Social Impediments to the Cultivation

 of Trees in Jamaica

 John H. Rashford
 Department of Sociology and Anthropology
 The College of Charleston
 Charleston, SC 29424


 Small farmers in Jamaica have a distinct attitude toward the
cultivation of trees in contrast to the growing of herbs, vines
and shrubs. Their attitude toward trees is directly related to
property relations as these are embodied in different forms of
control over land. It is well-known that tenant cultivators do
not in general plant or "save" trees. This is a significant fact.
A decision not to grow trees eliminates many useful plants


from cultivation irrespective of their actual domestic and com-
mercial value. The full consequences of this is, of course,
dependent on the social importance of trees toJamaicans. This
paper seeks to show the importance of trees to Jamaicans and
to indicate the social reasons why small farmers choose not to
plant them and to destroy wild seedlings that spring up in
their fields.


 Small farmers in Jamaica have a distinct attitude toward the
cultivation of trees in contrast to the growing of herbs, vines, and
shrubs. Their attitude toward trees is directly related to property
relations as these are embodied in different forms of control over
land. It is well-known that tenant cultivators tend not to "save" or
plant trees. This is a significant fact. A decision not to grow trees
eliminates many useful plants from cultivation irrespective of
their actual domestic and commercial value. The full conse-
quence of this is, of course, dependent on the overall importance
of trees to Jamaicans. This paper argues that trees are of great im-
portance to Jamaicans and indicates the social reasons why small
farmers choose not to plant them and to destroy wild seedlings
that spring up in their fields.
 Many of the most useful trees of the tropical world are now to
be found growing throughout the settled areas of the island.
These native and exotic trees contribute to the wide range of
vegetable products available to Jamaicans and provide many of
the most valuable commodities for the national market and for
export. They are a source of food, spice, medicine, fuel, animal
feed and fiber. They provide lumber for making boats, dwell-
ings, furniture and fence posts; they are grown and protected for
their shade and beauty. Trees play an important part in the tradi-
tional religious beliefs of Jamaicans and they are an element of
the island's folk culture as expressed through sayings, phrases,
riddles and proverbs.
 To fully understand the importance of trees we must consider
them in the context of intercropping, growing of two or more
crops together in the same field, which is the traditional practice
of many Jamacian farmers. The value of intercropping is that it
simultaneously achieves three essential objectives. The first objec-
tive is to produce, on as continuous a basis as possible, a diversity
of products for household use, for gift-giving and for sale by
growing different species and varieties of wild and domesticated
vines, herbs, shrubs and trees. The second objective is to ac-
complish this production in the most efficient way with respect to
labor, time, money and the intensive use of available resources.
The third objective is, by means of the interplanting as an effi-
cient system of cultivation, to achieve a relatively independent
way of life, free from exploitative relations with estates and small
farmers, and free from dependence on charity and state welfare.
 Growing trees is an essential part of a fully developed system of
intercropping: the ultimate result of trees intercropped with


 VOL. XX-PROCEEDINGS of the CARIBBEAN FOOD CROPS SOCIETY


other forms of growing plants is the creation of what the
agricultural census (1973, p.8) identifies as a "food forest."
 This was the definition given to cases where a
 canopy of tall economic trees existed (breadfruit,
 star-apples, mango, avocado, pear, etc.) in associa-
 tion, with or without a lower canopy of cocoa, cof-
 fee, citrus and other small trees and shrubs and
 sometimes a thirdlayer ofherbaceous crops in spaces
 where the light permits such as kale or calaloo.
 "Food forest" is what others have identified as "a harvestable
 forest" (Geertz, 1971), "artificial woodlands" (Adams, 1971, pp.
 5-7), "polyculture," "mixed planting" (Clarke, 1974, p. 58),
 "tropical jungle garden" (Daily News, July 28, 1977), and "a
 tangle of productive vegetation" (Money, 1972, p. 10). By adding
 to the diversity of plants cultivated, trees make an essential con-
 tribution to the efficient production of a variety of products on as
 continuous a basis as possible. Farmers view this as a necessary
 component of an independent life.
 In studies of small farming in Jamaica it has long been
 recognized that the cultivation of trees is a symbol of land owner-
 ship and security of tenure. Their existence in yards and fields
 reflect a concern aimed at investing for a lifetime and for the
 benefit of succeeding generations. Growing trees reveal the desire
 farmers have to be free from want, charity and dependence on ex-
 ploitative relationships. Tree cropping reflects their efforts to
 plan for the future and their concern with old age and with a
 reduced capacity for hard physical work (Edwards, 1961, pp.
 105-9). In their youth, farmers tend young trees which require
 care but provide no fruits. In their old age, farmers expect to be
 supported by their trees with little or no outlay of labor. This was,
 in fact, exactly what happened. The labor associated with trees is
 the harvesting of fruits and in the districts I studied in eastern
Jamaica, "higglers" (subsistence merchants) were responsible for
providing their own pickers. On several occasions I saw farmers
paid for crops that they had not themselves harvested.
 Given the importance of trees, why would farmers choose not to
plant them and to destroy wild seedlings that spring up in their
field? One very important answer to this question is tenancy.
 There are primarily two kinds of small cultivators in Jamaica,
tenants and proprietors. They share in common the control over
small areas of land cultivated for household use and for sale. They
differ, however, in the form of control they exercise over land and


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