Vol. VII. Xo. 162. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



213 



GRAFTED CACAO AT DOMINICA. 



Cacao growers will be interested in the illustration 

 (Fig. 4) which appears on this page, and which has been 

 reproduced from a photograph of.i grafted cacao tree 

 growing at the Dominica Botanic Station. 



The pliotograph was taken on March 25, 1908, wlien the 

 tree was two year.? six and a half months olil, having been 

 planted on September 11, 190.5. In a letter acronipanjing the 

 photographs .sent, Jlr. .Tones, the Curator of the ( Jarden.s, states 

 that this cacao tree is 9 feet high, and measures 9 feet 

 through the spread of the branches at 3 feet from the ground. 



bacillo stock.s. Mr. .Tones .states that these young trees try 

 to produce fruit before they are two years old, but at the 

 Station it is the practice to cut oft' the young pods, since it is 

 not advisable to allow them to fruit so early. 



A picture of the above tree, at eighteen months old, 

 appeared in the Report, for 1906-7, of the Dominica Botanic 

 Station, so that persons possessing a copy of this rejiort may, 

 on comparison, gather .some idea of the growth made by the 

 tree .since the earlier photogiaph was taken. 



LEMONS. 



jrmed the subject of an 



Fk;. 4. Gkafteo (Jac.\o Tree .vr itoMiMCA, 2.', Vkars Oi-d. 



At the time the photograph was taken, the tree was bearini' 

 a crop of sixty {xkIs. thirty of which are shown in the picture. 

 Other grafted plants growing in tihe vicinity, and of about 

 the same age, are bearing crops of from thirty to forty pods 

 each. The cacao tree represented is of the Alligator variety 

 {J'heohroma pentai/ona) grafted on a Forastero stock. 

 Graftings have also been made of Forastero cacao on Cala- 



CURING OF 



The curing of lemons 



intoresting article that appeared in 

 a late number of the Agricultural 

 Ji>urnal of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 That this process greatly improves 

 the condition of the fruit is evident 

 from a comparison of a cured with 

 an uncured lemon. The one has 

 a nice fine skin, and is full of juice, 

 while the other is hard ;ind thick- 

 skinned, and the juice is extracted 

 only with difficulty. 



The object in lemon cui'ing is to 

 reduce the thickness and increase the 

 toughness of the peel, anil at the same 

 time to increase the relative proportion of 

 juice in the fruit. As a result of the 

 process, too, the keej)ing properties of 

 the lemons are much increased, and, at 

 times when prices are unsatisfactory, the 

 fruit may be kept over until the market 

 conilitions show improvement. 



Lemons that are to be cured should 

 lie ])icked just as they are beginning to 

 turn ripe, and when about 2J inches in 

 diameter. If allowed to hang until quite 

 lipe they do not keep so well. Lemon 

 growers in California regularly cure their 

 produce before placing it on the market. 

 After the fruit has been gatliered, washed, 

 and graded according to colour, it is 

 allowed to stand fVir a few day.s, and 

 then packed in paper-lined boxes. These 

 boxes or ca.ses are then stacked in blocks 

 of four so as to allow a circulation of 

 air around each case. A tightly-titting 

 tent-like covering of canvas is placed over 

 tlie stacks, and this may be raised when 

 necessary, to regulate the temperature, fir 

 to allow the escape of moisture. The 

 lemons may be left undiM- the covering 

 until they are thin-skinned and pliable, 

 but it is advisable tu place them on the 

 market before the skin shows any signs 

 of hardening. In California the covering 

 tent is usually so arranged as to have 

 sutticient room in one corner for a kerosene .stove with two 

 or thiee larg;e burners. Hy means of this stove and the use 

 of a galvanize<l iron tank about ."i feet in length and 2 feet 

 wide, partially tilleil with water, and placed above the 

 burners, it is possible to raise the temperature of the tent to 

 90° F., and to kee)) it at this ]ioint for one or two weeks, or 

 until the fruit is brought to that pale straw colour which is 

 so much appreciated on the market and therefore so desir- 

 able. It is then graded, packed, and marketed. 



