Problem acid soils have a pH* of less than 5.6 and usually below pH 5.0. The low soil pH is associated with a number of soil chemical and biological characteristics that manifest themselves as the components of the problem acid soil syndrome.
History of Jamaica. The island of Jamaica was colonized by the Taino tribes prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1494. The Spanish enslaved the Tainos, who were so ravaged by their conflict with the Europeans and by foreign diseases that nearly the entire native population was extinct by 1600.
The Arawak Indians, early residents who arrived from South America around 650 AD, named the island Xaymaca or âland of wood and water.â They lived peacefully on the land and the seaâs bounty. Jamaica, the Caribbeanâs third-largest island, was visited by Christopher Columbus in 1494 on his second voyage to the New World. When the Spanish arrived later, they were welcomed by the Arawaks, inventors of the hammock. In return, the Indians were executed or taken as slaves.