, 1890-12-10

confessedly a large order, and we do not Won
der at it that the subject was not dealt with
hurriedly, and is yet under consideration.
Our contemporary, the planters Journal for
this month complains that the general press
has not taken sufficient notice of this matter.
and with SOMETHING of a sneer-though not
perhaps Observation-Disclosures that it is of
more consequence to us than even Mr..
.Fanning's arrival here. We do not wish'to
underrate the importance of experimental in
ves&gatlon in respect to the best methods Of
cSltlvating the cane and of manufacturing
our staple produce but we 10 insist that
nothing can exceed in Importance the priaci-
pie for which the general press IF the island
contends in the Tanning business-that we
want no meddling with our affairs hy the
Colonial Office, and that we resent having it's
proteg6s sent here and faisted int our best
posts, that should rightly be filled by natives
and be regarded as the Legitimate awards for
long years of honest service. Why unoffend-
ing colonies should be made the victims Of
such mcapables as we are sometimes afflicted
with more especially in the matter Of our
Public Works, is not apparent to those who
have to pay these incapables, however, evil
dent it may be to their relatives and friends.
But to return from this DEPRESSION. The
Agricultural Society asks for another Expert.
mental Station IN the ratOoning part of the
island and / it does more than this. 1t sug-
gests q wide extension of experimental cult
walton throughout the island, and recon. mend
a we'll equipped central station for scie .tiGc
agricultural research and improved manufac-
ture, with experimental fields of illustration
as they are called in France. scattered all over
the island to give practical demonstration of
the best results obtained in cultivation at the
central station. The Address saws very little
about improved manufacture but it is clear
a good deal Is meant when the suggestion is
made that Tho Spring and Water Hall would
together be large enough to Justify the cree
ton on them of the "most improved form of
machinery that might seem best adapted to
our Wants This machinery question is v>rv
material, and it is one our planters will have
to face. The last Dodds Report showed
/, 7fflbs. of sugar to the acre left in the
me%ass and we are informed that Mr.. SkekeI.
the Demerara Engineer who was up here some
IN )nths ago; gave a startling demonstration at
the Planters Hall. Of the amount Of iuice con
tanned in apparently dry megass, by passing
some of it through, his tightly braced model
mill. 1t may be before long our sole. profit
will lie in that now wasted hogshead (almost)
to the acre.
The demand for exporimental manufactaro
at the expense Of the general revenue is only
a logical application of the SAM reasoning
which led to the establishment Of an Expert
mental Station for cultivation at Dodds, and
to the employment Of an Island Professor of
Chemistry and Agricultural Science. If it is
right that the cost of experimental c l~tivation
and manuring of the cane by which all ben,ft,
should be betrayed out of the general revenue,
it must necessarily be also right that the more
costly investigation of the best crushing
machinery or other apparatus for the econo-
mlcal manufacture of sugar from the cane
should likewise be at the expense of the
general revenue. 1t is not at all a question
of difference of principle, but one of degree
and it is held by some of those who are most
ardent in pressing this scheme, that it need
cost the island little more than a draft upon
its credit. A loan of 100000 at 400 on the
island security would, they say, purchase the
estates and erect a plant of machinery on
them. The estates would, it is confidently
anticipated, by their yearly clearances pay the
interest on the loan and leave a margin to
defray expenses of experiment possibly also
to provide a sinking fund.
We express no opinion as to the suitabiliy
of the estates in regard to soils and plots,
adapted for experimental culture, as this
matter has, we dare say, been gone into by
the Society. We cannot refrain from re.
marking, however, that they are by no / cans
so easily accessible as "Modnt Wilton which
we ourselves suggested some time since as a
suitable estate for the purpose of a second