April i, 1887.] I'HE TROPI.CAL AGRICULTURIST. 



599 



only 2s. 6d. each. Pineapples for the American market 

 from the West Indies are packed in barrels, and some- 

 times in bulk, but the loss, which in both cases is 

 great, might be saved by packing in light boxes or cold 

 storage. Grapes are largely received in England during 

 the winter months, and they come chiefly from Spain, 

 packed in corkdust, in barrels or half-barrels. They 

 fetch from 10s. to 20s. per barrel. Growers in Australia 

 and the Cape would do well to ship only the best 

 fruit, known to keep well, and possibly they would 

 find paper the best substitute for cork-dust. OhafF 

 packing or ordinury sawdust would appear not to 

 answer. < 



So far, I have said nothing respecting special storage 

 for fruit during transit. This is a subjefct which has 

 already received some attention, but it is evident that 

 special chambers in fast-going steamers will become 

 a necessity, if trade in fresh fruit between the Colonies 

 and the Mother Country is to be thoroughly successful. 

 The question of storing fruit to keep during long 

 Toyages has often been discussed, and numerous experi- 

 ments have been tried, with results more or less satis- 

 factory. In the first place, it is absolutely necessary 

 that all perishable fruits intended to be shipped should 

 be gathered before they are ripe. The exact condition 

 when export fruit should be gathered requires some 

 experience ; but it is understood in the West ludian 

 expression of " full fruit." It is necessary the fruit 

 should have attained its maturity as regards size, but 

 not in the elaboration of the juices, which gives it its 

 ultimate sweet flavour. What is sought by a special 

 chamber on board ship is to retard the ripening process of 

 the fruit as much as possible without affecting its flavour 

 — in fact, to keep the active principles of life in the 

 fruit in such a state of suspense that it will travel long 

 distances before the ripening process is accomplished. 

 The question is: How can this be done most 

 cheaply and efficaciously ? In some experiments tried 

 on board the S.S. '•Jvanhoe," trading between Jamaica 

 and New York, a chamber was fitted to contain 

 nothing but nitrogen gas It was believed that if, 

 deprived altogether of oxygen, the fruit could not 

 ripen, or, in other words, it could not undergo the 

 slow combustion which is a necessary concomitant 

 to the process of ripening. This experiment, although 

 interesting in itself, failed, because its promoters 

 overlooked a well-known fact in vegetable physiology. 

 They found that while the outer-portion of the fruit 

 by means of nitrogen gas was kept from ripening, 

 the inner cellular portions sot up a state of incipient 

 fermentation, which rendered the fruit at the end 

 of the voyage absolutely worthless. Of other ex- 

 periments I need not speak here. So far as we can 

 gather at present, it would appear that a cool and 

 well-ventilated chamber, in which the temperature 

 is kept uniformly '.ow, and in which the air is fairly 

 dry, is the most efficacious of any for the transport 

 of perishable fruits. 



Probably the first successful attempt to import 

 fresh tropical fruit in a specially, prepared or cool 

 chamber was made by Messrs. Scrutton, Sdus & Co., 

 of Gracechurch Street, in the S.S. "Nonpareil," in 

 May 1886. The consignment consisted of 400 bunches 

 of bananas, some sapodilla, the bell-apple or water- 

 lemon, and loquat. In subsequent consignments there 

 were brought bananas, pine-apples, alligator pears, 

 bread-fruit, papavr, limes, oranges, and tomatoes. 

 These fruits were brought from JBritish Guiana, and 

 arrived in excellent condition after a voyage of 

 twenty-one days. The cool chamber on board the 

 " Nonpareil " had a capacity for nearly 1,200 bunches 

 of bananas, and by means of a refrigerating machine 

 fitted by Haslam, of Derby, a dry equable temper- 

 ature of about 39 to 41 degrees was maintained 

 during the whole voyage. This is probably the lowest 

 temperature necessary for fruits, otherwise it would 

 be frozen and possibly be spoiled. A regular tem- 

 perature of about 45 degrees might, under ordinary 

 circumstances, be sufficient to keep well-selected 

 and not over-ripe fruit in good condition, and espe- 

 cially if provision is made for keeping the air in 

 the chamber as dry as possible. Excess of moisture 

 01- want of proper ventilation very quickly affects 

 fruit in those chamberB, and hence it is only by 



careful and systematic experiments the required con- 

 ditions can be exactly obtained. 



