Vol. IV. No. 90. 



THE AGKrCULTUEAL NEWS. 



29£ 



PIMENTO GROWING IN JAMAICA. 



The following interesting account of the cultiva- 

 tion of pimento (Fimenta qificinalis) in Jam.uca, by 

 Mr. Adam_ Roxburgh, is extracted from Mr. Cnndall's 

 Jamaica in 190-i, which was reviewed in the last issue 

 of the Agricultural Keu-8 (Vol. IV, p. 286):— 



This is a very pungent spice, and is known as ' Jamaica 

 pepper ' and 'allspice.' The tree, which is of moderate size, 

 growing to a height of some 30 or 40 feet, with a circumfer- 

 ence at the base of the trunk of about 3 feet, is a species of 

 niyrtle._ The wood is covered with a greenish-grey bark, 

 which is smooth and shining in apjjearance ; the leaves are 

 a dark and very glossy green, and when crushed in the hand 

 emit a strong aromatic odour. The general ap]>earance of 

 the tree is very striking, owing to the colour of the bark, 

 which causes every tree to show up through the dark green 

 of the leaves, with a peculiarly beautiful effect. It has'been 

 thought that Jamaica is the only place where this spice is to 

 be found, but this is not so. It has been found in part.s of 

 South America, but, owing to the expense of the gathering 

 in those places, it would in-ove a very unprofitable article of 

 export. In Jamaica, however, wliere labour of a kind is 

 compiu-atively cheap, we can gather in the spice at a price 

 which allows of considerable profit to the grower and yet 

 gives the labourer a very fair wage for liis time. Another 

 erroneous idea res[iecting pimento Is that it will not grow if 

 planted by hand, but must be dro[iped by birds on the 

 ground. The birds certainly are very fond of the ripe 

 berries, and it is a fact that nearly all our pimento trees are 

 planted in this way; but it is a great r.iistake to suppose 

 that it is necessary for the seed first to be planted by 

 a bird, for if a ripie seed is washed and cleared of the external 

 pulp and then planted, it grows readily. The pulp, however, 

 must be removed, for, if not, it dries and forms a hard, 

 leathery skin, which will be in the ground for an indefinite 

 time and prevent the seed from springing. There are two 

 kinds of pimento trees, viz., the fruitful or bearing tree, and the 

 unfruitful, or, as it is commonly termed, the male tree. 

 They are very muck alike in appearance, and can only be 

 distinguished by experienced eyes. It is held by botanists 

 that the so-called ' male ' trees are not necessary to the 

 fi-uctifying of the bloom on the bearing trees, and that they 

 are simply barren trees of no use to the grower and, except- 

 ing when they are useful as shade trees, are better out of the 

 way. JIany growers, however, find it difficult to reconcile 

 this theory with actual experience, holding that when all the 

 'male' trees are cut out, the yield of the other trees is not 

 e(jual to what it had been before the axe was put to work. 

 A pimento tree under favourable circumstances begins to 

 bear_ when about eight or ten years old, but it is not in full 

 bearing till about eighteen or twenty years. It will go on 

 bearing if properly treated for a very great number of years 

 • — longer than the average life of a man. The berr}', which 

 is the marketable product of the tree, and is the 'allspice' 

 of commerce, is a small, round fruit about the size of an 

 ordinary black currant. They grow in clusters on the tree, 

 and are in the best condition for picking when full, but not 

 ripe. When ripe they are of a glossj-, black colour, sweet and 

 very spicy in flavour, in fact, very pleasant to the taste. 

 The full but unripe berry is more spicy and somewhat 

 peppery, and astringent. The process of gathering is carried 

 out by sending a lad up the tree with a long stick with 

 a crook at the end. AVith this he catches the long outer 

 branches, and, bending them back till within his reach, he 

 snaps off the smaller ends where they are about the thickness 

 of an ordinary walking cane, and throws them down to the 



ground. _ In this manner, he breaks off all the small branches 

 upon \yhich he finds the iiimento berries hanging, and at the 

 same time effectively prunes the tree ; without such pruning 

 the tree will not bear regularly. The tree thoroughly 'broken,' 

 women and children gather up the branches, and sitting 

 down they pick off the berries into baskets, taking care to 

 wmnow out all the stems and leaves, and leave only the 

 berries. At the close of the day the baskets, full with 

 pimento, are all brought to the barbecues, and then measured; 

 the quantity jiicked by each person being entered up in the 

 barbecue book, the picking beim; paid for at the end of the 

 week. 



The barbecue is the place where the berries are dried 

 and prepared for market. It is a large, [laved court, the size 

 depending on the average quantity of pimento picked on the 

 property. _ It is sub-divided into ' beds ' Iiy a low banking so 

 that the pimento picked on one day, and which has begun to 

 dry, does not mix with the green, fresh spice of another day's 

 picking. _ \yhen a sutticient quantity has been thrown upon 

 a 'bed,' it is spread out and exposed to the sun, a man with 

 a wooden rake being employed to keep turning it over so that 

 all sides of the berry may have the benefit of the heat. 

 Pimento takes from six to ten days to cure in this manner. 

 A good, dry breeze is a great help in the curing and 

 quickens the process materially. Tarpaulins should be 

 provided for every range of barbecues, for the pimento should 

 not be allowed to get wet while the drying process is going 

 on. The damp spoils the quality of the spice and affects the 

 bright, brown colour, which is the chief point looked to by 

 purchasers. The berries are known to be thoroughly dry 

 when, upon taking up a handful and holding it firmly in the 

 hand, a sharp, dry, cris]), rattling sound wdll be heard, if 

 shaken near to the ear. When this is noticed, it can then be 

 gathered up and stored, till the time comes when, the crop 

 being over, it is passed through a machine for fanning out all 

 dust and leaves, and then bagged ready for shipment. 



The average production of pimento is about 50,000 to 

 60,000 bags of about 150 lb. weight per annum for the whole 

 island. When sold in the island, the price is calculated per 

 100 tt)., and the average price for the pjast five years has been 

 15s. per 100 lb. We have known pimento during the last 

 twenty years as high as 40s. per 100 lb, and for a good 

 many years 25s. to 2Ss. rules as the value. Plantation 

 pimento will of course always fetch a higher price than 

 settlers' produce, owing to the quality being .superior — not 

 from any fault on the part of the spice itself, but from the 

 careless mannei of curing on the part of the settlers, as 

 a rule. St. Ann is the principal pimento-growing parish in 

 the island, but St. Elizabeth, St. ilary, Trelawny, and 

 ^lanchester produce large cj^uantities also. 



PREVENTING DECAY OF RIPE FRUIT. 



In reference to the article on preventing decay of 

 ripe fruit, which was published in the Agricultural 

 News (Vol. IV, p. 277), Mr. J. H. Hart writes as follows 

 to the Mirror: — 



The mangos referred to were supplied by Trinidad, and 

 I was in consultation with the author during my tenure of 

 ottice as Commissioner at the Crystal Palace. I consider it 

 a most important point. Formalin has for some years been 

 used in this office as a preservative, and cacao piods preserved 

 in it were on exhibition by this Department and by Messrs. 

 Cadbury. It has not, however, been previously used for 

 sterilizing or getting rid of the germs fioni edible fruits as 

 now suggested. 



