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the West has given to the East the pineapple, the 

 banana, and the guava, it has received iu return the 

 orange, lime, shaddock, and mango, and its fertile 

 soils and sunny climates have greatly improved them. 

 The Bahamas were tho first of the "\Vest India islands 

 to give attention to the cultivation and export of 

 fruit. The first cargo of pineapples was shipped to 

 England in 1842. Iu 1855 the shipments consisted of 

 16.469 dozens, of the value of 3,415;.; in 1864, of 

 61J500 dozens, of the value of 8,510^. To keep the 

 fruit for a voyage of almost twenty-eight days by 

 sailing vessels, the whole plant was taken up and 

 shipped. This was rather an expensive system, as the 

 planters lost the suckers, or shoots, for replenishing 

 their fields, and the <iuautity taken at one shipment 

 was necessarily small. 



Of late years, the bulk of the Bahamas fruit is 

 shipped to the United States, and in 1885 the statist- 

 ics as regards pineapples stood as follows: — 



Dozen Value 



To Great Britain ;a,900 £4,78.1 



To United States ... ... 424,063 46,062 



The total value of the fruit exports of the Bahamas 

 averages about 54,000?. annually. 



These consist of oranges, shaddocks, avocado pears, 

 bananas, coconuts, and sapodillas. Canned or preserved 

 pineapples are also exported, but it would appear 

 that much more might be done in this direction. 

 From a letter received recently from a correspondent 

 at the Bahamas, I learn that " Eluthera and Long 

 Island have doue fairly well this year, selling their 

 pines at 2s. per dozen. But Oat Island, with a popul- 

 ation of 5,000, nearly all engaged in pine growing, 

 has done very badly. The people had plenty of pines, 

 but could not sell them. When I was there in the 

 beginning of August there were several thou.sand 

 dozens still iu the fields, and the people would gladly 

 have sold them at Aid. or iiiL per dozen — a price which 

 would barely cover their carriage to the beach. Bub 

 no sale could be made even at that price. The pro- 

 spects of the orange crop are good, but so long as 

 the fruit is sent to market in hulk in the holds of 

 schooners, good ])rices cannot be obtained, and many 

 cargoes are dam igcd and lost." From another source 

 I learn " that fully one-third of the fruit crop of the 

 Bahamas is lost through want of care in properly 

 packing and shii)ping the fruit." 



The other We.st India islands, with the exception 

 of Jamaica, of which I shall speak presently, have 

 not been able to establish an appreciable fruit industry. 

 The diflSculty is not in growing fruit, but in secsr- 

 ing regular and siiitable means of transit. The inter- 

 colonial steamers of the Euyal Mail Company cannot 

 be utilised, as they have a purely local itinerary. 

 What are wanted are rapid steamers connecting di- 

 rectly with the I'nited States or Europe, and provided 

 with suitable accommodation for carrying fruit. The 

 fruit trade of the several islands at present is as 

 follows : — Trinidad, chiefly coconuts, 43,000/. ; Tobago, 

 chiefly coconuts, 2,600L ; Grenada, 390?. ; St. Lucia, 

 404J. ; Barbados, chiefly tamarinds, 1,305?. ; Dominica; 

 3,4441.; Montserrat, lime.s and lime-juice, 11,000?., 

 St. Kitt's and Nevis, 1,078Z. ; Antigua, chiefly pine- 

 apples, 156?. 



Although Jamaica embarked in a fruit industry much 

 later than most of the others, it now occupies the 

 first place as a fruit exporting country. The value 

 of its shipments is not far short of 250,000?. ; annually, 

 which go principally to the United States. The chief 

 fruit exported is the banana, which in 1885 reached 

 a value of 130,0.0^. Next comes the orange, to the 

 value of 34,003?. Other fruits exported are pineapples, 

 limes, mangoes, coconuts, shaddocks, and tamarinds. 

