He believes that the cacao needs no shade after the third year; and that, till then, shade would be amply given by plantains and maize set between the trees, which would, in the very first year, repay the planter some 6500 dollars on his first outlay of some 8000.

It is not for me to give an opinion upon the correctness of his estimates: but the past history of Trinidad shows so many failures of the cacao crop, that even a practically ignorant man may be excused for guessing that there is something wrong in the old Spanish system; and that with cacao, as with wheat and every other known crop, improved culture means improved produce and steadier profits.
As an advocate of 'petite culture,' I heartily hope that such may be the case.

I have hinted in these volumes my belief that exclusive sugar cultivation, on the large scale, has been the bane of the West Indies.
I went out thither with a somewhat foregone conclusion in that direction.

But it was at least founded on what I believed to be facts.

And it was, certainly, verified by the fresh facts which I saw there.