Vol. XVIII. No. 447. 



THE AGKIULFLTl/KAL SEWi 



185 



irom which it emerges as pulp, similar in appearance to 

 ordinary sawdust. 



(2) From the grinder the pulp is automatically 

 passed into a fruit press, and subjected to pressure 

 sufficient to squeeze out about (j() per cent, of the oil 

 contained therein. 



(."!) The residue is then thrown into a container 

 partly tilled with water which has been boiled and 

 iillowod to cool to about l.'ifr F. By the aid of a 

 suitable paddle the pulp is submerged into the hot 

 water, and the oil floating on the topis skimmed off. 



The writer of the article referred to states that a 

 similar oil can be obtained from tangerine skins by 

 the same process, and tha,t the tangerine oil is con- 

 sidered superior to orange oil in the perfumery trade. 



The writer also suggests that the juice of the 

 orauffes might be canned, and find a ready market in 

 the United States, where orange syrup is greatly in 

 demand for 'soft drinks.' 



Another suggestion is that after the skins have 

 been removed and the oil pressed out, the remaining 

 portion of the fnut, together with the pulp lefo after 

 extraction of the oil, can be manufactured iiito very 

 palatable marmalade. 



Imperial Preference. 



Those cwicerned with the agriculture of theW est 

 Indies have hailed A-ith satisfaction the definite 

 announcement of the Imperial Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer on the subject of the Imperial Preference 

 when introducing into the House of Commons the 

 budget for the present year. 



According to the Chancellor's speech this preference 

 is secured by reducing the duties on consumable 

 commodities produced within the British Empire at 

 the rate of one-si.xth of the present duty, the only excep- 

 tion being alcohol, for which preference is .secured by a 

 surtax of 2s. (irf. on foreign produced spirit. It may 

 be remarked that all the commodities produced for 

 export on any considerable scale in the British West 

 Indies are benefited by this preference^not even 

 excluding tea, which is exported on a small scale from 

 Jamaica. Sugar is, however, the product which is 

 likely to benefit most from this Imperial Preference, 

 because it is the one of which British sources of supply 

 are most limited. West Indian sugar will now be 

 in the favourable position of possessing two markets in 

 which favoured treatment will be applied to it — namely 

 Canada and the United Kingdom. In fact, in the 

 future. West Indian sugar will enjoy a greater 

 preference in the United Kingdom than in Canada, 

 unless the Dominion increases her present rate of 

 preference, should she desire to continue to attract 

 sugar froni these islands. 



With regard to cacao and coffee, the preference of 

 7.S per cwt. will not only encourage the shipment of 

 larger (juantities of these products from the British 

 West Indies to the United Kingdom, but will almost 

 certainly stimulate their cultivation in these islands. 



It may be remembered that in the old days the 

 cultivation of tobacco flourished throughout the West 



Indies — in fact it was the first form of cultivation 

 undertaken for export purposes by British settlers. 

 The preference on tobacco may well be expected not) 

 only to stimulate the demand for Jamaica cigars and 

 cigarettes in the British market, but possibly to lead to 

 a revival of the interest in tobacco cultivation in other 

 of the West Indian islands. 



The surtax on rum will remove the threatened' 

 competition of the increasing output of cheap Cuban 

 spirit, which menaced the industry in the British cane- 

 grovving colonies. 



sweet Potatoes. 



The importance of the sweet potato crop in the 

 food resources of most of these islands is considerable. 

 In very many of the Experimental .Stations of the 

 smaller West Indies a series of experiments has been 

 carried out for many years on this cmp chiefiy with a 

 view to ascertain the varieties which give the largest 

 yield, and which are best suited to local conditions. 

 From Agricultural Ejirnsion Notes Xo. 2, published 

 by the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 February 15, 1919. it appears that the question ofsweefc 

 potato culti\'atioii is also engaging the attention of the 

 Agricultural Department in that island. It is stated 

 that the sweet potatoes grown in Porto Rico are nob 

 usually of as good a quality as those grown in the 

 United States. The reason given is that the potatoes 

 do not ripen uniformly, and that when unripe they 

 cannot be kept long enough to cure properly. The 

 note states that a thoroughly ripe sweet potato, which 

 has been kept in a pile covered over with straw ana 

 earth for about two months, is superior for eating to- 

 unripe freshly dug roots. 



As in known in these other islands, some varieties 

 are of very much better quality for culinary purposes 

 than others. In Porto Rico, in the Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, the two varie-ties known locally 

 as 'Blanca' and 'Mamey' have proved superior to other 

 varieties experimented with there. Well drained' 

 sandy soils will produce potatoes of much better 

 (|uality than heavy clay lands. It is always advisable 

 also to plough under a good crop of cowpeas or 

 velvet beans in preparation for planting potatoes As 

 regards fertiliwrs, the advice from Porto Rico is to 

 spread in the furrows, which should be H or 4 feet 

 apart, wood-ashes and bat guano, or 200 tb. acid 

 phosphate per acre, and also oO to 100 tb. sulphate of* 

 potash when the price of the latter becomes lower. 

 The fertilizer should be covered by ploughing two 

 furrows together, and the slips planted in the ridge 

 formed. It is advised, in order to be sure of a good 

 supply of plants of any desired variety, to make a 

 .seed bed. For this piirpo.se the potatoes are laid 

 side by side close together, and covered with about 

 i inch of soil. The beds should be shaded lightly, and 

 watered every day, if necessary. When the sprouts 

 are 5 to (! inches long the)' may be broken off and 

 planted out. The seed bed will produce several crops 

 of sprouts. 



