228 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 29, 1905. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



BARBADOS BANANAS. 



The following is an extract from a letter from 

 Messrs. William Pink & Sons, dated Portsmouth, 

 June 29:— 



The prices of Canary and Jamaica bananas have been 

 lowered considerably but the Barbados fruit is being sold at 

 the ordinary rates, owing to the great demand for it, and 

 the small supply. 



We are improving our Plymouth stores by putting in 

 a rapid mechanical hoist to raise the crates to the riiiening 

 rooms, and are also putting in a powerful ventilating fan, 

 which will be capable of changing the air of the rooms every 

 fifteen minutes, which will enable us to keep the fruit longer 

 in the hot weather than we can now do. 



THE CITRUS INDUSTRY OF SICILY. 



The following infornuition on the citrus industry 

 of Sicily is extracted from the Consular Report on 

 the island for 1904 : — 



Formerly the citrus trade was one of the principal 

 resources of the island, but since the cultivation of oranges 

 and lemons in California and Florida, Sicily has lost a great 

 part of her former prosperous trade in green fruits. Every 

 HOW and then, cold snaps in the United States set back the 

 citrus trees there and give Sicily a couple of years of i)rofit- 

 able trade. Fortunately for the new season in Sicily, recent 

 frosts in Florida have hardened prices ; the crop here is not 

 a very abundant one this year, and it is yet too soon to 

 gauge the prospects for next season. Sicily may now look 

 forward to a couple of seasons of good demand. 



GREEN KUUIT TKADE. 



During the 19034 season it was calculated that all 

 Italy produced 5,250,000,000 of fruit, or an excess of 

 750,000,000 over the preceding season. To this total 

 production Sicily contributed 3,652,800,000 or more than 

 half of the production of all Italy. Out of 10,700,000 citrus 

 fruit trees in all Italy, Sicily accounted for 10,390,000. On 

 an average each Sicilian tree is calculated to produce 352 

 fruits. 



C.\NDIEI) AND PICKLED FEUIT. 



Besides the trade in oranges, lemons, mandarins, and 

 citrons, there is a considerable Sicilian production of fine 

 candied fruits. Unfortunately, the cost of sugar to the 

 manufacturer of these is such that there is no field for 

 a profitable export trade. 



Oranges sold in the street or at the po[iular marionette 



shows are invariably peeled, and the }iecl is then sun dried 

 for export. Seville oranges in brine and halved are exported 

 from Messina and Syracuse. No drained oranges are pro- 

 duced in Sicily. This trade seems to be limited to Leghorn. 



ESSENCE OF LEMON, OIL OF LEMON, ETC. 



A good (juantity of essence of lemon is produced in 

 Palermo and all along the eastern coast of Sicily. 



Oil of lemon, oil of orange (both bitter and sweet), oil 

 of mandarin, and oil of cedrat are produced in various parts 

 of the northern and eastern coasts. Those interested in these 

 jiroducts should refer to Mr. .1. F. Child's article in the 

 Chi-iiiist (Did DriKjriist of January 26, 1901, 'Where the 

 Lemons Grow.' Jlessrs. H. K. Burgess and J. F. Child 

 further published an account of the ' Lemon Oil Industry ' in 

 the Journal of the Society of Cheinieal Industry, December 

 31, 1901, No. 12, Vol. XX ; and some up-to-date notes on 

 the 'Citron Oil Industry' on January 31, 1903. 



CITK.\TE OF LIME AND CITRIC ACID. 



Citrate of lime is produced at Palermo, !Messiua, and 

 Catania. Efforts are being made to create a combination in 

 this article. 



Citric acid has hitherto been produced by the Scheele 

 method. At Palermo a new combination has been formed 

 under the title of ' La Citrica ' for the production of citric 

 acid by a method due to a Sicilian called llestuccia, whose 

 process is said to be a modification of one discovered by 

 F. Arrosto in 1834. It remains to be seen wdiether the 

 Restuccia method is a commercial success. 



1 



SHIPMENT OF ONIONS. 



Onions are shipped fj-om Montserrat in barrels and 

 not in crates, as has been sometimes suggested. The 

 reasons for this aie given by the Local Instructor as 

 follows : — 



Onions are never shipped in crates, as the West Indian 

 and neighbouring markets desire the onions stringed, and 

 the standard size of the onion crates will not allow of 

 econonuc packing in this maimer. If the crates were 

 larger, saj', to hold 150 Hi. of stringed onions, then 

 this method might command attention. An onion crate 

 holds 150 R). of loose onions and little more than half that 

 quantity on strings, while a barrel holds 135 lb. to 150 lb. of 

 stringed onions. The price of a barrel varies from Scf. to Is., 

 while crates are Id. each ; again, the fi-eight is in favour of 

 the barrel, these costing 1.?. each, while crates cost 6c7. each. 

 So that, pro\-iding loss through shipment can be prevented 

 in barrels, this is nuich the cheaper method of packing. 



