world. Plants from temperate climes are there • seen to grow and
flourish side by side with others from tropical regions; groves of
stately Oaks, in full leaf, mingle with clusters of Bamboo, whose
slender, graceful branches overtop the foliage of their companions;
while beneath the shade of both, Bananas and Arums, in rich pro-
fusion, grow along the banks of pearly mountain streams. Many
valuable and useful plants have, from time to time, been introduced
into the Island, which in other countries are made the source of
much profit: Cotton, Coffee, Sugar-cane, Olive, Tobacco, Palma
Christi (Castor-oil plant), and New Zealand Flax, with other fibre-
producing plants, all now grow wild, and bear evidence to the very
small attention that has been paid by the inhabitants to the soil and
its productions, in the fact that none of them are made use of; and
although in one year no less than 18,267 lbs. of tobacco, and 1620 lbs.
of cigars, upon which a high duty is levied, were imported into the
Island, not a single pound of native-grown tobacco is gathered either
for home consumption or for exportation. Circumstances in the
history of the Island have tended very much to draw away the attention
of the residents from the cultivation of its soil as a source of
profit; and now that they no longer exist to the same degree, and the
value of the soil forces itself forward, the necessary capital for planting
is not forthcoming. The land contained in the Island may be classified
as follows:—
Acres.
Pasture and hayland. . . ..................... . 7,450
Forest trees . . . . . . . , . . . 575
Under cultivation with roots and crops . . . 144
Orchards and g a r d e n s ................................ , 65
Flower gardens and miscellaneous . . . . 50
B a r r e n ...................................................... 1,816
Commons belonging to the Crown (J indif- | , _ „
ferent pasture, •§ barren) . . . . . ] ”
Notwithstanding its limited area there does not appear any reason
why many of the useful plants, now growing in a wild and semiwild
state on the Island, should not be cultivated and yield considerable
profit. General Beatson, in his “ Tracts on St. Helena,”
gives the results of many experiments, showing plainly what the
soil is capable of producing; and although his trials were made
under the most favourable circumstances, and must therefore be
received in their results accordingly, they are, nevertheless, valuable
as showing what the well-watered, rich, basaltic soil of St. Helena is
capable of producing.
The Ailanthus tree, introduced from the Royal Gardens of Kew
ten years ago, already proves that it is favourable to the Island. With
this plant, and the Ricinus communis, as well as the common Mulberry,
growing wild in great abundance, the production of silk at
St. Helena might very easily be undertaken.
The cultivation of the Cinchona plant on the mountain land
was, a few years ago, commenced by the Government; and although
the experiment, after three or four years’ careful management, promised
the greatest success, and cost but a few hundred pounds a
year, it has most unfortunately been abandoned, in consequence of
the efforts of a recent Governor to retrench expenditure.
In the preparation of the catalogue of plants growing in St.
Helena, I have viewed the Island as possessing three different climatic
zones. The first is a rocky belt extending all round the
coast, and for a mile inland; it possesses a hot, scorching atmosphere,
10° F. higher in temperature than the mountain top, with
every altitude from the sea level up to 2272 feet, and, but for the
sheltered and watered ravines which intersect, is quite barren, if we
except the short wire grass (Oynodon Dactylori), a few exotics, and those
indigenous plants which are peculiar to it. Where the term low land
is used it applies to i t ; and the letter C is employed to denote that
a species is either entirely or principally confined to this locality.
The second, or middle zone, is that belt lying inside of the first,
and extending for three-quarters of a mile inland from it, with
altitudes above the sea varying from 400 to 2000 feet. I t is less
rocky than the first, has a climate of about 5° F. lower temperature,
and is characterized by a scanty vegetation, furze-clad slopes,
the native Rosemary and Gumwood trees, with Fir trees and
a considerable amount of exotic vegetation. The letter M is used
to denote those species which are more particularly confined to this
part.
" The remaining portion is the very centre of the Island, measuring
about four miles long, and two and a quarter miles wide,.with .good
depth of soil, and entirely covered with vegetation, where, in the cool
temperate climate on the mountain top, grow the indigenous Composite,
or Cabbage-trees and Ferns, surrounded by grassy slopes,