250 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1884. 



CAEOB BEANS. 



The saccharine pods of the Ceratonia siliqua have he- 

 come an article of considerable importance as a food for 

 domestic cattle, and the export is now large from many 

 of the Mediterranean countries. From Camlia or Crete the 

 shipments have been said to reach 180,000 tons annually, 

 from Cyprus 10,000 tons are exported, and from the dis- 

 tricts of Tarragona in Spain as much. 



In several of the countries where the tree is largely 

 grown, horses and stable cattle are almost exclusively fed 

 upou the pods. About 8 lb. a day are given of the crushed 

 pods, raw or boiled, with or without chaff. The meat of 

 sheep i id pigs is also greatly improved in flavour by this 

 pod, tii.- Ian mi,:; properties being twice, that of oil-cake ; 

 hence Carob beans form a chief ingredient in most of 

 the a tifioially prepared cattle foods. They contain about 

 66 per cent of sugar and gum. The tree is grown in Italy, 

 Portugal, and Spain, the south of France, and most of the 

 islands nf the Mediterranean. It has been also carried to 

 South America and India. The produce is annually in- 

 creasing in Cyprus. The tree grows readily iu moist soils, 

 and not requiring much moisture or care, its cultivation 

 gives little trouble; however, although the tree grows and 

 thrives without'mueh moisture, the yield of fruit is affected 

 during dry seasons, the quantity being less, and the quality 

 inferior. 



Iu Crete the trees in the eastern part of the island pro- 

 duce a much finer pod than elsewhere, which realise Is. 

 a cwt. more than those in the centre of the island. The 

 produce always finds a ready market at Constantinople £nd 

 the ports of the Black Sea. These pods, in some of the 

 countries where it is abundant, area great resource to the 

 poorer classes, who eat them in large quantities, partic- 

 ularly in Lent Containing a good proportion of sugar, 

 they are very nourishing and satisfying when fresh, besides 

 being cheap, and having the virtue of keeping well. As 

 met with here, however, they are hard and leathery, and 

 not very attractive. 



As an economic plant already it is strange that no at- 

 tempts have been made by improved culture to transform 

 the pod into a savoury edible fruit. 



In Portugal the pods are known under the name Algaro- 

 bas, and in Austria as Johannes' Bread. It has the 

 reputation of being the food on which St. John fed in the 

 wilderness ; but this is questionable, as it was most prob- 

 ably the insect locusts, which are parched and eaten to 

 this day in parts of Africa. In Vienna Carob beans are 

 60ld at" all the fruit stalls in the streets; and they are 

 even sold in many sweet shops in London and elsewhere, 

 being purchased by children. In Sicily a spirit and a syrup 

 are made from the sweet pods ; it has a flavour not dis- 

 agreeable, anil resembling iu taste the fruit. Aromatised 

 liqueurs have also been made from it. In Egypt a mucil- 

 aginous refreshing beverage is made from the pods, and 

 they steep in it the fruits of the Balanites a?gyptica. — 

 G ardent is Chronicle. 



THE WEST INDIA FRUIT TRADE 



The hundanee and cheapness of our British fruits, owing 

 to the prolonged line weather, give an interest to a con- 

 sideration of the commerce in these tropical fruits which 

 in the places of growth would be gladly exchanged for 

 some of the more common European fruits, such as Apples 

 and Feats, Strawberries, Raspberries, and Cherries. The 

 supply of Oranges and Lemons has also been very abund- 

 ant and cheap in our mirkets this year. A lew statistics 

 of the trad.' in tropical fiuits of the .Vest Indies, which 

 is mainly cairied on with North America, may prove of 

 interest at the present time. New York and Boston are the 

 chief centres for the sale of tropical fruits. The figures 

 cited are chiefly those for 1862. 



The trade in West Indian Oranges proved unsatisfactory 



and unprofitable, 23, ,000 were received from Jamaica 



outof a totalof 31,000,000, ami one-third of the quantity 

 perished on the voyage. The other islands from which 

 supplies of 'no were Cuba, Bahamas, Dominica, 



Trinidad, and Porto Rico. Florida is Fast becoming a com- 

 petitor in Oranges, having supplied 500,000 boxes and 

 barrels, ami in another decade it wi'l he able to supply 

 the whole United states with an abundance of fine Orauges, 



The import of Fine-apples into New York was over 

 2,500,000. principally from the Bahamas and Jamaica, with 

 a few from Culm and Curacoa. The. average loss of the 

 fruit on the voyage was 20 per cent. Nearly two million 

 Pine-apples are annually canned or packed at the factories 

 of one firm at Eleuthera and Harbour Island, about three- 

 fourths of which find a market in New York, and the 

 residue in Europe. The annual production of Pine-apples 

 in the State of Florida is gradually on the increase, a 

 quart! r of a million of fine Pines of superior quality hav- 

 ing been received in New York iu 1882. 



