, 1893-11-15

uAs0 10 tHo internal CT nultlfnE mat E0eCt Inc
question and next to the remote or external
conditions that affect it. We put the internal
conditions first, because, although they are Of
small extent as compared with the other clHsP.
they are OF the greater Importance 10 Us. Ee-
sides, there are some Of them that We can con.
troll. or at any rate lnfl ence in a conSidera.b BILE
degree, While oven the other class of conditions
we can have no influence whatever 1t Is necos.
sary to take the latter into consideration. but
it is the f91mer that demand our eager aud con.
slant attention. Looking, hen at the local
conditions of the sugar industry, let us ask
whether they point to an extinction more OK
less gradual of the indu stry IN this island or
whether they point to it's continuance z We
think that they point with toierable clesrness
in the latter direction. First Of all there cam
be no doub- that Santa Cruz like all the West
Indies has benefited greatly by the pressure of
The past ten years. When il has become a
question OF making sugar at II cheaper rate or
not making it at all, a way hAs been foun / &c
make 1t at q cheaper r. to, and the experience
Of last year shows us that we are not yet at
the end Of our economies there is room yet
for Improvement in that respect. In the next
place it is generally said, and We believe cor
rectly, that more is got out of the land than
formerly. If not true of the island generally,
it g certainly true of many properties that
within the last quarter Of a century have fall
len into the hands Of energetic and practical
men, by whom the productive powers of
those properties have been greatly, in some
cases surprisingly, increased. True as this
is, however, we believe that it ia lust in this
direction that thsre is the greatest room for
progress For it only the othe or day, so to
speak. that our planters have begun to think
seriously over the great help to prosperity that
the artificial manure makers can put In their
way. In ais respect indeed the West Indies
generally have besn very much Nehin1. It is
only Qui . recently that any CT the islands
have turned their attention in this direction,
while for nearly half century the use of arti-
heial mquurrs has been an important part OF
the oper tiOns Of European farmers, and the
manufacture Of these manurss has been an
important aud ever growing department. OF
industry If the West Indies have been be-
@nd hand in this regard, they have lad. how
ever, some excuse for we have been recent
ly told that there 10 no department of agri-
culture in which there has bsen 30 many fail
urss az in the application Of artificial manures
70 the sugar cane. The large proportion If nj
trogen required in moss Of the crops of Eu-
rope led, it appears, to a large use of nitrogen
IN cane manures anil this was the mistake
that spoiled the results. This mistake has.
however. now been corrected. Artificial
mtauroS are now made specially for cane
growing. with a large proportion of potash
>alis ana phosphates anil only q small
q%uantitF of nitrogen. Such manurss, as we
aEI know, have been used in Barbados and
elsewhere with great success. Why should
they not be used with equal success here 2
IT may be replied that not only each island.
bur each estate or even each field, may have
it's peculiaritiss, that have to be taken int
account before it can be decided Of what par
tioular substances, and with what proportions
of these, a suitable artificial manure should DO
made. Nothing can be more true; but that
is no ground for sitting still and doing nothing.
The establishment last year Of a laboratory
at tbs refractory for making agricultural analyses
was a step in the right direction. But indie
pendeRtly Of the aid that such an institution
may afford, 1T is always open to a planter to
make experiments on a small scale, from
which he may find cut what artificial manufeS
can be used with profit on his land. Hence
the road to SUCCESS in this direction is plain.
Our arg ment, then, amounts briefly TO this,
that as there is still room and manifest open
ings for Improvement in our sugar industry
and with this a growing Willingness to seek
such Improvement, the Improvement will
probably come; which is what we mean when
we say that the internal conditions point to
Eha oontiO,op0 =. ond ~oP 70 tba extinction nf