I have been obligingly furnished by Mr. W. Purdie, the able Government botanist of Trinidad, with a short essay upon the cultivation of the cacao tree, with which many of the valleys of that island are so beautifully adorned, and which, at one time, poured into that now unfortunate colony so large a stream of wealth.  Fortunately the cacao planter of the island has managed to survive the many years of depression under which—­like sugar now—­the cacao cultivations lingered and sunk, and which brought the once wealthy planter down to poverty and misery.  His prospects, however, are gradually improving.

The opinions put forth by Mr. Purdie, on the subject of which he treats, will be found to run counter to the long-established practice hitherto pursued in the treatment of cacao plantations; but it must not be forgotten that these are the opinions of a person with whom the study of trees, their physiology and functions, has been not merely an amusing science, but an adopted employment, and whose acquirements in this respect, previous to his arrival in the colony, recommended him for selection as the agent to extend through South America (the great cacao region) the investigations of one of the most noted botanical gardens in Europe.

Mr. Purdie says:—­

“In the present depressed times, it behoves us to look well into the resources of our fertile island, particularly as far as any improvement can be suggested capable of averting, at least, a part of the misery and ruin that is hovering over us, and which is too eagerly borne on the lips of all classes of the community, instead of using our efforts to do what we can to meet the difficulty; but few seem to inquire whether we make the most of our present means or not, whilst every one rather joins in the cry that sugar fetches little or nothing, and it is no uncommon thing to hear the complaint transferred from sugar to cacao.

It is but too true that the markets are at present lamentably against the most important branch of our industry, under the present manner of sugar cultivation and manufacture in this island.  But it can hardly be admitted that the same is the case in that of cacao—­also a very important branch of our agriculture.

My attention has been lately directed to the average produce per tree, which will, I hope, throw some light on its cultivation.  From fifteen cacao trees, which are all there are at St. Ann’s, I have this year gathered 115 lbs. of cacoa (dried), and at present there is at least 50 lbs. more ripe on the same trees.  This gives 165 lbs. of cacao from fifteen trees, or 11 lbs. per tree.  These cannot be considered fine trees; on the contrary, they are what would be considered ordinary ones; therefore the average in this case is fair, and differs materially from selecting the produce of fifteen trees from a large plantation, and giving the average return of what might be obtained from cacao cultivation.