388 



THE AGLlCULTUHAL NEWS'. 



December 23, 1905. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



PLANTAINS IN BRITISH HONDURAS. 



The Keport on the Botanic Station in British 

 Honduras for 1904 contains the following interesting 

 remarks on the trade in plantains in that colony : — 



Like the viun in .Jamaica and the sweet potato in Bar- 

 bados, the plantain forms the chief vegetable diet of the colon}'. 



Besides the local consumption of plantain.s, a coniiiara- 

 tively large nundjer is shipped every week by the United 

 Fruit Company's steamers to New Orleans. 



The principal growers of this product are small planters, 

 most of whom are to be found at Northern Kiver. 



Except the owners of the plantations, very few people 

 have the opportunity of seeing these plantain fields, as the 

 country between Belize and Northern Biver, where most of 

 the plantains are grown, is somewhat isolated. 



The e.xiiort of plantains has increased nearly 50 per 

 cent, within the last eight years, and I believe that if 

 a .special effort were made to popularize the product in the 

 United States, the pre.sent outjmt could be doubled. 



A peculiarity about the [ilantain is that the ripe fruit 

 can be dried, and in this way it will keep for weeks and 

 bear transportation to a considerable distance. 



COCOA-NUTS IN BRITISH HONDURAS. 



The following is also extracted from the Report on 

 the Botanic Station in British Honduras for 1904 : — 



The demand for British Honduras cocoa-nuts has been 

 exceptionally good. High prices have been paid for cocoa- 

 nuts all through the season. The trouble is we have not 

 got enough to siipjil}' the demand. This demand for cocoa- 

 nuts will most probably lead to the planting of more land 

 with cocoa-nuts and the clearing of neglected trees. 



The cocoa-nut palm is considered by most people here 

 as being the hardiest of plants, because it will grow near the 

 sea and stand the sea breezes, neglect, and ill-usage. 

 A greater mistake has never been made, as, under good 

 treatment, this grateful palm will produce so much more 

 fruit. Cocoa-nuts will also grow inland for a considerable 

 distance in this colony, in the south up to the foot of the 

 hills, and, in the north, wherever there is rich soil. 



The palm weevil affecting, to a certain extent, 

 this iiroduct, seems to be regarded as being the only cause 

 of the destruction of cocoa-nut trees, whereas they also die 

 from the want of proper care and treatment. Nearly every 

 cocoa-nut tree in a plantation or round a house is carelessly 

 chopped during the weeding or at some other time. A chop 

 on a palm immediately attracts insects and, therefore, helps 

 to kill the trees. 



MACHINE-WRAPPED ORANGES. 



In reference to a machine in use in California for 

 wrapping oranges, the Joiirnul of the Jamalfd, Agri- 

 cvltarul Society publishes the following extract from 

 a Florida jjaper ; — 



The advent of California oranges into the market 

 wrapped with labels bearing the stamp ' ilachine-wrapiied 

 fruit; not handled by hand' makes information about the 

 type of machine especially interesting. 



The machine is attached to the end of the grader and 

 receives the oranges direct. It is simple in operation, 

 compact and perfectly automatic. It receives the fruit on 

 an endless chain, attached to which are a series of cups, felt- 

 lined and separated by rubber partitions. The wrajijiers are 

 cut from a roll, after the manner of a perfecting printing 

 press, and after being printed, are cut the desired size, when 

 they are ready for the orange. A unique device twists the 

 paper ]ierfectly tight about the orange, which is held in 

 place at the top by a rubber plunger, while the other end 

 rests on a felt-topped rod. The ends of the orange are in 

 this position, and so closely is the orange wrapped that it i.s 

 believed that it will be practically impervious to moisture. 



A feature of the machine that will appeal to packing- 

 house men lies in the fact that a smaller-sized paper can be 

 used than in hand wrapping. Thus, a nine-by-nine wrapper 

 would be used on the machine, while in hand-wrapping 

 a ten-by-ten wrapper would be required. A saving of 

 20 ijer cent, of paper is claimed, as well as far superior 

 w-rapping. Another advantage would lie in the fact that no 

 large stock of assorted wrappers would be required, since the 

 machine can be adjusted to any size and the roll paper only 

 would be needed. The printing of wrappers would also be 

 done away with, since the printing is a part of the wrapping 

 process. 



To prove that the machine will not mar the skin of the 

 fruit, eggs have been run through the machine and wrapped 

 without cracking a shell. 



The machine wraps seventy-two oranges a minute, or 

 40,000 pieces of fruit every ten hours. It would wrap 

 a car-load in one and one-half days. For the ordinary packing 

 house, five machines would be necessary to handle the fruit. 



Practically all the packers in the city have inspected the 

 machine, and all are enthusiastic over its possibilities. 



With labour a scarce and high-priced commodity in 

 California, this invention ought to be a great factor in 

 making the citrus business i^ay better profits. 



