Vol. XVIIl. No. 449. 



THE AQRICULTUllAL NEWS. 



229 



nuifonu ;ippeH,rance, and clayed oacao tends to obtain a 

 higher price, whicli mean.? tiiat liie buyer has been deceived 

 to the extent of any increase in price that he pays 

 Apropo.s of the deceptive appearance produced by clay, I 

 may siiy that two lots of 'black' diseased Trinidad cacao 

 were once sent to a reliable firm of London brokers. They 

 were sent in their natural condition, and also with their 

 dirty shells hidden by a thin coat of clay. The English 

 broker never sees 'black' cacao in bulk. He is only aware of its 

 existence when the niercbants in the tropics mix a little of 

 this clayed, diseased cacao with the t;ood cacao. The effect of 

 more claying was to enhance the value in the broker's eyes to 

 the e.vtent of 13j-. per cwt. in one case, and ISi. per cwt. in the 

 other. However, the manufacturer would soon find such cacao 

 gave an inferior product, and become suspicious of cac-ao with 

 that mark, and it isdovbtfnl if the broker would be deceived 

 in this way a second time. 1 Jaucing is interesting to watch, and 

 adds a little gloss to the beans which same may like, but 

 in my opinion it add.s nothing to the intrinsic value of the 

 cacao. 



Looking at the subject broadly, it would appear that 

 tlie direction in which the West Indan planters can increase 

 tlii-ir efficiency is by the cmtinued study of agricultural 

 methods. For example, if Trinidad planters adopted 

 manuring, etc., as in Grenada, they would doubtless in- 

 crease their output There are many directions in which 

 practice lags behind knowledge Thus, the Department of 

 Agriculture in Trinidad has shown the amazing difl'erence 

 in the individual yield of trees, and if this knowledge can be 

 applied, obviously the output can be greatly increased. 



With the most expensive varieties of cacao, taste, 

 fashion and processts influence the manufacturer in his 

 purchases, but under any conditions, he always requires a 

 large supply of good, sound cacao. I gather that there is 

 very little room for further planting in Grenada, but if 

 planting were done there, it would be an interesting 

 question to decide whether it were better to plant the 

 present hardy variety, with its small, inferior bean, 

 or the high class Criollo. which is the more delicjte tree. It 

 is hard to understand why, in progressive islands like those 

 of the West •Indies, grafting has never been tried on a 

 large scale. I have always understood that Hart discovered 

 in 189b, that grafting was a success, and I remembered 

 that the two unshaded trees in the .St. Clair Experimental 

 Station, Port-of-Spain (which, 1 believe, were grafted 

 by Mr. .lackson in 1908), looked hardy and fruitful when I 

 saw them some years ago. It would be of value at the 

 present time if the Jl'es/ India Committee Cil'Cular would 

 publish a symposium from leading agriculturists on the 

 improvement of the strain of British colonial growths in 

 general, and of West Indian cacao in particular. 



It is probable that the keen competition in cacao pro- 

 duction, which the writer in the Agriaiitural iVca's fears in 

 ihe near future, will be greatly moderated by the continuous 

 rapid increase in cacao consumption ; but there can be no 

 disadvantage to the West Indian planter, in his attending 

 closely to the general efficiency of his methods of production. 



DRY SALTING OF FISH. 



As the result of an emjuiry by the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society concerning the method of curing 

 fish practised in the Turks Lslands. the following 

 statement was obtained and published recently in the 

 Journal of tin- Javudoi AfiricnUihral Society. — 



The fi.sh is split in three parts, two side.s and a central 

 part containing practically all tl.e bones, from the head to 

 the tail, the sides being left hanging by an incli of sk'n to 

 the tail. Tlie fish is then freely washed in sea water and 

 hung up for fifteen minutes to ilriin. It is then laid, flesh 

 up, on a ch'an board, and the fli'sh of the ^ides 'scored' 

 crosswise in inch width<i to the skin, care being taken not 

 to cut through the skin. These cuts or 'scores' should be 

 on a level away from the tail, so thaf \irhen the fish is hung 

 up by the tail, the cuts will gape oppn and admit air Dry 

 salt is then freely rubbed into the cuts and on both sides 

 of the central bony portion, which should have as little 

 flesh as possible left on it. 



In this condition the fish are packed, skin down, one on 

 another, for from six to twelve hour-", when it will be found 

 that most of the salt has been absorbed. They are then 

 gently shaken to remove surplus salt, and hung on any 

 improvised racks, so as to keep the three parts into which- 

 the fish are cut well separated, and presented to a free 

 passage of air and sunligbf. 



Care must be taken to protect fish in the process of 

 salting from the washing efifect of rains. 



LA.RGE WHITE-SEEDED LIMA BEAN 

 IN GRENADA. 



Mr. J. C Moore, Agricultural Superintendent, Grenada, 

 writes as follows : ' This bean, which appears to be a 

 variety of P/uiseoi/ts liinalus, was brought to our notice in 

 191'), when a few plan's were observed to be in cultivation 

 in Carriacou a- d Grenada Locally, it is a little-known bean, 

 though there are indications that it has been regularly grown 

 in one garden here during the past sixteen years. 



' The pods and seeds bear considerable resemblance 

 to those of the Madagascar bean recently introduced in the 

 West Indies by the Imperial Department of Agriculture ; 

 but in comparison with the Madagascar, as grown in Grenada, 

 the pods are longer, more curved, and terminate in a much 

 longer (A inch) beak. The seeds also differ in that they are 

 noticeably larger and more evenly lunar shaped. Twenty 

 average seeds of the Madagascar weighed ■24*8 grams, while 

 twenty of the Lirge White weighed '29'4 grams. 



' Like the Madagascar, the Large White is a plant of 

 twining habit, but with us it is the more vigorous grower 

 of the two, while the pods and seeds seem to be less suscep 

 tible to disease. In the crops of t'lese two varieties 

 harvested in February last, the percentage of diseased 

 seeds was 27 per cent, for the Large White and -'lO per cent, 

 for the Madagascar 



' Sown in rich soil in June 191):j, eight plants com* 

 pletely covered 1,160 square feet of the nursery shade frame, 

 and gave, in February and Mirch, a crop of 2,99'2 pods, 

 yielding in dry seed 18 1b 3 oz — actual weight from 1,944 

 pods, and an estimated weight of 9 lb. 9 oz. eaten when 'full' 

 by rats, out of 1,04^< pods, making a total estimated crop 

 of 27 tt). 5 07.., or an average of 3 Db. fi oz» per plant. 



' The Government Botanist and Superintendent of 

 Public Gardens, .Jamaica, to whom some pods were sent,, 

 reports that th" bean is known there as Uroad Bean 



' The beans, when full and trecn, or dry, make an 

 excellent table vegetable. 



'The plant requires about six months in which to make 

 its growth. Sown in .Iump, it crops about February It 

 well deserves a place in gardens where the requisite space- 

 for its twining vin>=s can be provided'. 



