340 



THE AOmCULTUEAL NEWS. 



October 22, 1904, 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



the 

 the 



PINE-APPLES IN HAWAII. 



The following is a bi'iof sunimaiy of interesting: 

 observations made in the annual report on 

 Agricultural Experiment Station in Hawaii on 

 cultivation of pine-apples: — 



There are two large piiie-apple canneries in successful 

 operation in the island of Oahu. E.xperinients in the cultiva- 

 tion of this crop have been carried on for fully twenty years. 

 Practically all the known varieties have been iiniiorted from 

 diflerent parts of the world. It has been found that the 

 >Sniooth Cayenne is the best adapted to Hawaiian conditions. 



The Hawaiian canned pine-apples are superior in 

 quality to any others now [ilaced on the American market, 

 because they are allowed to ripen and attain their fullest 

 development in the field. The pines have not been aftected 

 by any serious disease ; they are also comparatively free from 

 insect injury. There are many thousand acres of land suited 

 to the cultivation of pine-apples, and the industry is capable 

 of very great expansion. As long as the Hawaiian growers 

 maintain the iiigh standard of excellence now existing, there 

 will be an almost unlimited market. 



CULTIVATION OF ORANGES IN 

 DOMINICA. 



The Hon. Francis Watts writes that while in 

 Dominica recently he visited 'Corona,' the orange 

 plantation belonging to Mr. Scully, in connexion with 

 which there is an experiment plot, under the direction 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, for the 

 cultivation of varieties of oranges. Dr. Watts makes 

 the following remarks on this cultivation : — 



Mr. Scully's oranges look remarkably well, some of 

 them being about to come into bearing. Scale insects have 

 been controlled by the careful use of insecticides. Mr. Scully 

 remarked that the young plants received from the Dominica 

 Botanic Station are in much better condition than those 

 coming from Jamaica. 



The .system of cultivation adojited has much to commend 

 it. It agrees well with the general principles I have tried to 

 lay down. A circle, 10 feet in diameter, is kejit clean round 

 each tree : no weeds are allowed to become established in 

 tliis space, which is weeded at frequent intervals, care being 

 taken not to scrape the soil away from the roots of the tree. 

 The intervening space between the clean circles is not forked 

 or dug up, the grass and weeds being cut down at intervals 

 and used as a .surface mulch. The condition of the soil 

 appears to be all that can be desired. 



FRUIT IMPORTS OF THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



The following note on the importation of fruit, 

 especiallj- bananas and lemons, into the United States 

 appeared in the Crop /I'c^xM-^f/- (published at Washing- 

 ton by the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture) 

 for September: — • 



The fruits inqiorted into the L'nited States in large 

 fjuantities are almost exclusively from tropical America, and 

 from Southern Europe, and from Turkej'-in-Asia. A.s 

 estimated by value, over one-third of the inq)orts consists of 

 bananas ; tlie.se are derived chiefly from Central America, 

 Cuba, and the British West Indies : they are inq)orted in 

 quantities ranging from 2-5,000,000 to .'50,000,000 bunches 

 annually, and their cost, laid down at ports of the producing 

 countries, ranges from s7,000,000 to 8t',500,000 a year. 

 To these may be added annually about 82.5,000 worth of 

 plantains, a fruit closely resembling the banana and used for 

 cooking puriH>ses in some of the Southern States. 



Next in importance to bananas in the inqjort fruit trade 

 are lemon.s, for which upwards of .'^•'^000,000 are expended 

 abroad annually, Italy (Sicily) being the almost exclusive 

 source of supply. These two products, l)iUianas and lemons, 

 regularly constitute in value over one-half the total annual 

 imports of fruit. 



Pine-apples are inq)orted from tropical America in 

 considerable (piantities : the annual i[n[iorts amount in value 

 to 8500,000 to 8GO0,000. 



SPICES IN ZANZIBAR. 



The Ciirisahir Bepmi on the trade of Zanzibar and 

 Pemba contains interesting references to the spice 

 industr}- : — 



The clove crop for 190-3 was an exceptionally good one 

 for the island of Zanzibar, and an excej)tionally bad one for 

 the island of l^emba. The exports were of the value of 

 £186,-399 and £88,592, respectively. Cloves represent about 

 80 per cent, of the value of the total ex})orts from Pemba 

 year by year, copra and cocoa-nuts standing for 16 per cent. 



The exports of chillies from Zanzibar amounted to 

 516,428 It)., valued at £7,116. It is to he regretted that 

 more attention is not paid to the cultivation of this crop, for 

 which the soil of these islands is especially -suitable. 



Thanks to local legislation, copra and chillies are being 

 brought into market in a much better condition than 

 heretofore. Cloves also are cleaner and drier, and more free 

 from khoker and stems. 



