, 1912-05-11
with the following in

industries, and opens with the following IN
terestine paragraphs:
The Agricultural Department has been
developed along lines to suit local require
ments. In pursuance of this aim, the De-
partment has engaged in commercial under
tnkings which have developed considerably
in the past and show possibilities of much
greater expansion. A ready cash market
has been provided for the peasants cotton,
the dealings IN which now amount to q con
siderable item; the same policy is being pur-
sued in the case of lines, and peasant
grown canes are manufactured into sugar at
the station. This entails u large amount of
work foreign to an Experiment Station pure
and simple; such work is however, essential
to the agricultural development Of the Vir-
gin Islands. 1t is useless to urge the pea
SAINT to plant this or that crop so long as he
knows he will have difficulty, or find it I'M
possible, to obtain a market for his produce.
1t is quite q different story if n ready cash
market be provided wherein he can sell his
wares at fair market prices; once convince
him of this, and Of the fact that a crop viii
yield him even q moderate return for his
labour, and he will grow it. Then again, he
must have reasonable security in the tenure
Of his holding. What large proprietor would
invest capital in q crop if he would be dis
possessed III six month? The slnllier hoidtr
in the Virgin Islands has this security Of
tenure. The policy of the D .pqrtm Mt has
therefore been to foster and develop peasant
Industries. The effect of the development
of these industries is being increasingly felt
in the general n~ctivities of the Presidency.
The spending power of the people has been
materially increased, with the effect that, as
n whole, they are better clothed, better fed,
and better housed than they were a decade
ago.
ut is confidently anticipated that, now the
early difficulties have been more or less sur
mounted, progress will be accelerated"
From n table showing the progressive Fe-
suits Of the cotton industry it appears that
it started in 1904 with a product Of l ,25O,bs.
of lint, having a value of SITS, and reached
in 1911, 50,337 lbs. OF lint, having a value
of $15, 800, u fine result.
OF the lime industry it is stnted that 500
brls had been purchased, being IT'S more
than in the previous year, The juice III
casks Of concentrated and 5 of raw had
been shipped to Lopdon, the gross value
being 1922,
Sugar had increased only slightly, 100
tons Of canes having been handled against
80 in the previous year.
The body Of the Report c~outaiDs many
particulars in regard to experiments with
imported seeding canes, hybrid cotton, va
rieties of sweet potatoes, and Of Cassava &c.
The sweet potato is q valuable article Of
food, of which much more could be grown
here than actually is grown. Fifteen djffe-
rent varieties have been tested for 3 years
ut the Tortola Station, and the differences
among them Of weight per acre and quality.
are astonishing; for they vary in these re-
spects from "T. 81 9,876 lbs yellow, not
g0od)to "Gentleman's Table'2.O36 lbs{White,
dry and goody. Some varieties are heavy
bearers and good at the same time, such as;
"Anguilla", 9,151 lbs. white, dry and good)
Oh "Stooner'', 1920 lbs. white and good(
1t may be that some Of the best varieties
are known here. If not, would it not be
advisable to introduce them? The growing OF
the potatoes to secure slips aud the groAing
Of those slips ale very simple matters, and
the reward might be great.