Vol. XVII. No. 410. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



13 



THE EXTENSION OF LIME CULTIVATION. 



The cultivation of the lime tree, which for some time past 

 only received attention in the smaller West Indian islands, 

 is now being extended to several other British colonies. In 

 British Guiana, for instance, in the last few years a consider- 

 able area has been put under this crop. The Government 

 Factory for the manufacDure of lime products at Underneem- 

 ing, the opening of which was commented on in the 

 Agricultural News, Vol. XIV, No. 374, has shown very 

 satisfactory results on the first two years' working. In 

 Trinidad also the cultivation of the lime tree is being much 

 extended. 



A report in the Bulletin uj the Imperial Institute, 

 April- June 1917, deals with the prospect of a paying 

 business in this crop in Nigeria. The variety of lime is the 

 same as that grown in the West Indies and Demerara — viz. 

 Citrus acida. The lime tree occurs in most parts of British 

 West Africa, and in some places has become naturalized. 

 The fruits yield a supply of juice which is consumed locally, 

 but up to the present, export trade is practically non existent. 



The lime tree grows well, and is fairly abundant in some 

 parts of Nigeria, and an investigation as to the possibility of 

 developing trade in the fruits and their products has been 

 undertaken by the Government Chemist at Lagos, who 

 forwarded specimens of limes, citrate of lime, and lime oil 

 to the Imperial Institute for examination. The Imperial 

 Institute reports that the fruits are smaller than Dominica 

 limes, but yield juice equally rich in citric acid The limes 

 are of good qusility, but reports from firms of importers in 

 London, who were consulted on the matter, show that the 

 market for fresh limes in Great Britain is very limited, 

 and the demand not sufficient to warrant the fruit being 

 grown extensively in Nigeria for the purpose of export to 

 British markets 



With regard to distilled oil of limes, it is reported that 

 on account of its method of preparation the oil is not quite 

 comparable with the distilled oil of limes of commerce. 

 A firm of brokers in London, however, regarded the oil as 

 nominally worth from 7s. (irf. to 8s. per ft. in July 1916. 



The odour of the oil was .satisfactory, the colour pale 

 yellow. As regards the sample of citrate of lime presented 

 for examination, which consisted of a fine white powder with 

 a slight cream tint, chemical examination at the Imperial 

 Institute showed it to be of satisfactory composition. 

 Samples of the mateiial were submitted to firms of chemical 

 manufacturers, who reported that it represented a high grade 

 citrate of lime, and that material of similar quality would 

 be readily saleable in the United Kingdom at good prices. 



When it is considered what large areas at present 

 uncultivated, and well adapted to the cultivation of the lime 

 tree exist both in British Guiana and the West African 

 colonies, it seems more than likely that in the near future 

 the trade in lime products will receive much greater attention 

 in colonies outside of the West Indies, and that the 

 West Indian islands at present growing this crop will have 

 to make every effort to compete with their larger rivals. 



Sicily has long been the chief producer of citrate of lime, 

 and consequently the price of this article has largely depended 

 upon the Sicilian output. The Perfunuiry and Essential 

 Oil Record, November 1917, states that the unsatisfactory 

 condition of the industry in Sicily and Calabria was causing 

 considerable anxiety to producers. The condition was such 

 that a royal decree has been issued by the Italian Government 

 to control the production of both lemon oil and citrate of 



lime during the war, and for three months after its conclusion. 

 This decree fixes the quantity to be produced and the time 

 of delivery for citrate factories, and also establishes the 

 price which factories shall pay the lemon growers for fruits. 

 In view of the Sicilian situation, one firm to whom the 

 sample of citrate of lime from Nigeria was submitted by 

 the Imperial Institute, stated that they were interested 

 in the question of assisting the citric acid industry in the 

 British Empire, as at present manufacturers are chiefly 

 dependent on Sicily for their raw material. This position is 

 considered unsatisfactory, and the firm stated that the develop- 

 ment of fresh sources of supply would, they were sure, be 

 welcomed by all the manufacturers concerned. 



Having regard to the foregoing it would not seeat 

 that there is danger, at present at least, of any overstocking 

 of the market with citrate of lime or concentrated lime juice 



FOODSTUFFS IN MALAYA. 



A report of the proceedings of the first Agricultural 

 Conference held in Malaya in 1917 appears in the Af/ricul- 

 tural Bulletin of the Federated Malay States, August and 

 September 1917. 



Two of the papers read related to food crops and food 

 supplies in the Malay Peninsula. It would seem that those 

 States suffer very much like the West Indian colonies from 

 devoting their attention to some one paying commercial crop, 

 in their case rubber, and neglecting food crops. 



Some remarks of the Chairman, Mr. L. Lewton-Brain, 

 Director of Agriculture of the Federated Malay States, who 

 was formerly Mycologist of the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture for the West Indies, in the discussion which followed 

 the reading of the papers referred to, seem particularly 

 pertinent to the present state of affairs in the West Indies. He 

 pointed out that the subject could be divided into two parts: 

 first, the growing of vegetables by individuals for themselves, 

 and second, the general food supply of the country. Far too 

 few planters grew their own vegetables, or planted fruit 

 trees. It was perfectly easy to do so, but it certainly 

 required personal attention. The question of the general 

 food supply of the country was of great importance not only 

 to the Government, but also to the planting community as 

 large employers of labour which was now dependent for 

 its food on imported supplies. Taking the staple food of 

 the country, rice, approximately three times as much was 

 imported into the Federated Malay States annually as was 

 produced. The Government was doing a great deal to 

 increase the food production by small holders, but the culti- 

 vation of rubber had made the small holder so prosperous 

 that he was not anxious to undertake the more laborious and 

 less profitable work of growing paddy. Could not more be 

 done on and by estates to increase the production of food- 

 stuffs? In all other countries he had worked in, where there 

 was a resident labour force on estates, the labourers grew 

 most of their own foodstuffs. In Malaya there was practi- 

 cally nothing of the sort done at all, and the estate labourer 

 was entirely dependent on imported food. As the re-ider 

 of one of the papers had pointed out, there were many kinds 

 of food that could be grown there, and which probably, in 

 course of time, would be grown. It was not, however, 

 a healthy state of affairs that an agricultural community 

 .should be content to continue depending on imported foods 

 to such an extent. 



