116 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



April 13, 1912. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE FORCED CURING OF FRUIT. 



An account of preliminary work in regard to the 

 forced curing of fruit is contained in Bulletin No. 2-32 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, just issued. From this, 

 the following conclusions are taken: — 



The forced curing or sweating of lemons as at present 

 practised consists in .subjecting the green fruit to heat and 

 humidity in closely confined enclosures until the desired 

 yellow colour is produced, the time required ranging from 

 five to fourteen days. Different methods of supplying the 

 heat are used with varying success. 



Experiments here described show that heat and humidi- 

 ty are of minor importance in colouring lemons and that the 

 pungent, gaseous combustion products given off by the oil 

 stoves used, produce the desired effect. These gaseous pro- 

 ducts can be conducted to distant rooms by means of pipes, 

 their effectiveness being thereby unimpaired. This suggests 

 the possibility, in using these gases on a commercial scale, 

 of generating them with the burners in separate structures 

 and distributing them to different rooms containing the fruit. 

 A great reduction of fire risk wDuld result from such an 

 adaptation. 



The colouring of lemons is noticeably hastened when 

 confined in spaces con.structed of materials of a porous nature. 

 Sweat rooms constructed of earth, brick, or concrete are 

 more effective than those made of wood. 



A common result of the sweating process is the loss of 

 the stems from the fruit. This loss is supposed to provide 

 an avenue for the entrance of organisms into the fruit, 

 causing decay — a conclu.si©n not justified by the available 

 evidence. It has been generally held that excessive humidity 

 in the sweat room causes the stems to loosen. Experiments 

 indicate that the gaseous products applied alone will cause 

 the stems to drop and that humidity and heat are less im- 

 portant factors. 



It must be understood that the results recorded in this 

 publication are put forth rather as a report of progress than as 

 a finished investigation. It is recognized that further work 

 is required in order to apply the results already obtained to the 

 practical use of the lemon producer, and plans for such further 

 ■work are already made. 



The following note is appended to the summary at 

 the end of the Bulletin: — 



Since the manuscriiit of this bulletin left the hands of the 

 writers, an interesting development from the investigation 

 here reported has been worked out by certain California lem- 

 on handlers. Instead of getting the effective combustion pro- 

 ducts from the rather objectionable oil stoves, these handlers 

 have made use of the exhausted products of ga.solene-burning 

 motors. These motors supply the heat needed for the com- 

 bustion and the energy required for forcing the gases to those 

 parts of the lemon houses in which they are needed. It is 

 probable, however, that this method will prove rather expen- 

 sive unless the energy developed can be successfully utilized in 

 running washers, graders, or other machinery of the packing 

 house. 



NATIVE RICE-GROWING IN JAVA. 



This is the title of an abstract, given in the 

 Bulletiii of the Bureau of Agricultural Intelligence 

 and of Plant Diseases for February 1912, p. 418, of 

 an article in the Bulletin Agricole du Congo Beige, 

 Vol. II, p. 744. The abstract is reproduced here: — 



Rice is cultivated in Java in three different ways: (1) in 

 flooded fields (sawahs); (2) in wet fields; (3) in dry fields. 



CULTIVATION OF RICE IX FLOODED FIELDSl. The ricC fields 



form a succession of terraces, arranged without anj- slope, and 

 surrounded by small banks to keep in the water. The latter 

 is conveyed to the highest terraces, and successively empties 

 on to the lower fields. 



Some time before starting work, at the beginning of the 

 rainy season, the rice field is flooded. The soil slowly grows 

 wet. When it is .sufficiently softened, ploughing begins; each 

 ploughing is followed by a harrowing, and cultivation con- 

 tinues till the surface is transformed into soft mud. 



The nurseries consist of small areas surrounded by banks, 

 which are likewiso'ploughed several times after flooding. The 

 surface water is then drained off, and on the mud, side by 

 side, whole rice ears are placed. After sowing, the nursery 

 is once more flooded. In eight or ten days the water is drawn 

 off during the night, and irrigation after that only efl'ected by 

 day. This goes on for about two months. 



