356 



THE AGBICULTURAL NEWS. 



NOVEMBEB (i, 1915. 



LIME CULTIVATION. 



«ill be noticed thai the extra charges resulting from the war 

 are considerable: — 



ST. LUCIA GOVERNMENT LIME JUICE 

 FACTORY. 



The following repori on thi business working of the 

 Si Lucia l i ' the crop J une 1, 1914 to March 5, 



1915, has been received from the Agricultural Superintendenf 

 in St. Lucia i Mi. \. J. Brooks). 



The factory opened on May 29 with prices fixed on 

 i £24 basis, viz 3s. 9rf. per barrel for ripe limes, and 6rf. 

 per gallon for raw juice, testing L2oz. 



Owing to the abnormal conditions created by the War 

 it was impossible for some months to gauge what the effect 

 would be "ii the lime juice market, and as a protective 

 measure the prices paid for produce as first payment fluctu 

 ated from I... 8Jrf. to 4*. *>/ per barrel for limes, and for ran 

 juice fri m '■>}.,/. to 6<f. per gallon. 



Upon rece pi if the account sales for the first few ship- 

 ments of cot ntriited juice, it was seen that thi- prices had 



risen far :i 1 " '\ e ' : . • ghtesl i xpectations. 



The whole of the concentrated juice shipped from the 



factory between Junt and October sold on the r< 'd basis of 



£,:>! 10*. per standard pipe (108 gallons, testing 64oz. to the 

 gallon 



The following three shipments sold on a £42, £38, and 

 £37 basis, respectively; the remaining shipments sold at £31. 



Every effort was made to improve the quality of the 

 juice manufactured, by straining, subsiding, skimming and 

 careful boiling. In this way the average. sediment wasreduced 

 to -J. 1 , to ."> units. 



Each strike of juice was carefully tested while boiling, 

 and again after cooling, t lie average test for the entire crop 

 being 108*3 oz. citric acid per gallon. 



Tin' produce dealt with was l,ll(i, ; barrels ol fruit, and 

 5,715| gallons of juice, which represents a total crop of 

 2.1'-')! barrels, as against 326 of the year previous. 



The business of the factory was conducted on a co-oper- 

 ative basis. Tie- price paid for produce was based on a -rale 

 of prices having relation to the current market value of 

 concentrated juice and insuring a margin of profit to the 

 factory. The following charges were then deducted from the 

 proceeds: actual working expenses, 10 per cent, interest and 

 sinking fund on capital, <i per cent, interest on money 

 advanced for purchase of produce, and a sum of £50 for 

 < Sovernmenl supervision. 



Under these conditions the vendors n ived a total 



payment oi 9*. Lid. per barrel of limes, and Is. 1 ;>/. per 



gallon of raw juice, this being Is 2|d. per barrel, and 5§<2. 

 per gallon in advance of the price paid to vendors the 

 previous yeai 



The amount paid to the Government, as shown by the 

 attached Balance Sheet, was 6128 14*. as against £13 2s. Id. 



for the year 1913 1 I. 



Ever] efforl was made to reduce the working expenses 

 to a minimum, and the actual expenses incurred in the 

 manufacture of a 12-gallon cask of concentrated lime juice, 

 toting lOT'.'i oz, per gallon, yielding l'.ihV of distilled "il are 

 given below. 



1 1 figures air based on a years work at the 



Government I. inn- Jui I WJtory, and although they are 

 obtained as the result of working on a small scale under 

 somewhat i onditions, the total may provisionally be 



considered repr< itive of tin- industry in St. Lucia. It 



Labour 



foal 



i til for engine 



Packages 



( lontingencies 



Total local expenses 

 Sal J produce 



Less extra charges dm- to war 



I- s, d. 



Thisdoes not include charges for Manager's or Oversi 



supervision. 



The number of persons having business dealings with the 

 factory increased from 'M> to T'J- during the year. Of this 

 number eleven were planters whose individual areas in lime 

 cultivation do not at present warrant the erection and 

 maintenance of separate works. 



The total amount of pi based from this - mrce 



n i- 182| barrels "t limes, and 5,459| gallons of juice, which 

 represents a sum of £554 17s. 7§</.; the largesl total amount 

 received from any one planter being 2,71 1] gallons of juice, 

 and the smallest 7 , ; barrels of linns. 



The peasants dealing with the factory numbered 717. 

 The full name and address of each vendor were carefully 

 taken, and in this way a valuable record has been started 

 which, if added to year by year, will enable the agricultural 

 officers to keep in close touch with tin- extension of the lime 

 industry amongst this class of cultivator. Their properties 

 are being visited with a view to improving the present 

 methods of cultivation and increasing the yields obtained. 



The foil, .wing list shows them, vendors from 



each district having business dealings with the factory: — 



( Castries 1 district ' 342 



Gros Islet i ,, 296 



Dennery and Mabouya ., .'it; 



Praslin „ 4 



Mieoud ,. i' 



\> -• la Raye I »istrict 27 



1 nrs (J 7 



■•re „ 4 



< 'hoiseul „ 2 



Laborie ,. 5 



Vieux-forl „ 3 



< )f the total sum of £1,217 1 Is. !</. paid out by the fac- 

 tory, two vendors received over £100, two over £5 'and under 

 £100, one over £20 and under £30, -even .>■, t £10 and 

 under £20, and light under £5. 



The smallest total sum paid to any one pea- at was t>./., 

 oid t he largest £22 8s. 8<£. 



St. I.I ' I \ ' ioVEKNMBNT 1.1 M i: JlIIC] I' 



VOTOKY. 



Results t"i the crop commencing June 22, 1914, and 

 ending February 27, 1915. 



•Castries District includes Castries and suburbs; Monkey 



Hill; Trois I 'it. hi-: Mark: to iM i on; Babonncau; Cabriche; 



Ti Rocher. 



rGros Islet includes: io... Islet; Dauphin; Marquis 

 Heights; Monier; Monchy; Esperimce; Derameaux; Grand 

 Riviere; La Brolot; Riviere Balata; Paij Bouehe: Garonne, etc, 