The Banana trade is an important one in the principal 

 United States ports. It is the fruit of the Sweet Plantain 

 i.Musa sapientum). Iu California and Florida M. Caveu- 

 dishii, a dwarf and more robust species is chiefly grown, 

 the yield of fruit being profuse (as much as 200 or 300 

 fruits in a spike), and the flavour excellent. The delicate 

 fruit of the eastern species, M. simiarum, never reaches 

 this country ; they attain a length of 1 to 2 feet. The 

 longer voyage from the West Indies or Madeira seldom 

 allows Bananas to arrive iu good condition in the London 

 market, nor is this fruit so generally appreciated .here as 

 in America, where it is a common dessert fruit. 



The importation of Bananas at New York was double 

 that of 1881, but a striking offset was offered to this in- 

 crease iu the very notable decrease in Oranges, probably 

 the most commonly used of all the imported fruits. Nearly 

 l.iKi'i.imii bunches of Bananas were received; of the above 

 over 150,000 bunches perished on the voyage— a loss of 16 

 per cent. The imports are principally from Aspinwall and 

 Jamaica. There are also direct imports at Boston of about 

 250,000 bunches. The price received in Jamaica is from 

 £5 to £10 per 100 bunches, the former representing the 

 lowest price given in dull seasons, and the latter the highest 

 when fruit was most iu demand. 



All the Bananas imported into the United States come 

 from the Isthmus of Panama and the West Indies. The 

 different varieties are called As[ inwall, Baracoa, and Jam- 

 aica, after the places from which they are shipped. The 

 Aspinwall Bananas are large and yellow, and termed silver- 

 skinned. The Baracoa, so named from the port iu Cuba 

 at which they are shipped, are red-skinned. The Jamaica 

 Bananas are yellow and smaller. The Aspinwall fruit is 

 hardy, and can bear handling and heat or cold better than 

 the other two kinds. The Baracoa fruit, which comes from 

 the south-east end of Cuba, is by some people thought to 

 be superior to the Aspinwall and Jamaica kinds, as it is 

 more luscious. The wholesale price last year was 2s. 6d. 

 to 2s. 9d. per bunch. 



The Jamaica Bananas have improved in quality lately, 

 and fetched 2s. 8d. to 4s. a bunch. Steamers have now 

 been put on, which make the passage from Jamaica in 

 eight and a half days against fifteen or twenty days by 

 the ordinary sailing schooners. The loss on the voyage, 

 which was 'formerly from 10 to 15 per cent, has been 

 almost overcome, and better fruit is brought iu as the 

 steamer can take a cargo of nearly ripe fruit. 



The Aspinwall Bananas come to market throughout the 

 year. Those from Jamaica and Baracoa reach the Amer- 

 ican markets from March 1 to about August 15. In Jamaica 

 when a sucker is planted it only comes up single and 

 bears but one hunch of fruit, while in Aspinwall a sucker 

 comes up with several shoots, and these bear iu succession 

 one after another. In Aspinwall also the fruit comes to 

 maturity in half the time it does in Jamaica or Cuba. 

 During the last six years the value of the anuual exports 

 of Bananas from Port Antonio, Jamaica, has more than 

 doubled. In 1877 the value of those shipped was only 

 £7,747. in the two following years it averaged £18,000; 

 last ear it reached £40,000. Considerable quantities are 

 also shipped from the ports of Lucia, Mont go Bay, St. 

 Ann's. Port Marie, and Kingston. 



The Banana is an annual, the fruit coming to maturity 

 about a year from the time that the shoot is planted, 

 the stem 'of the plant then attaining a height of 8 or 10 

 feet, and perhaps 3d inches in girth. There are a good 

 nianv Plantain walks in the island varying in size from 

 2.1.1 ii ii i to 200,000 trees, but thev are for the most part 

 cultivated by the small settlers iu the different parishes, 

 and prove a' source of great profit to them. The' method 

 of cultivation is simple". The land is cleared by the aid 

 of a primitive and ponderous hoe, a hole is dug in which 