 The Jamaica bananas are cultivated by both Europeans 

 and negroes, and, according to the season, sell locally 

 for 71. lOs. to 101 per 100 bunches. Small bunches, 

 less than "seven hands," are not saleable. The bulk 

 of the orange crop is yielded by self-sown trees, 

 growing in pistures or native gardens. When the 

 fruit is careful y picked by hind, graded according 

 to 8 ze and de ree of ripeness and well packed, it 



finiift rniy m-rkpt. Tiw 49n»B4 ior Jamaicf» fruit 



99 



is necessarily affected by the Florida crop, but latterly 

 the trade is somewhat brisk, and good prices are 

 realised. Even with the trees at present existing, if 

 attention were seriously given to the subject, the 

 export of oranges from Jamaica might be increased 

 fourfold. It reflects somewhat unfavourably on the 

 West India islands, which can grow this fruit so succtss- 

 fuUy and readily, that oranges from Sicily are still 

 being imported into New York and New Orleans, and 

 thai, after crossing the Atlantic, they are placed in 

 the market in a better and more acceptable condition 

 for buyers than West Indian fruit. This is a matter 

 which, with a little more experience and knowledge 

 on the part of growers, might be greatly changed. 

 With suitable storage in cool chambers, Jamaica 

 could supply the Piuglish market with pineapples, 

 oranges, cherimoyer, water-lemon, sweet-cup tree- 

 tomato, rose-apple, limes, mangoes, and many others. 

 As regards mangoes, thousands of tons are produced 

 annually, and 1 have elesewere suggested that, after 

 exporting the best iu a green state, using others for 

 chutneys, pickles, and preserves, the rest might bo 

 utilised iu the production of a useful spirit, or in 

 the manufacture of glucose. 



The rapid rise of the fruit trade in Jamaica is due to the 

 enterprising counsels of the late Governor, Sir Anthony 

 Musgrave, who secured regular and rapid communication 

 with the States and subsidised steamers, and connected 

 the fruit ports by telegraph and extended the railways. 

 Much is still needed in the way of roads for opening 

 up fruit districts, and for bringing them into closer 

 communication with the coast. By such means, the 

 fruit would be cheaply and expeditiously brought to ^ 

 the port of shipment, and the small settlers en- 

 couraged to embark in fruit culture. 



What Sir Anthony Musgrave did for Jamaica, Sir 

 Frederick Barlee appears to have done for British 

 Honduras. The establishment of a regular mail ser- 

 vice between Belize and New Orleans was the first 

 step in making British Honduras a fruit exporting 

 Colony. In 1880, it exported no fruit except coconuts. 

 Last year it exported fruits, consisting of bananas, 

 limes, mangoes, oranges, avocado pears, pineapples, 

 and tamarinds, to the value of 14,464?. 



A very interesting attempt was made last year to 

 import fresh tropical fruit from British Guiana by 

 Messrs. Scrutton & Sons, who had one of their 

 steamers fitted with a cool chamber specially for the 

 purpose. Bananas and many delicate fruits were re- 

 ceived from the West Indies during the course of 

 the Exhibition in excellent condition. It is to be 

 hoped that all connected with this interesting 

 experiment will resolve to make it a permanent feature 

 in West Indian trade, and induce the English to 

 become as large consumers of bananas and other 

 tropical fruit as the people in the States. 



Before closing my remarks upon the West Indian 

 fruit trade, I would mention that the growing of 

 fruit for export has initiated quite a new departure 

 in the methods of local trade. It is true that 

 fruit-growing in itself is somewhat uncertain, and 

 apt to suffer sudden reverses, but the fact remains 

 that it enables some thousands of sm.ill growers to 

 place land under cultivation and to utilise what othef' 

 wise would be simply wasted. 



Again, a trade in fruit has introduced a systctB of 

 cash payments on the spot, with the result that the 

 cultivator is placed at ouoe in possession of means 

 for continuing planting operations and CJitending them 

 to the fullest extent. As a case iu point I might meu' 

 tion that the fruit trade in Jamaica is the means of 

 circulating nearly 250,000?. annually, amongst all classes 

 of the community, and this large sum is immediately 

 available, without the vexatious delays formerly et' 

 perienced in establishing other and more permanent 

 industries. Bananas, for instance, come into bearing 

 in about fifteen or eighteen months from the time of 

 planting, and as the return is usually from 1(1?. to 20?. 

 per acre, the planter is able, with a comparatively 

 small capital, to establish his land in cocoa, coffee> 

 outme(;9| limas, oraages^ wad coconuts, y/Ukh wboi^ 



