December r, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



513 



The average annual and monthly rainfall taken at the 

 Cinchona Plantation for nine years are as follows; — 



BAINFALL KETUEN, CINCHONA PLANTATION. 



PALISADOES PLANT.1TI0N, 



The Superintendent's house, store room and outhuildings 

 are in good order ; the watchman's hut blown down by 

 the hurricane at the western end of the plantation still 

 requires to be rebuilt, and a vote for the pm'pose has 

 been placed to the credit of the Public Works Depart- 

 ment. 



This plantation— which is maintained as an experimental 

 coconut plantation for the utilization of waste lands near 

 Kingston — is slowly recovering from the effects of the 

 cyclone, and is now being considerably improved under 

 the care of Mr. AV. Mowat, who has had a large experience 

 as a tropical planter. 



The yield of the plantation during the past year repre- 

 sented a crop of 75,000 nuts, or a total return of £250 

 lSs.,» while the cost of upkeep fur the same period was 

 £31» 4s. Oid. The trees on the plantation are still, how- 

 ever, in a young state, only about oue-fifth being in bear- 

 ing. Out of these, owing to the combined ett'ects of the 

 cyclone and drought, probably only one-half yielded an 

 apiireciable crop of fruit. The effects of the drought 

 were mo,st felt by the young plants, and as it was fQund 

 impossible to supply them all mth water, a large number 

 was lost. In fact, the entire run to the western side of 

 the light-house both in old and young trees suffered most 



* TliiH return doe-s not inrliKlp £20 \i<. 8il. receivt^d for li tons 

 of "copra-": iior tile value, estimated at £10, of coconut plants 

 Mupplied to the Admiralty at Port Royal and tile Department of 

 Royaf liugineers for planting on tanda imder ttieir charge. 



severely: very few nuts were gathered while the trees 

 themselves required the utmost care and atteution to keep 

 them 111 good health. During the hurricane the sea washed 

 completely over this portion of the plantation into King- 

 ston harbour, carrying away the saud, leaving the roots 

 of the Palms quite bare and exposed to the intense beat 

 of a tropical sun. Considerable effort has been made to 

 overcome these injurious couditious by recovering the 

 roots mth soil, &c., and shading them with dead fronds 

 and weeds. The Superintendent reports that the trees 

 are fast improving under this treatment, aud throwing out 

 strong healthy spathes, with every prospect of a good 

 crop for 18,si>. For young coconut plants put out in inch 

 hot and districts as the I'ahsadoes, it is found nece.ssarv 

 to dig holes 3 feet wide aud at least 3 feet deep- a 

 good supply of manure is mixed with the saud and soil 

 and placed at the bottom of the pit. The youn- plants 

 require also to he well mulched and regularly watered till 

 they are estabhshed, and an annual supply of manure with 

 an occasional sprinkling of sea water is found most bene- 

 ficial. Under this system it is anticipated that the trees 

 will come into bearing in five or six years, and the pro- 

 duce should not average less than 50 nuts per tree * 



In connectiou with the bearing of coconut trees I mav 

 mention that I have found it difficult to obtain reliable 

 informatiou as to the value of coconut trees in Jamaica 

 Owing to the facilities afforded by the markets of the 

 United States and Great Britain, there is a great and in 

 creasing demand for coconuts all the year round Thev 

 seldom sell locally for less than oOs. or 60s. per thousand 

 while in times of scarcity, like last year, the produce at 

 the I ahsadoes plantation, for instance, has readily obtained 

 ,Us. per thousand. At say 60s. per thousand, trees bear- 

 ing at au average rate of 50 nuts per tree would renre- 

 sent an annual value at the rate of 3s. per tree The 

 general impression in Jamaica is that a coconut tree is 

 worth " a dollar a year." In some cases this mav be 

 somewhat above the mark, whereas in favourable districts 

 such as Morant Bay and others, bearing trees mav vield 

 on an average as high as 100 nuts and be worth 6s or 

 even S.S. per tree. A coconut plantation in Jamaica, well 

 estabhshed and in full bearing (say at the end of 8 -^ears 

 with 60 trees to the acre and yielding an average of 40 

 nuts per tree) may be safely assumed to be worth at 

 1;he rate of from £S to £V^ per acre-much, however 

 depends on the locahty and the care taken to harvest 

 the produce. The cost of establishing a coconut plant- 

 tion till it comes into bearing cannot be more than £8 

 per acre.t 



Co/ji'«.— Owing to the general injury sustained bv the 

 young nuts ]ust forming on the trees at the time of the 

 hurricane, a large number was expected not to mature 

 luto tu 1 and well-developed nuts. All that ripened and 

 attained full size, amounting to 75.000 nuts, were sold at 

 prices varying from 65s. to 7Us. per thousand 



In view, however, of utilizing the nuts that were un- 

 suitable for market in the green state, at the suggestion 

 of His Excellency the Governor, they were aU carefully 

 picked out, and after being opened, the kernel was cured 

 in the sun and so formed "Oopra,"-a material commer- 

 cially m great demand on the Continent for the piu-pose 

 of making coconut oil. As no attempt had hitherto been 

 made to test the value of Jamaica " Copra " in the Lou 

 don market, a shipment of 28 bags contahiing li tons of 

 Copra was recently made, which realized at the' rate of 

 £15 per ton. The brokers remarked: "The qu-ilitv of 

 "the Copra is good. . . It is used on the I'outiiient 



for making coconut oil. as there is an import duty on 

 " the oil and none on the kernel. After the oil is pressed 

 " from It, the refuse is used for feeding cattle and sells 

 'at £'j per ton. If good quality is sent home, there is 

 " a largo business to be done in it." 



* Insl.a.l of -ettins indifferent maiuu-e from Kinffstou it li"^ 

 been tound more economical, a, «ell :i, more satisfactorv'for thZ 

 plants, to utdize the ricl, black soil and tile veKetai;ie refuse 

 :5Ucli as turtle grass. &c. found in the ponds on the plantattons 

 A liberal application of these substances m both old and voun,; 

 trees IB iiroduciuK very marked re.«ults .'"""S 



t As results of oWval ion nt the I'olisndoes plantation it appears 

 to take about b to 8 months to raise plants from seed nuts If 

 kept quite mOLst, and buried in shaded nurseries, they will some 

 tmies only t.ike r. months l.efur,- they are ready to be planted 

 out I-rom the Ume the spatfie bursts till the nut, are mature 

 I ami full, a period of geneiaUy from 9 to lu mouths ehip»e». 



