356 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 12, 1910. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



SUCCESSFUL USE OF FLORIDA BUD- 

 WOOD IN THE WEST INDIES. 



A communication has lieen received from Mr. J. Jones, 

 Curator of the Botanic Station, Dominica, which gives 

 interesting particulars as to the success which has been 

 obtained at that station in budding superior varieties of 

 grape-fruit on sour orange stocks. 



The budwond was received from Messrs. Reasoner Bros., 

 Florida, at tlie beginning of last June. On its arrival, it 

 was employed for the purpose of budding, in the way men- 

 tioned. The following table shows the amount of success 

 that was obtained in this: — 



The results show that plants of all the varieties that 

 ■^rere imported were secured. As !Mr. Jones points out, they 

 are good, considering that three weeks elap.sed between the 

 time that the l)udwood left Florida and the time at which it 

 was w^orked on to the stocks, in Dominica. 



The communication goes on to state that, from a few of 

 the more advanced plants, budvvood is already being taken 

 for propagation, and that considerable supplies of budding 

 material should be available, from the plants raised, for dis- 

 tribution early in next year. It is suggested that, where 

 such material will be retjuired by Botanic Stations, prepara- 

 now, for the reception of the budwood, 

 number of sour orange stocks on which 



tions should be made 

 by the provision of a 

 it is to be employed. 



It is pointed out, further, that the best method of 

 importing new varieties of citrus fruits into the West Indies 

 for propagation is by means of budwood. When the buds are 

 worked on sour orange stocks of the local kind, better plants 

 are obtained than when stocks already budded are imported. 

 This is due to the fact that the conditions tinder which the 

 stocks grow, in Florida, are veiy different from those which 

 obtain in the West Indies. 



A USEFUL VARIETY OF SORREL. 



The Yearhool: of the United Sates Department of 

 Agriculture, for 1909, describes a new vaiiety of red 

 sorrel (Hibiscus Sahdari fa), the account of "which is 

 reproduced below. Recent information concerning the 

 sorrel (or roselle) has.been given in the Agrivuliural 

 News, Vols. VII, p. 244, and VIII, p. 388:— 



Tho roselle, Ililjlscus Sabdarlffa, Linn., though native 

 to the Old World Tropics, has long been sparingly introduced 

 to the West Indies and elsewhere in tropical America. It 

 was reported in Jamaica as early as 1707 by Hans Sloane, 

 who stated that it was planted in most gardens of that 

 island, where, 'The capsular leaves are made use of for making 

 Tarts, Gellies, and Wine, to be used in fevers and hot dis^ 

 tempers, to allay heat and quench thirst.' In Florida, where 

 the date of its introduction, though unrecorded, is evidently 

 recent, it is very commonly known as ' Jamaica Sorrel', and 

 in parts of tropical America, notably the Canal Zone, it bears 

 this name, indicating the .Jamaican channel through which 

 the species was probably distriliuted in the New World. 

 Notwithstanding its long recognition as a valuable plant in 

 both the Old and the New World.s, little attention appears 

 to have been paid to the development of improved strains 

 until recently. In fact, so far as known, the Victor is the 

 first variety or race to be dignified with a varietal name. 

 This is probably due to the fact that in India, as has been 

 stated by Wester, the species, though recognized as possessing 

 edible qualities, has chiefly been grown as a fibre plant rather 

 than for its edible calicos, the portion prized in the . American 

 tropics. As the plant is a tropical annual, requiring at least 

 six months of warm weather free from frost to bring it up to 

 the beginning of its harvest period, and about two months 

 more to mature its full crop, its chief interest to American 

 planters will be in southern Florida and frost-free localities 

 in California, together with Porto Itico, the Canal Zone, 

 Hawaii and the Philippines. Its luxuriant growth and great 

 productiveness may render it sufficiently profitable in some 

 sections, where frost occurs too early to permit its seed to 

 ripen, however. It appears not improbable that earlier 

 maturing varieties may yet be developed which may be 

 adapted to a considerable portion of the cotton states. 



The Victor was originate! at Miami, Florida, by Mr. P. J. 

 Wester, Special Agent in the Bureau of Plant' Industry. 

 Having obtained a few plants of the common roselle in 1904 



