The export of cinchona bark from the Government Plantation to the 30th September, 1884, was 73,533 pounds of the value of £16,327. There was no exportation in 1885. A consignment of 150 bags of various qualities was despatched to London in December, 1886. The bark weighed 17,009 pounds and was sold for £542 98. There has been no export since that time. Mr. Thomson retired on pension in 1878, and in December, 1879, the Department was placed under the Directorship of Mr. D. Morris. After the appointment of Mr. D. Morris in 1886 as Assistant Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, the Department was placed under the charge of the present Director, Mr. W. Fawcett, of the Natural History Department of the British Museum. In the report of the Royal Finance Commissioners this Department is mentioned as follows: "In a purely agricultural country like Jamaica a well organized Department of Gardens and Plantations is invaluable, not only for introducing and propagating such plants as are most suitable to the climate and soil, but also for the dissemination of the knowledge requisite to cultivate the products of the island to the best advantage. We found that this Department has done good work, and the public appreciation of the opportunities afforded by it is spreading fast." CULTIVATION. RETURNS published by the Revenue Department for the year ending 31st July, 1897, and compiled from ingivings made by taxpayers under the provisions of Laws 26 of 1868 and 17 of 1890, show the acreage alienated from the Crown and vested in individuals or Trusts as 1,881,709. Of these 1,218,149 acres or 64.7 per cent. are returned as being in wood and ruinate, and 663,560 acres as under care and cultivation. This latter acreage may in its turn be divided into land appropriated to pastoral purposes, and that devoted to agriculture in the more limited application of the term, 498,916 acres or just under 75.1 per cent. of the whole being grazing lands and 164,644 acres of lands which have been subjected to tillage. Of the tilled lands 28,764 acres or 24.9 per cent. are under cultivation of cane, and, besides providing for home consumption, the products of this crop exported during the year ended 31st March, 1898, were as follows: Sugar, 284,375 cwt., valued at Rum, 1,379,278 galls., valued at ... £120,958 92,052 The area in cultivation of coffee is given as 22,387 acres or 13.6 per cent. of the crop lands, and the exports of the berry amounted to 85,410 cwt., valued at £165,494. Next in extent is the area in bananas which is shown at 19,760 acres, the output of this fruit reaching the considerable total of 6,981,858 bunches, valued at £445,866. Cocoanut palms are shown to cover an area of 10,799 acres, the Export Table giving the shipments at 11,533,726 nuts, valued at £39,648. The only other specific cultivation covering any appreciable area, with the exception of Ground Provisions which cover an area of 80,656 acres, is that of cocoa which is returned as 1,611 acres, the exports being 16,015 cwt., valued at £37,435. The Department of Public Gardens and Plantations issues a Monthly Bulletin, affording information "on cultural industries, and on the diseases of plants, on soils and on native plants." The Bulletin is supplied free of cost to residents in the Island, and is a most useful agent in the dissemination of information among all classes. A course of lectures on Agriculture was delivered under the auspices of the Jamaica Institute and has been published during the past year. The work on "Tropical Agriculture," by Dr. Nicholls, which gained the prize of £100 offered by the Government of Jamaica, and published by the Government Printer, has lately been republished by Messrs. Macmillan, London. The following are the tables showing the area under cultivation in each of the last ten years: 1888 1889 1890 1891 7,816 9,959 1892 8,981 14,860 32,486 21,450 1893 9,061 17,297 Cacao. |