Vol. XVII. No. 423. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



321 



FRUIT CULTIVATION IN TRINIDAD. 



A special committtee of the Agricultural Society of 

 Trinidad was appointed on Augu.-^t 12, 1917, under the 

 '■hairmanship of Mr. W O, Freeman, Acting Oircctor of 

 Agriculture, to repoit on the above subject. 



The terms of reference to the conamittee were: — 



(1) To a-certain what fruits of merit already e.Kist in 

 the colony, with a view to their cultivation for local use or 

 possible export; 



(2) To recommend the import.ition of any desirable new 

 fruit; 



(3) To ascertain what markets are available out of the 

 colony, especially for citrus fruit, mangoes, and avocados; 



(-t) To recommend measures for the establishment of 

 of a fruit industry in Trinidad arnl Tobago on a business 

 basis; 



(5) To make recommendations as to handling, packing, 

 and grading fruit for local and export trade. 



The committee presented its rej-ort to the .Society on 

 May y, 1918, a copy of which lias been forwarded to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agrienlture. 



The committee recommends that fur i)urposes of an 

 export trade attention should at first be directed principally 

 to oranges, grape fruit, and mangoes. There exist in the 

 colony many excellent varieties of oranges, and ample 

 material is available for their more extensive propagation. 

 Good, well known, commercial varieties of grape fruit are 

 already in the colony, and the committee recommends that 

 other good kinds should also be introduced and tested. 

 Both of the local varieties the committee considers worthy 

 of propagation. 



With regard to mangoes, several of the varietie'^ whicii 

 have already proved successful in the colony seem to be well 

 suited for export. The Department of Agriculture has 

 about forty varieties under cultivation, among which are 

 some Indian mangoes of high reputation. With regard to 

 avocados, the excellent varieties in the colony can readily 

 be propagated by budding, but the supply dnes not eijual 

 the local demand. 



Among other fruit to which the committee draws 

 attention is the Sapucaya nut {/.nvf/iis /.abuiajo). This nut, 

 a relation of the Brazil nut, to which it is usually considered 

 superior, has already beeii introduced, and the plants are 

 thriving in some localities. It ha> not however fruited in 

 the colony as yet. 



Trees of the mangosteen, one of the n.ost rlelicious of 

 tropical fruits, thrive and bear moderately well at the St. 

 ■Clair Kxperiment Station. A limited supply of young plants 

 it usually available each year. The tree does much better 

 however in moister localities. 



There seem to be only four trees of another very highly 

 prized fruit, the Litchi, at present growing in the Botanic 

 ■Gardens. These do not s,eem to have borne very successfully, 

 but the committee considers that trials of this fruit in other 

 localities are desirable 



More attention, the committee thinks, should be given to 

 the sapodilla. by growing plants from specially sele< ted seed 

 of the excellent Tobago strains. Tobago ofters better oppor- 

 tunities than Trinidad for this purpose, as sapodill is are not 

 attacked there by the fruit fly- 



Pineapples do well in sunie localities in Trinidad, for 

 instance at LaBrea, where was forraerly established a canning 

 industry. Experiments are being made with importations of 

 fresh strains of pine apples from Forto Rico, the results of 

 which are being looked for with inrerest. 



it is recoinraended ih-it pap.aws should be more largely 

 grown for local consumption, as there is always a denund 

 for papaws of good ijuality in the local market. 



Attention shfiuld be given, the committee states, to the 

 selection and cultivation of good varieties of guavas. The 

 large spice guava is always in demand locally as a dessert 

 fruit Tobago, however, offers better opportunities for gnavi 

 cultivation, owing bi freedom trom fruit fly. 



.More attention might be |iaid to the cultivation of grapes, 

 which are already successfully grown in a \e^ places. The 

 green Muscat, and some black varieties do well. A dry district 

 with facilities for irrigation will probably prove the most 

 suitable for growing grapes. 



.\mong new fruits which have been received liy the 

 Department of .Vgriculture during the last few years, 

 plants of which have been successfully raised, are two edible 

 passion (lower fruits (PassiJ/nni ,Jii/is) and {P. iiia/iformis), 

 two other species of w hich are already wall known, viz. the 

 water lemon or bell apple (/'. huirifnliix), and the granadilla 

 (/*. (/iintiraiis^nltin's). Selected varieties from Egypt of the 

 date palm are also growing successfully, as are also plants of 

 the well-kown Durian of Malaya (Dinio /Jbcthinus). 



In order to obtain information regarding the possibilities 

 of an export trade in fruit to the neighbouring colonies and 

 elsewhere, the chairman made enquiry of other West Indian 

 Agricultural Departments. From the information received 

 it appears that Barbados is an immediately promising market, 

 while there is opening in St. Kitts also for a small general 

 fruit trade, and in .\ntigua for grape fruit only. Possibly, 

 later on, when the industry has developed sufficiently to form 

 a strong organization capable of doing a steady business on 

 a large scale, a good market might be opened in Canada. 



Six trial shipments made to Bermuda of oranges and 

 grape fruit, to fill an order received from that colony, have 

 been very successful, the gross profit of •568.3'95 having been 

 obtained on a shipment altogether of .514 crates. 



In conclusion, tht committee recommends the formation 

 of a Co-operative Fruit Growers' Association for both export 

 and local trade, and suggests that this could be worked on 

 the same general lines as the Antigua Onion Growers' 

 Association. 



The advantages of such co operation ought to be obvious. 

 Without it a number of individuals casuallj' send small con- 

 signments, of fruit to the market probably in competition 

 with other local producers. The result is that small and 

 irregular consignments of poorly graded fruit prevent any 

 possibility of Trinidad and Tobago fruit of a definite standard 

 becoming recognized in a distant market. Secondly, by 

 the work of a properly organized association the 

 expense of marketing is considerably reduced. And thirdly, 

 what is of most importance, only fruit of definite grades, 

 packed in a standard manner, are despatihed, so that the 

 Association fruit may earn a reputation for uniformity and 

 quality. Such an association could make a beginning by 

 trading with Barbados, Bermuda, and, on a small scale, with 

 St. Kitts and Anligurt.. 



The abnormal prices olttaiued for honey during the pasl 

 two months has caused very many persons to start bee keep- 

 ing in Vere parish, .J.jmaica, while old bee-keepers have been 

 enlarging their apiaries. It is true that the fall in the price 

 which has recently taken place has reduced the profits very 

 much. Tt i.' confidently expected, however, that the price 

 will not go below 12^'. per gallon when the market has 

 become seltle<il (The Jamaica Oleatnr, May 2, 1918.) 



