THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.Tanuauy 11, 1908. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



ORANGES IN COLD STORAGE. 



The accompanying note on the above snbjccfc 

 appeared in the Tranxraal AgricidLaml Journal for 

 October last : — 



It may be of iuterost to note that the Tiansvaal Cold 

 Storage t'ompany has set aside a room for cold storage of 

 fruit at their Pretoria branch. A request was made by one 

 <jf our leading fruit growers that this division should try to 

 make some such arrangement. It is a pleasure "to state 

 that the storage people met the proposal in the most satis- 

 factory manner, and now some thousands of oranges arc being 

 kept at a temperature of 40' F., with [mssibly an occasional 

 variation of one point above or below. The fruit is examined 

 every ten days. The first tiiirty boxes were put in on July 9, 

 and up to the date of writing (Septemlier 1) only five speci- 

 mens have shown signs of decay. On examination, these five 

 showed cuts in three cases and thorn punctures in two others, 

 pointing out again the necessity for absolutely the greatest 

 possible care in both picking and luuulling. The fruit is 

 placed in standard boxes (the box holding 2 cubic feet), and 

 the rental i)er month is l.--. per box, or about 8d. per 100. 

 The wi-iter does not look upon this business as an exiierinient 

 tut the gi'ower.s and storage ow ners evidently do. The result 

 will probably be that next season the whole of the s])ace 

 -will be engaged, instead of only small portion as at present, 

 with the advantage that at a slight outlay for storage, the .sale 

 price of the fruit has been increased 100 per cent, in three 

 months. 



COLOiNIAL FRUIT SHOW. 



The tliinl show of colonial-grown fruit and vcgeta- 

 "blcs held in London during 1907, under the an.spices of 

 the Koy-al Horticultural Society, was fixed forXovember, 

 since at that time the produ(-ts of Canada and the West 

 Indies are found in England in the greatest profusion. 



15y means of these exhibitions, which have been hehl each 

 year .since 1904, the ]?oyal Horticultural Society is iloing an 

 •excellent work both in showing the inhabitants of the mollur 

 country what splendid and varied supplies of fruit the Britisli 

 ■Colonies are able to produce and export, and also by art'ording 

 a means for enabling colonial (jroducers to u.scertain whii li ot 

 their fruits are best suited for the home markets. 



licports in the Lon<lon newspapers refer to thecollectionf, 

 <>{ fruit and vegetables at the show of Xovendjer 28 and 29 

 last as forming a magnificent display of produce. This 

 <lescrii)tiou, however, it is to be feared, was elicited more Viy 

 the contributions fn>ni I'.rilish Cohnnbia, Xova Scotia, and 



Ontario than by the exhibits sent from the West Indies, whick 

 were eomijaratively small in iiuautity, although excellent in 

 quality. 



The need of educating home consumers to an apj)recia- 

 tion of the varied fruit and vegetable i)roducts of the West 

 Indies is evident from the manner in which these products 

 were de.'^cribed in the newspaper reijorts referred to. In many 

 cases they appeared to be regarded as curio.sities, but the 

 favourable terms in which the flavour, etc. were desci-ibed, 

 indicate the possibilities that exi.st in the way of a British 

 market to growers of tropical produce. 



A iiromiuent feature of the West Indian section at the 

 late show was a valuable and varied collection of produce, 

 including nearly all the products of the West Indies, shown 

 by the West Indian Produce Association. This was awarded 

 a" gold medal. Another particularly interesting exhibit was 

 a collection of botanical specimens, shown by the Royal Mail 

 Packet Company, and whii-h was awarded the highest prize 

 in its cla.ss. 



The Xorbrook Preserving Company were represented by 

 a varied display of jireserves, etc., and much interest w\is 

 taken by visitors both in this exhibit and iu that of .Mrs. W. H. 

 Shaiiie, of Grenada, who sent a complete collection of pre.ser- 

 ved fruits and jellies. A feature of JIrs Sharpe's exhibit 

 which attracted special attention was the cacao cheese, made 

 from the pulp of the cacao beans. Although neither of these 

 two exhibitors gained a prize, a gold medal was awarded to 

 the West India Committee for the manner in which they had 

 arranged the exhibits from the colonies represented by them. 

 Ileferring to the manner in which the produce was put 

 up tor shipment, the West India Coiin/iittti- Cirni/nr makes 

 special mention of the boxes in which the fruit from Trinidad 

 was packed. They were 13 x 16 inches in size, perforated on 

 two sides, the holes being covered with perforated zinc. 

 Each box contained four trays, in which the fruit was care- 

 fully laid, crushing being avoided in this manner. The boxes 

 were much admired by the judges, who. however, feared that 

 such an elaborate lacking arrangement would l>e too e.xpensive, 

 for i-onimcrcial purjHJses. 



At the instigation of theWestlndiaConunittee a consider 

 alile endeavour was )nade to arouse public interest in the exhibi- 

 tii>n. It is stated that still greater etl'orts will be made t.. 

 liopularize the shows of next year (of which full particulars 

 were given in the last issue of the Aniirii/lnnif Xt-irs), and it is 

 hoped that the Permunent Exhibition Committees will make 

 a joint eHbrt, and indicate by the quantity and (piality of the 

 e.\liil)its sent to London, that they appreciate the.se efforts ami 

 are determined to ilo their best to meet them, and at the .same 

 time to inqirove the trade of the ci4onics to which they belong. 



