, 1893-05-20

Idlu unOer wafer, as may Do QeSlreu.
When one contemrlates the enormou i'm.
provements In the water supply of the east
and west coasts of Demerara effected during
the last twenty years, for which we may
chiefly thank the indomitable perseverance
of the late Mr.. William Russell, it is not too
much to expect that in tue near future, some
of the exhaustless streams Of our great RI
vers will be DETECTED, and instead of vast
ing their wealth in the barren ocean, their
water, conserved to the desired level, will
be made to flow in fertilizing streams be-
hind our sugar e~7tates, and then irrigation
will be a thing accomplished aud drought
a thing of the past.
We are now come to mechanical agricu!-
turs. During the last twenty years many
efforts have been made to Introduce steam
cultivation. The great pioneer of sugar
making in his colony, Mr.. Hogg, invested a
very large sum and sci up a complete arrange
ment at Plantation Cummings Lodge, both
for subsoil drainage and also for steam oultIva
ton. Nearly all our cane fields are drained by
open drainage and as there is no mechanical
pillow known that can be workedin open drain
ed fields, a necessary preliminary to any sys-
tenn of mechanical agriculture is subsoil
drainage, which has narrowed down to tile
drainage.
With the exception of Messrs. Wings es-
tate, Vryheid's -uSt, this tile drainage has
proved impraoticable. There are many eS-
tai es in this country on which every drop of
water that falls from the skies has to be
pumped and the rainfall is, occasionally, so
heavy that the most powerful pumps
fail to maintain a current in the side lines.
AS the water ceases to flow in the tiles they
Immediately become silted up, and have to be
cleared at an enormous expense. Sometimes
it is necessary to take them up, clean them
and replace them.
The wettest day that | can remember, was
the 20 h December, 1881, when the rainfall
on the West coast was close on twelve inches
1l.75J. When it is considered that all inch
Of rain means roughly, 100 tons Of water
per acre, if will easily be seen what an enor-
Nous body Of water has to be got rid OF dur
ing such a rainfall. If the estate depends
ON natural drainage the side lines would he
sure to stagnate, and when it is high water
the koke. 8 would1have to be shut, II there
is a pump, it must be a very large one to
dry the estate quickly. Unfortunately also
the rainf Ill is very local-espcoially In the
month Of August, when a heavy thundec
storm may soak the front of an estate. and no
rainfall at all at the back; when this is tue
case the water in the side lines is sure to
stagnaIe in certain places. and where 1t stag
mates here is danger of the drainage tiles
becoming choked.
This is the reason | think, why, hitherto,
except at Vryheid's Lust, all attempts at me-
chanical agriculture have been abandoned.
Should This difficulty be overcome, and stetm
cultivation be est lbilshed, our sugar estates.
VIII be revoIutionized, and the labor question
satisfactorily solved. It is almost unneces-
s4ry 10 add that the cost of converting an
estate from open drains TO tile drains Is
enormous. about equal to the market value OF
the estate itself, and proprietors are natural
" chary of investing so very large a sum OF
money. unless they see a very strong pro
baaiIty Of financial success.
There is one more subjec' SO closely oon-
nected with agriculture that it should be
mentioned, but it is so undeyeloped that no
one knows what it's potentialities are. | re-
fer to the recent discovery that sugar cane
can be raised from seed. The sugarsgrowing
community are not likely to neglect this most
important discovery, especially when it is
remembered that attention to seed and breed
has done so much to enable the beet growers
successfully to fight with cane sugar. and to
drive down the price of sugar in the worlds
markets to scarcely remunerative rates.
To conclude this part Of the subject, | am
,enoi III fbat Uo r0uCt Gonna IN the 0opaIuaInN