340 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



XOVKMBER 11, 1905. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



DATE PALMS IN JAMAICA. 



The fullowing reference is made in the Annual 

 Report of the Board of Agriculture, Jamaica, to the 

 collection of date palms at the Hope E.xperiment 

 Station : — • 



'L'he collection of date palms is in excellent condition. 

 They are regularly irrigated ami .^prayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture to keep down the date palm fungus disease {(Jrophi- 

 ola 2'hocnicis). The cost of cultivation, irrigating, and 

 .spraying -n as £2 13s. •2<?. for seventy palms. 



SHOW OF COLONIAL FRUIT. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture has 

 received the following reply to a letter addressed to 

 the British West Indian Fruit Co., Ltd., in reference 

 to the representation of West Indian fruits at the 

 Show of Colonial Fruits to be held in London by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society on December 5 and (i 

 next : — 



We beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 

 3rd. instant, and have pleasure in informing you that we 

 are making a collection of fruit from the various islands 

 of the West Indies for the exhibition of the lioyal Horti- 

 cultural Society to be held in London on December 

 5 and 6. Xo doubt our Barbados office has communicated 

 with you in regard to our jiroposal, and we trust to receive 

 j'Our co-operation in this matter. 



All the fruit from the various islands wil! be sent home 

 by the ' Tagus,' leaving this port on November 11 and 

 Barbados on November 12. 



TRINIDAD FRUIT TRADE. 



The ]]ritisli West Indian Fruit Co., Ltd., of Trinidad, 

 announces that it is prepared to buy Gros Michel, Governor 

 Fig, and red fancy bananas at the rate of Is. 9d. per payable 

 bunch. A bunch of nine hands (and upwards) will be 

 counted as one payable bunch ; an eight-hand bunch as three- 

 quarters of a payable bunch, and a seven-hand bunch as 

 one-half. 



Each hand nuist have at least twelve fully developed 

 fingers : any hand with less will not count as a hand. All 

 bananas are to be delivered fresh cut and free of bruises, and 

 of the grade required, otherwise they will be rejected. 

 Planters are cautioned not to supply bananas unless they 

 fully understand the grade required. 



Planters intending to plant bananas are invited to 



communicate with Mi-. A. F. Clai-k, the Manager, who is 

 willing to give advice as to iilanting and cultivating. 



Oranges will also be jiurchased by the company. 



The bananas are to be delivered in Port-of-Sjiain fort- 

 nightly for each Itoyal Mail steamer sailing for England. 



HYBRIDIZATION OF PINE-APPLES. 

 Reference was made in the Ai/ricultv/ral N^eivs 

 (Vol. Ill, p. 420) to experiments at the Hope Experi- 

 ment Station, Jamaica, in connexion witJi the hybridiza- 

 tion of pine-a])ples. The Director of Public Gardens 

 and Plantations makes the following remarks on this 

 experiment in his report for 1904-5: — 



The seedling pines that were planted out in nursery 

 beds at 9 inches apart were lifted, treated as suckers, and 

 replanted in raised beds in the pinery at 18 inches apart. 

 All the beds have been nmlched and the suckers are doing 

 well. 



The following hybrid pines fruited in May and .lune 

 1904 •— 



weight 2 lb., inferior. 

 ,, Gi R)., poor. 

 ,, 3i K)., fairly good. 



2.V lb., good in flavour, but dry. 



2 lb., poor. 

 3i H)., very juicy, good flavour. 



3 lb., very good Havour. 

 5 ft). 7 oz., an excellent fruit, very 



sweet and juicy. 

 ,, 34, „ 2 K). 1 oz., good sliaiie, Imt had been 

 attacked bj' ants and birds and unfit for u.se. 



Suckers and slifis from the parent plants are planted in 

 a raised bed in the pinery. 



The work of cross pollination was continued this year. 

 By permission of Mr. G. L. Lucas, the following crosses were 

 made at the Kensington pinery :— ten Sugar-loaf crossed 

 with liipley, ten Ripley crossed with Sugar-loaf, three Bull- 

 head with liipley, three Ripley with Bull-head, four Black 

 .Jamaica with Riplej', one Ripley with Black .Jamaica. The 

 following were also crossed at Hope : — twenty-two Smooth 

 Cayenne with Ripley, twenty-three liiiiley with Smooth 

 Cayenne, one Sugar-loaf with Riiiley, and lUpley with 

 Queen. 



Seeds (.500 in number) were collected and sown. 

 A packet of seed of La Brea or Pitch Lake pine was received 

 from Trinidad. Nineteen have germinated. Seedlings (.500 

 in number), Cayenne crossed with Ripley and lii[iley crossed 

 with Cayenne, are in small pots and will be planted out ia 

 nursery beds at 9 inches apart. 



No. 1, 



O 



„ •■', 



„ 9, 



„ 20, 



„ -'0, 



„ 31, 



., 32, 



