196 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS 



June 22, 1912. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE INTRODUCTION OF VANILLA INTO 



REUNION AND MAURITIUS. 



Vanilla was introduced into tlie island of Reunion in 

 1822, by an official of the colony, M. :\Iat chant, who 

 brought the planting material from the Jardin .lu Eoi, Paris. 

 According to the Bulletin Agricole of Mauritius, for March 

 1912, from which this information is taken, M. Marchant 

 saw a plant of vanilla flourishing at the place mentioned, 

 while on a visit to Paris in 1817 or 1818. His surprise at 

 the circumstance that so valuable a plant had not been intro- 

 duced into Pieunion was shared by M. Thouin, the Director 

 of the Jardin du Roi, and in consequence two or three cut- 

 tings were prepared so that they may be taken to that colony 

 on the return thither of M. Marchant. In 1825, one of the 

 plants flowered, and in the following year two perfectly 

 mature pods were formed. His desire to increase the culti- 

 vation of such an interesting and useful plant, led M. ]\Iar- 

 chant to take several cuttings, some of which were sent by 

 him to Mauritius, to :M. A. Geneve, an old colonist of 

 Mauritius, who made the original note from which these 

 details are derived. He received the cuttings in November 

 1827; and after much care, and in spite of damage to the 

 original plant by a storm, in the next year, was able to 

 raise cuttings and eventually obtain the fruit. This fruit 

 consisted of ele fen beans, which were obtained on M. Geneve's 

 property of Eivere Noir. 



THE DOUBLE COCO-NUT PALM. 



At the recent Agricultural Conference, a specimen of 

 tke fruit of the double coco-nut or coco-de-mer {Lodoicea 

 sechellarum) was exhibited, which had been grown in the 

 British Guiana Botanic Gardens {Wat Indian Bulletin, 

 Vol. XII, p. 182). The exhibit possessed all the greater 

 interest because, as was explained, the specimen shown was 

 probably the first example of the fruit produced in the 

 Western Hemisphere. A suggestion was made, however, by 

 the Hon. J. S. Boilings, of Nevis, as to a possibility of the 

 fruits having been produced, in past years, in St. Kitts; 

 though no confirmation of this is so far available. 



As was stated on p. 324 of the last volume of the 

 Agrindtural News, germinating nuts of the double coco-nut 

 have been introduced into the islands of St. Lucia, Dominica, 

 St. Vincent and Grenada, by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, and information given in the article mentioned 

 shows that the introduction has failed in St. Lucia and 

 St. Vincent, and that one plant has survived in Grenada; 

 while the greatest success has been obtained in Dominica, 

 where two established plants were raised from the three 

 germinating nuts that were sent. 



This interesting fact has led to the publication of the 

 illustration on the next page of the present number of the 

 Aijricultioal News, which was prepared from a photograph 

 supplied by Mr. J. Jones, Curator of the Dominica Botanic 

 Gardens. It shows one of the young plants of the coco- 

 de-mer that, as has been indicated, may be seen in those 

 gardens. The illustration has also appeared in the last 

 Annual Report on the Dominica Botanic Station, namely 

 that for 1910-11. 



Coco-nut-growing in Antigua and Bar- 

 buda.- — A report has been furnished by the Curator of the 

 Botanic Station, Antigua, dealing with the extension of 

 coco-nut growing that is taking place in that island and in 

 Barbuda. In addition to the orders for 2,400 coco-nut 

 seedlings received by the Antigua Agricultural Department 

 during April, orders have been further accepted for 

 2,150 plants, to be set out in Barbuda. Apart from these, 

 there are at present 1,000 coconut plants growing in the 

 nurseries, which because of the drought were not sent out 

 last year. The demand has increased greatly the work at 

 the Station, especially as the requirements of planters for 

 other kinds of plants has been enormouslj- enhanced during 

 the last year or two. 



The parts of the island where it is intended to plant 

 coco-nuts are: Brooks, Cades Bay, Yorks, Orange Valley, 

 YeptonS; Fitches Creek, Parham Hill, Betty's Hope, and 

 Hodge's Bay; it is also possible that they will be planted at 

 Gambles, McKinnons, Dimsdale and Claremont. The area 

 to be planted in Barbuda, if nothing arises to prevent it, is 

 about -50 acres. 



