180 



THJE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Jink IJ, 1909. 



WEST 



INDIAN 



FRUIT. 



'MULGOBA" MANGO AND 'TRAPP' 



AVOCADO. 



An interesting conmiiinication relating to the 

 ' Mulgoba ' mango and the ' Trapp ' avocado, both of 

 which are regarded with great favour in Florida, has 

 been received from .Mr. Jolin Belling, B.Sc, of the 

 Agricultural Experiment Staiion, Gainsville, Fla. 



The ' ifulgoba ' is undoubtedly one of the very best of 

 the East Indian iji-afted mangos, and e.vtensive groves of ii 

 are being planted in Florida and Porto Itico. Fruits of the 

 ' Mulgoba ■ variety ship remarkably well, and it is stated 

 that individual mangos have been sold in New York at as 

 luuch as "2.50. eadi, wholesale price. 



Budded ■ Mnlgoba " trees, packed in wooden crates, can 

 be obtained in Florida at •*2 each. Inarched plants are also 

 obtainable. These are usually preferied to those that have 

 been budded, and sell at a somewhat higher price. The 

 mango region of Florida is confined to the southern [lortion 

 of the State. 



Of the many excellent varieties of avocado pear grown 

 in Florida, the " Trapp " is regardetl as the choicest. F'ruits 

 of the • Ti-app ' avocado are greatly superior to those common- 

 1)' produced in tlie West Indies. They are shipped to Xew 

 York, where prices ranging up to 50c. per pear are realized. 



Budded 'Trapp' avoaido trees are sold in Florida in 

 large iiuantitifs ;«r .■^l-.'iO .>ai'h, or .^li'.") per 100. 



LEiMON INDUSTRY OF SICILY. 



An interesting and detailed account of the lemon 

 cultivation industry of Sicily, the harvesting of the 

 fruit, the preparation of letnon juice, and the manufac- 

 ture of citrate of lime was prepared by the United 

 States Consul at ilessina just previous to the earth- 

 quake of December last (in whicli the Consul perished). 

 This report has lately been published, and the following 

 notes form an abstract of thech'ifef points : — - 



The principal lemon-growing districts of Sicily are on 

 the northern and efustern coasts, chietiy at seadevel, and at 

 low altitudes. The char.icter of the soil has a great iiiHuence 

 upon the maturing and keeping qualities of the fruit, while 

 adeipiate manuring, steady irrigation, and proper drainage of 

 the orchards are all essential factors in the production of 

 a good crop. L'lay soil is mi>st suitable for lemons. Fruit 

 grown on light, sandy soil is smaller, of a lighter colour, 

 ripens earlier, cannot be left .so long on the trees without 



deteriorating, and, in general, does not possess -such good 

 keejiing qualities as that grown on a clay soil. 



What is known as ' Verdclli ' lemons are produced early 

 in the sea.son as the result of peculiar treatment of the tree. 

 These lemons command an especially good price. The trees 

 yielding theiu are allowed partially to dry up duriiis; the 

 summer, water being withheld, and a portion of the root 

 system laii.1 bare. In Septe'nber the roots are covered with 

 a liberal fupph* of earth and fertilizer, and the trees plenti- 

 fully irrigated. Blossoms are jjroduced in profusion in 

 October and Xoveinber, the fruit from which matures in the 

 following Augn.st, when the sujijily on the market is low. 



The returns obtained per ad\dt tree vary considerably. 

 I'rom .500 to 1,'200 fruits per annum may be regariled as the 

 usual yields, but a good deal depends on whether irrigation 

 can be practised or not. Under the most favourable circnm- 

 slances, well developed and vigorous lemon trees in Sicily 

 have yielded as high a,s 1,700 to 2,000 lemons and even 

 more. 



In the year 1;K>8 there were produced about 2-3,000 

 pipes of citrate of lime in Sicily. About 100,000 lemons are 

 required to make 1 pipe (672 lb.) of citrate, and it is esti- 

 mated that about one-third of the total crop is used in the 

 manufacture of citrate of lime. The total production of 

 lemons ha.s more than doubled in the past ten years. In 

 1897-8 there w^ere manufactured O..">00 pipes of citrate of lime 

 as compared with 23,000 pipes in 1907-8. The chief reasons 

 that account for this extension of the industry are the im- 

 proved facilities that have been introduced for irrigation of 

 the groves, and for transport of the fruit. 



For the first ten years after setting out a plantation, the 

 spaces between the fruit trees are utilized for the production 

 of nunor crops. Durit^ this period the average profit from 

 the lemons does not e.vi'eed •'?18 per acre per annum. There 

 is, however, a natural increase in the returns from the first 

 year to the tenth. AVhen a plantation has arrived at maturity, 

 .and is in full bearing, the average annual exiJenses per acre 

 may be taken as somewhere about ^'>&, and the avenvge 

 returns at -?198, leaving an annual profit of -^142. These 

 figures, however, do no more than illustrate an averjige 

 result, and it would appear that the returns obtained, vary 

 very considerably. 



The lemon trees freiiuently bear at one time not only 

 ri[je fruit, but smaller fruits in all stages of development, and 

 also blossoms. The lemons are all hand-picked and care- 

 fully siuead upon beds of straw, where the stems are removed 

 and a jirelinnnarv' sorting of the fruit into different grades is 

 rarrieil out. It is esti^natcd that a crop of 70,000 lemon.s 

 can be gathered at a cost of 7c. per 1,000. 



