104 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 22, 1915. 



FRUIT AND FRUIT PRODUCTS. 



GREAT BRITAIN'S SUPPLY OF ORANGES 



AND LEMONS. 



'Home Counties', the well known writer "n agricultural 

 matters, baa some interesting remarks to make in the World?* 

 Work of April L915, in oranges and lemon 



Speaking of the different kinds of oranges, it is said thai the 

 cheapest kind arc obtained from Spain, whereas California is 



noteii for the re spensi ine oi the 



good thii i of recent ] a to get the W 



Indies to take more trouble in packing. Jamaica ii particu- 

 lar has excellent fruit, though its pale appearai linst 

 it in the case oi those who have no real knowledge of 

 fruit. 



\- regards I be time « I i rh the En 



market, it is said that Spain begins sending fruit in 

 Novembei and continues to do so until the end of March, 

 though somefruil maj be arriving in May or June, and e\cn 

 August. West Indian fruit arrives from Septembei to 

 December. Jaffa oranges used to arrive between Novembei 

 and March; the Natal and Ethi desian fruits reach England at 



it as the Naples fruit, that is June 



onwards to August and September. As regards the 

 tine i t ad May is I for 



the Spanish fruit, hut 'the West Indian fruit, bi 

 not so acid, is good at all times. 



The mark of a g I orange is a thin silky skin, firmness 



and weightiness. The inferior has a coarse thick skin and 

 a puffy i i Phe author tersely defines the best orat 



the whichi I mo difficult to get out of its skin.'' 



All good orangi hi i nore or less coloured, bul the 



West Indian fruit, 'which is excellent, is more like grape fruits 

 or lemons in tint.' 



Turning m in pai til olat '■, o I hi subjei t of 1< mons, it. is 



re than hri quai ben come from Sicily. 



During the season 1913 11 there arrived in England .Viuonn 



boxes of lemon: Son* 298,000 were from Palermo, 132,000 



from Mi l,000from Naples, 32,000 from Malaga, and 



17,000 i Murcia. Most oi these boxes contained from 



■' il " 1 to too fruits, but some oi the Murcia boxes contained 

 only 



EXTENDING THE MARKET FOR 



GROUND NUTS. 



The hired.. i of the Imperial Institute has forwarded 

 from the Technical [nformation Bureau of th bment 



a Mai- . i n on of finding a market in 



the United K i tl [uantities oi .round nuts 



from British possessions which cannoi at the present tune be 



fully absorbed by the i tinental markets to which they 



have hitherto been exported. Copiesof this statement, the 



principal points in which in low, have been 



extensively circulated amongst oil i lers and produci 



merchants in the United Kingdom, ft is hoped that as a result 

 of this considerable proporti plies will be 



taken by the I inied Km id the ground nuts 



there for the production o groundnut oil and groundnut 

 .ike as well as for edible pui poses 

 The chiei countries of the world from which ground 



India, Si 



Chil i - | I ..due of tli 



from £3,254,246 in the cafe of India, to £171,710 in the 

 Nigeria, The value of the total exports is nearly 

 64,000,000. In addition* attention is being given to this 

 top in other parts of the Empire, including Easi and South 

 Africa and the West Indie|. The chief importing countries 

 for ground nuts in order of importance before the war .. 

 France, Germany and Holland, and the most important. 

 crushing centres, also in order oi importance, were Marseilles, 

 Bordeaux, Dunkirk, Hamburg and Delft. In normal times 

 France imports ground nuts valued at nearly CJ, mill 

 pounds sterling, bul since the war this country hi 

 unable to take its normal supply. For this reason, and for 

 the fact that Germ my i her usual quantity 



ralued it over £1,300,000, the attempt referred to at the 

 'inning of this article of creating a market in the United 

 Kingdom is being made. 



The principal feature of interest in the statement indei 



review is thai which urg. , n ded employment of 



ground nuts in the United Kingdom as an article of diet. 



Ii - Uggested that this material might be more extensively 



employed in prepared f Isas, for example, in thi i of 



peanut butter, and as a vegetable. As regards food for live- 

 idual cake after the expression of oil is one of 

 the richest fi I ng stuffs known. 



As mentioned previouslj in the Agricultural News, in con- 

 nexion with this subject, it isnol to be exp cted thai the area 

 under gn and nuts in the Wi veil] be increased since 



this product is not so important a staple, and cannot be grown 



as satisfactorily as f I stuffs like Indian com and beans. It 



will, however, be of interest to the readers ol the Agricultural 

 Xt>r$ to learn that efforts like the one described in this article 



ii. j. made in the United Kingdom to find an outlet 

 those tropical products wl ption has b isly 



I through the war. 



THE FERMENTATION OF CACAO. 



The following ace I oi an interesting experi- 

 ment conducted in ( leylon, is taken from the TV 

 Agriculturist (FebruaJr) L915): — 



The old method of adding the | of 



ferment g acao to the'jjew vat for fermentation has 



. in order to hasten and to obtain a more '■ 



fermentation throughout. Kut in this case the vinegar WHS 



warmed to a temperature of 78 per cent, before being iddsd 

 to the cacao in order not to check tin it ion, when 



once started. \s one vat will not yield sufficient vi 

 the same am iunl oi wal Ided and mixed wit h 



< gar. tin cacao is not removed from the vat at all 



during this proces . but the vinegar and water well stirred in 



bj beii trampledon, Thus an • vi n temp 



87 pet cent, is i b.ours of 



on. The cacao i idditions of vinegar 



and w.it. i .,! a ratio 'it about 3 gallons of mixed rinegai I 

 watei to about 7.00 lb. of wet • 



Samples oi cacao n this manner and by the 



"i - ii" iry method oi adding cold water have been submitted to 



i Keell & Waldoek, who reported as follows: 'Of the 



two samples o) cacao you sent us foi our report, in our opinion 



cured byyour usual metho 



in gi aeral appearance, [n t be -ample 

 cured by cacao vinegar the break is soft and dull 

 and the dull app arance of the bean prevent* it fn n 

 as No, 1 ijuality.' 



