196 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 20, 1914. 



FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 



CANNED PINE-APPLE TRADE. 



It has been suggested that experiments might be started 

 in Montserrat with a view of testing the possibility of 

 developing in that Presidency a profitable canning industry 

 in regard to pineapples and possibly other fruits. The 

 principal advantages of canning pineapples are as follovps: 

 firstly, this form of preservation enables the difficulty of the 

 bad keeping quality of the fruit to be overcome; secondly, it 

 allows the smaller grades of fruit being utilized; thirdly, it 

 reduces freight. 



In the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. VII, p. ITS, a paper 

 appears on the subject under consideration and sets forth the 

 particulars of the pine-apple canning industry in other coun- 

 tries, especially in Florida, Australia, 'the Straits Settlements, 

 Hawaii and the Bahamas. At the present time Singapore 

 holds the biggest trade in the exportation of canned pine- 

 apples, and the prosperity of the industry in this part of the 

 Far East is said to be due largely to the cheapness of the 

 Chinese labour. 



Of considerable interest is the development of the 

 exports of canned pine-apples from Hawaii. According to 

 Diplomatic and Consular Reports, the number of cases of 

 canned pine-apples (each case contains twenty-four cans, 

 4i X 4 inches diameter) during the period 1904 to 1911 was 

 as follows: — 



1904 . 8,500 



1905 2.5,000 



1906 36,000 



1907 103,000 



(These quantities were exported by the Hawaiian Pine- 

 apple Company only in 1907; seven other companies started 

 and the total export was 190,000 cases.) 



1909 411,000 



1910 610,000 



1911 800,000 (e.stimated) 



The exports of pine apples and canned pineapples from 

 the Bahamas, are recorded in Colonial Reports — Annual, as 

 follows: — 



Canned 

 Pine-apples. Pine-apples. 



Year. Dozens. Value. Cases. Value. 



£ £ 



EXPORTATION OF GRAPE FRUIT FROM 

 EAST AFRICA. 



A small box. of grape fruit grown at Nairobi was for- 

 warded to the Imperial Institute by the Director of Agricul- 

 ture in the East Africa Protectorate in July 1910, with 

 a request for information as to the condition of the fruit on 

 arrival, its quality, and as to whether there is a market for 

 such fruit in London. 



The box contained ten fruits of various sizes, which 

 wer3 submitted to experts immediately on arrival. 



The condition of the fruit was stated to be practically 

 perfect, and its quality to leave little to be desired. The 

 only point to which attention was drawn was that these fruits 

 from Nairobi contained more pith than the grape fruit 

 received from Jamaica and California, and this fact might 

 detract a little from their value when placed in competition 

 with fruit from those countries. This slight defect will, 

 however, probably not exist in fruit gathered from older 

 trees. 



The commercikl value in the United Kingdom of grape 

 fruit from the East Africa Protectorate will depend on (1) 

 the time of year at which it can be placed on the mirket, 

 and (2) the grading and packing of the fruit. 



During the months of July and August there are prac- 

 tically no arrivals of grape fruit in Europe. If any quantity 

 of the fruit could be landed in this country from the East 

 Africa Protectorate during those two months 'in the present 

 case the fruit reached London on August 24) a very profit- 

 able business would result, and prices averaging from \os. to 

 20s. per case could be obtained. During the other months 

 of the year Jamaica and California send fair supplies of grape 

 fruit which realize prices ranging from 10s. to 14s. per case. 

 The fruit is graded into several sizes. The largest size, 

 which is larger than any of the fruits in the present sample 

 from Nairobi, is packed in boxes, each containing 54 fruits. 

 The 'count' increases as the size diminishes, and the smaller 

 grades comprise 64, 72, 80, 90, 96, and 112 fruits in a box. 

 The small 'counts' which consist of the larger fruits, are of 

 course the more valuable. The boxes in which the fruits are 

 packed measure 2 feet x 1 foot x 1 foot and each box has 

 a partition in the middle to strengthen it. 



The fruits are wrapped in tissue paper and packed 

 diagonally to avoid crushing, and it is essential that each 

 box should be packed quite full, whatever grade of fruit it 

 contains, so that the fruit does not get shaken about and 

 bruised. The care taken in the packing will be well repaid 

 by the superior conditions of the fruit on arrival. 



There is a steady increase in the demand in this country 

 for grape fruit, which has been growing in popular favour 

 for some years past, and a constant supply from the East 

 Africa Protectorate would find a ready sale. {Bidletin of 

 the Imperial Institute, Vol. IX, No. 1.) 



Readers who are interested in the subject under consid- 

 eration from the practical standpoint may be referred to an 

 article entitled 'Fruit Canning and Bottling' in the South 

 Wales Agricultural Gazette, Vol. XVII, Part VII, and to 

 another which describes a cheap canning outfit, in the Natal 

 Agricidtiiral Journal, Vol. IX, p. 1,081. 



In St. Lucia the cacao crop has suffered in some locali- 

 ties from drought, though the yields have been fair. Limes 

 promise a good crop, commencing in June. The general 

 cultivation is extending. As regards sugar, the yields are 

 poor throughout the island owing to climatic conditions and 

 disea.se. At the Experiment Station at Reunion, budding 

 and grafting of oranges and mangoes have been in progress, 

 and the preparation of land and the sowing of cotton. 

 Ground nuts received from Montserrat have also recently 

 been sown. 