If cool chambers for fruit could be provided at 

 a reasonable cost, there is no doubt that they would 

 greatly enlarge the prospects of a trade in fresh 

 tropical and sub-tropical fruits between the Colonies 

 and the Mother Country. As noticed above, a pro- 

 posal has been made by growers in South Australia 

 to engage a cool chamber on board the Orient 

 steamers to bring fruits to this country during the 

 present year, and similar arrangements are in course 

 of being made by other Colonies. We shall then, I 

 believe, enter upon a distinctly practical phase of 

 our subject, and the results will, I hope, be as satis- 

 factory to our brethren in the Colonies as they will 

 be beneficial and full of promise to ourselves. — ■ 

 Colonics and India. 



A Correspondent writes to an Indian paper as 

 follows on Wooden Labels for Trees :— The following 

 method of preserving wooden labels that are to be 

 used on trees or in exposed places is recommended :— 

 Thoroughly soak the pieces of wood in a strong 

 solution of sulphate of iron; then lay them, after 

 they are dry, in lime water. This causes the for- 

 mation of sulphate of lime, a very in.soluble salt, ia 

 the wood. The rapid destruction of the labels by the 

 weather is thus prevented. Bass mats, twine, and 

 other substances used in tying or covering up trees 

 or plants, when treated in the same manner, are 

 similarly preserved. At a recent meeting of the 

 Horticultural Society in Berlin wooden labels thus 

 treated were shown which had been constantly ex- 

 posed to the weather during two years without being 

 affected thereby.— Journcd of Horticulture. 



We have received some packets of Gishurstine 

 from the Belmont Works of Price's Patent Candle 

 Company, reminding us of coming winter and the 

 necessity for providing against wet feet. Ever since 

 this useful preparation has been introduced we have 

 used it, and found it of the greatest comfort in pro- 

 tecting boots from the eflfects of wet. But there is 

 another use we applied some of it to, which the pro- 

 prietors of it may not be aware of. We added about 

 one-third of petroleum oil, and in tliis mixture we 

 rubbed up some red lead, xorming a paste of the 

 consistency of cream. This we rubbed on wooden 

 labels before writing on them with Wolff's pencil, 

 and we have found the writing last as long as the 

 label. It soaks into the wood and enables the pfncil 

 to make an indelible stain. — Journal of Horticulture. 



One plant frequently met with on the siignr plant- 

 ations in the North is the Caladium esculentutn, an 

 aquatic plant, which furnishes the large Tare root 

 so well known to the Sandwich Islanders and the 

 natives of other groups of islands in the Pacific. It 

 is common on the Johnstone River and many places 

 further north, and appears to be as thrifty as could 

 be desired in those localities. Like rice, marshy ground 

 suits it best, but, like that cereal, it can be grown 

 on well cultivated land without much water. C iladium- 

 like, the large arrow-shaped leaves rise on high foot 

 stalks immediately from the roots; but, although the 

 leaf and stalks are very agreeable to the tas-te, they 

 are seldom eaten, as they are used for the purpose-! 

 of propagation, these when severed from the root 

 and ioserte 1 in thoroughly moist soil or mud pro- 

 ducfl in six months a h>>rvest of roots. It is estimated 

 that 1,500 persons can be fed on the produce 

 of a single square mile; but unless this estimate re- 

 presents the entire food of that number of persons 

 there does not appear to be much that is extraord- 

 inary in it. In those islands where it is common 

 the natives make thick paste out of the root; and 

 this, under the name of poe, forms their staple article 

 of diet. The South Sea Islanders are remarkably fond 

 of making a patch of cultivation somewhere for them- 

 selves on the plantations in the North and growing 

 a few sweet potatoes and their old f(ivourite, the 

 taro. — Queendo.iider, 



