Vol. III. No. 48. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



55 



CULTIVATION OF TEMPERATE FRUIT 

 IN THE WEST INDIES. 



A reference is made in a recent issue of tlie Demerara 

 Daily Chronicle to the efforts which have been made to 

 cultivate Englisli fruit in that colony. With regard to the 

 attempts of the Mayor, Mr. E. A. \'. Abraham, and Mr. M. A. 

 Perreira, of tlie firm of Messrs. 3. P. Santos &, Co., in this 

 direction, tlie Daily Chronicle states : — 



'Mr. Abraham has succeeded fairly well with cherries, 

 which are giving fruit at the present time, but not consider- 

 ing the trees sufficiently grown, Mr. Abraham is taking ofiF the 

 blossoms. Mr. Abraham has also succeeded with pears and 

 peaches, and an American apple tree he planted is now well 

 grown, although it is considered doubtful whether it will 

 ever yield fruit. Several experiments made by 5Ir. Perreira 

 went well until the trees reached the size that Mr. Abraham's 

 has attained, but the plants died after this. Mr. Perreira's 

 efforts with strawberries have been better rewarded. He 

 has several beds in fruit at present, and encouraged by the size 

 and quality of his strawberries, he has decided to e.\tend his 

 cultivation.' 



In other parts of the West Indies the (juestion of 

 growing temperate fruit, although never amounting to any- 

 thing like an industry, has, also, from time to time occupied 

 the attention of those having estates at high elevations 

 where the climatic conditions are suitable for the growth of 

 such plants. 



Thus, in Dominica it is recorded that Mr. George Snyder 

 and others have obtained fruits of English apples and straw- 

 berries at elevations of 2,000 feet and upwards. In Grenada, 

 Dr. William Laing has obtained similar results with apples 

 at liichniond estate ; at St. Lucia, strawberries have been 

 successfully grown at the Botanic Station at sea-level, 

 and from other islands in the Windward and Leeward 

 groups we learn of more or less successful sporadic 

 attempts in this direction. At Jamaica, according to the 

 Annual Iteports of the Director of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations for the years 1897 and 1898, .such temperate 

 fruits as figs, peaches, apples, pears, plums and Himalayan 

 raspberries, planted at IJesource Orange Garden, at an 

 elevation of between .3,000 and 4,000 feet, grew well and, in 

 the case of apples, are said to have ' borne good crops 

 of fruit.' 



The chief difHculty experienced in the cultivation of 

 temperate fruits in the tropics is that of checking the 

 continuous growth of the trees during the winter months, 

 November to February, when plants of all kinds in northern 

 climates enjoy a comi)lete rest. At Jamaica attempts have 

 been made to imitate this condition of plant growth by 

 removing the soil from around the roots during those months 

 and replacing it with the return of spring. The plan has 

 however not given satisfactory results in the case of any 

 stone fruit — peaches, plums, etc. 



With the exception of strawberries, which, as already 

 mentioned, have been found to grow and bear crops at low 

 elevations, it may be assumed from the foregoing, that on 

 small areas at high elevations in these islands the cultivation 

 of temperate fruits on a limited scale is possible. At the 

 same time it is doubtful if it could be made remunerative as 

 an industry. Elevation must always be the main feature 

 in determining the success or failure of such experiments. 



AN ABNORMAL ORANGE. 



A description of an aljuormal orange found growing in 

 British Guiana was given in- the Agricultural Neivs (Vol. II, 

 p. 201). In that case jiart of the fruit had the appearance 

 of a sour orange, and part that of a sweet orange. Fig. 5 

 shows another abnormal orange, obtained through Mr. J. E. 

 Bovell from Mr. H. T. Carrington, of Welches plantation, 

 Barbados. On being di.ssected this fruit was found to have 

 a very peculiar structure. There ajipeared to be two 

 l>lacentae — one thick and displaced towards one side, while 

 what was apparently the second formed a band across the 

 long diameter. The cells were arranged irregularly — most 

 appeared to radiate from the band, the seeds being all iu its 

 immediate neighbourhood. 



Fig. .5. An Abnormal Orange. 



It is difficult to say whether the two placentae have 

 arisen from two ovaries, or whether one placenta is merely 

 adventitious and of later growth. 



Another possibility is that the former of these apparent 

 placentae is not a placenta at all, but merely of the nature 

 of a thickening of the rind due to some injury, or, if this 

 is a twin fruit, a remnant of what might have been a dividing 

 wall between the two. 



MACHINERY FOR SALE. 



A horse-power driving gear, recently imported 

 into Antigua, is offered for sale. This could be used 

 for driving any machinery, such as chaff cutter, corn 

 mills, etc. It can be worked by any number of horses, 

 from one to four, so that tlie power generated will 

 depend on the number of horses employed. 



This part of the machinery cost £11 10s. Zd., and 

 the proportion of importation charges amounted to £1, 

 making a total of £12 IO.s\ M. 



The following is the description, taken from the 

 catalogue of Messrs. Hobson and Co., 17, State Street, 

 New York • — 



Hobson ife Co.'s Iron Frame Horse Gear, No. 14. This 

 is a very compact, high speed, all iron gear, perfectly adapted 

 for driving light threshing machines, cross-cut wood saws, 

 feed cutters, grinding mills, etc. At the ordinary walking 

 gait of a horse, it will develop 200 revolutions per minute on 

 the tumbling shaft. The diameter of the band wheel is 2-5 

 inches, with 4-inch face, but any other diameter will be 

 supplied to order. Price, .$6.5 '00. Weight and measure- 

 ment : — seven packages containing one complete machine, 

 gross weight, 1,235 1b; cubic measurement, 42 feet. 



Applications should be made to the Hon. Francis 

 Watts, B.Sc, Government Analytical and Agricultural 

 Chemist for the Leeward Islands, Government Labora- 

 tory, Antigua. 



