, 1880-06-30
Oo wDQ1VHT

belong to more wealthy members Of socie-
ty. Even those producing the best ..qusli-
ty might, / believe, be extended 10 number
and afeaby judicious expenditure Of capital.
There is o 8 good deal of new land which
purpose, If the investor can afford to wait
. little tor his return and give the trees
time to come to maturity. / wish that
o limited liability company could be
formed for establishing come new plants-
tions, which I am sure would DO o great
success iu a few years. Much of the land
said to be exhausted by former cultivation
has now rested sufficiently to repay judici.
GUS treatment. and the industry is unquestion.
ably fairly remunerative as on investment.
Unless something entirely unforeseen 90 o
calamity should happen to the Colony, ]
have some confidence that the cultivation
of coffee will be extended, and the produc.
tion of this export from Jamaica very large.
ly increased.
I need not dwell upon minor articles OF
export. such as ginger, beeswsx. arrowroos.
and cocoa, all Of which are produced 10
some quantity, and the two latter Of which
form important items in lthe trade Of other
Colonies. as | believe they surely will
before very long 10 Jamaica; but oil
these may be factors in prosperity. The
export Of cocoa was only 1873 cwts. in
1867 !; it was 1893 10 1Ss7-7S; and o
great deal 10 used in the island.
Logwood, though it can scarcely be. said
to be an article of cultivation, as it ought
to be, has been, and will continue to be,
q valuable product. The export has in
creased from 800 tons of the value of
G2,6S5 in 1859, to a trade now amounting
to an average of more than 10000 tons.
The marvel is that it is not cultivated to
the extent at least of affording that pro-
lection which is given to plantations of
timber in other places. Instead of this.
and instead of preserving the young trees
until they nave attained the growth which
renders the wood q marketable commodity,
it is cut at all ages, and even burnt for
firewood. Much injury is thus done to tho
supplies of an article which might be q
much more important export than it is
now, and which is worth from G3 to E5
per ton.
Cocoa-nuts. too, have become an item in
the list of merchandise In which Jamaica
deals. The quantity | have no doubt will
even become larger as the lucrative char.
acter of the trade is better appreciated.
There are large tracts of land admirably
suited to the growth of the cocoa-nut
palm, and fit for little else. / am not
aware of any valid reason why the pro-
ducts of this tree should not be as valuable
to Jamaica as they are to Ceylon or FIJI.
The public owes gratitude to Sir o
Grant for the plantation established on the
previously worthless land on the Palisades
near Port Royal. There are now moro
than $4,000 trees, of which some are al-
ready beginning to bear, and in . few
more years / trust that q not insignificant
amount of revenue may be derived from
this source.
Butt yet more valuable service was rendered
by Sir John Grant In the commencement Of the
cinchona plantations on the Blue Mountain Eange,
which promise in time to come not only to be-
benefit to mankind by increasing the supply Of
o~uinins, but q source Of considerable profit 70
the oommuaity. The plant was 6rst Introduced
some years bsfoFs, bat the cultivation he'd been
neglected and no important results had beea
obtained. We have now aseertatned from the
opinions Of expsrte upon email Quantities alres-
dy sent to England a. samples, that The quality
n above the average, and from the 1rss large
shipmeu forwarded this year, 10 expect re-
torn of more than $4,000. The primary aim
of the Government, however, In this and ether
experimental cultivation, b not to obtain cid
to the revenue though this point is % much
misunderstood that some persons. ] believe,
would ct once discontinue these plantations be.
cause they have not hitherto been profitable.
The object 10 to show by trial, q thesexpenss