Of which is exhaustingly de-
llneated The Flora of the sra-coast, the
cultivated belt, the forest trees and the
dry, shrubby vegetation. On account Of
the scant rainfall at certain seasons the
forests do not present the Iuxuriance and
vigor of the tropical virgin forest, and trees
with deciduous leaves are frequently in
termixed with those not dropping their
leaves. The great abundance OF creepers
and epiphytes indicate, however, the tro-
pical nature of the forest also here. The
shrubby vegetation which covers a great
portion of the eastern part of the ISL
and is very peculiar. 1t consists of
woody plants of small size with gray
isb, rigid, often thiokIy- haired leaves
and frequently thorny. Here we find an
abundance Of Mimos8, Cacti, Agave, and
such like plants, but none with large,
herbaceous leaves. Having given q
short sketch of the part played by the
animal world and its relation to vegetable
life, which also presents many interesting
points, the author proceeds to give a view
of the relation st. Croix bears, from this
point of view, to the other Westindia
Islands, more especially to its neighbours
among the Virgin Islands. Here is point
ed out the interesting fact, that many
species of the most common plants in st.