132 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 23, 1904. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



THE MANGO IN JAMAICA. 



The Jamaica Li'ddn' of ilarch 2.5 has the follow- 

 ing interesting note on the history of the mango in 

 that island : — 



The jjlants found on board the vessel captured by Lord 

 Rodney -nere lodged in a garden near Gordon Town, and 

 twelve years afterwards, in 1794, an advertisement ajijieared 

 in the Jioi/al Gnzttte offering eighteen jilants for distribution, 

 .six for each county. This was the nucleus of its cultivation in 

 Jamaica, and such a congenial home did the mango find 

 here, that thirty-two years after it was iiitroduceil it was 

 described as being 'one of the connnonest fruit trees, in a great 

 number of varieties." The next time that we find 'new blood' 

 brought in is in 1869, when Sir .John Peter Grant imported 

 from India two cases of grafted mangos, the first containing 

 six varieties, the .second twelve. Among these was the 

 famous ' Bombay.' After this the number of fresh varieties 

 introduced quickly increased in number, and in the succeeding 

 years, up to 1901, young imported jilants have been grown 

 in the ishmd, and swelled the numbers of this delicious fruit. 

 In conclusion, a few words about the king of mangos, the 

 No. 11, may not be uninteresting. According to one account 

 it was the first that came into the island, the ])lants on the 

 captured French vessel all being nundjered — No. 11 being 

 the famous variety. It has, however, been also said tliat the 

 numbering took ]iliice many years later, when the different 

 kinds of mangos then in .Jamaica were thus enumerated to 

 distinguish them one from the other. 



SELECTION OF FRUIT FOR EXPORT. 



In a leading article entitled ' Some jilain words to our 

 lianana planters,' the Jamaica Daily Tflegrajih of April .5 

 mentions that the last Direct Line Steamer had taken 

 a cargo of nearly 2,000 bunches of bananas — the first 

 shipment since the hurricane of August last. In conuexion 

 with this shipment, it is stated, an inqiortant fact is to be 

 noticed, viz., the large number of rejections. This, of course, 

 ■was due to the temptation of grower.s, particularly those 

 with onl_y a few acres who must have been suffering keenly 

 from lack of money, to ship as much fruit as possible 

 regardless of its suitability, or otherwise, for the market. 

 The article continues : — 



' When will our planters learn to be wise 1 Had the 

 rejected bunches only been allowed to remain on the trees 

 two or three weeks longer they would have been fit for 

 shipment, and would almost certainly have been purchased 

 by the representatives of Messrs. Elders and Fyfles, Ltd., or 



the Ignited Fruit Co. As it was, they were not purchased ; 

 and the growers were the losers. We should like to .see our 

 lianana iilanters acting in a manner which would show that 

 they possess a real grasp of the existing situation. The 

 United Fruit Co. and Messrs. Klders and Fyffes, Ltd., are 

 not gi>ing to buy fruit which they will iKjt be able to .sell 

 when they land it in America or I'-ngland. Is not that 

 fact self-evident ; If .so, why court disaster by i-utting fruit 

 which is sure to lie rejected ? ' 



COCOA-NUT CULTIVATION IN THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



The Bureau of Agricultiuv of the Philipjiines has 

 iceently issued a Bulletin on cocoa-nut cultivation. 

 The Bulletin deals with the history and botany of the 

 cocoa-nut palm, the uses of the various products and 

 the methods of cultivation, including the treatment of 

 insect pests and the renovation of old groves. The 

 following is a summary ofthe conclusions arrived at by 

 the author (ilr. W. S. Lyon, Otticer-in-charge of the 

 i)i\ision of Plant Industry): — 



The present conditions present esiieeially flattering 

 attractions to cocoa-nut growers capable of undertaking the 

 cultivation uiion a .scale of some magnitude. By co-ojiera- 

 tion, small estates could combine in the common ownership 

 of machinery, whereby the products of the groves could be 

 converted into more jirotitable substances than copra. 



The present iiroduction of coiira is an assurance of a 

 sufficient supply to warrant the erection of a high-class 

 modern plant for the manufacture of the ultimate (the 

 'butter) products of the nut. The products of such an 

 enterprise would be increased by the certainty of a local 

 market in the Philippines for .some part of the output. The 

 average market value of the best grades of copra in the 

 ^larseilles market is iJ-J-t-IO, gold, jier English ton. 



The miniimim size of a idantation, on which economical 

 application of oil and fibre-preparing machinery could be 

 made, is CO hectares [148-26 acre.s]. 



The natural enemies and diseases of the plant are 

 relatively few, easily held in check by vigilance and the 

 exercise of competent business management. 



In view of an ever-ex [landing demand for cocoa-nut 

 ]iroduct.s, and in the light of the foregoing condusion.s, the 

 industry, when jirosecuted upon a considerable scale and 

 subject to the requirements previously set forth, jiromises for 

 many years to be one of the most profitable and desirable 

 enter|irises which command the attention of the Filiiiino 

 planter. 



