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quired increased growth. After the bananas are dispensed 

 with and the field is made clean, the best catch-crops will be 

 leguminous plants, such as "quick-increase" peas, or the like, 

 the seeds of which may be taken as profit while the stalks 

 are used as a mulching to the kolas, or turned in green as a 

 manure. Although the kola tree will no doubt bear a good 

 deal of neglect, it will be sure to repay careful attention to 

 cultivation by stirring and manuring the soil; the growth of 

 catch-crops thus securing an important end. It will be pos- 

 sible by cultivating bananas and intervening crops, to estab- 

 lish a kola plantation almost free of cost, which when es- 

 tablished could be maintained at very little expense, and 

 would be sure to bring in very profitable returns. 



The kola harvest in Jamaica is from June to September, 

 with occasional fruits at other seasons. As soon as the pods 

 begin to open, the seeds are mature, and the fruit may then 

 be picked. The seed is removed from the pods, and the 

 soft yellow seed-coveriug or episperm is removed from the 

 seed. There are two methods of drying in vogue that by 

 drying in the shade, and that by drying in the sun. The 

 former method is thought to give a finer appearance and a 

 heavier yield; the latter is believed to be the better prepara- 

 tion for export. The kola-nut is a seed of very complex 

 composition; and one of its constituents, glucose, has a strong 

 attraction for water, and soon gives rise to mouldiness when 

 exposed to damp. In a hot, moist atmosphere, like the hold 

 of a steamer, these nuts are prone to undergo fermentation; 

 on this account they require to be thoroughly dried in the 

 sun until they are perfectly cured. Being of comparatively 

 large size, they require long drying, and to withstand a 

 sea-voyage they require careful packing. The price to be 

 realized depends greatly or entirely on soundness on arrival, 

 and the greatest pains should be taken to secure this end. 

 The nuts should be packed in barrels or tierces with the 

 same care that is given to our high-mountain coffee. As the 

 trade in this article opens up with the United States, as it 

 is sure soon to do the planters and shippers in this island 

 will gain by the shorter voyage to America, for the risk of 

 shipments spoiling during transit will thereby be lessened. 

 It is also a point worthy of consideration w r hether kola-coffee 

 and kola-chocolate might not advantageously be prepared 

 in the island for export. 



Gentlemen, in bringing these remarks to a close, I wish 

 to present you with material for reflection as an outcome of 

 the facts developed in the course of the lecture, that this 

 island has among its possible and actual resources the pro- 

 duction of the four leading beverage substances of commerce 

 tea, coffee, chocolate and kola; and that such a combination 



