2 3 8 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST^ [September i, 1884. 



pie of this coffee was lately exhibited by Mr. James Har- 

 rison, from "Winchester Estate, which was of excellent 

 colour and uniform size. 



Cardamoms : — Plants of this valuable spice fire growing 

 well at Oastleton and at Hope. A few seeds have been 

 produced by plants at the latter establishment. I have had 

 very encouraging reports from planters who have tried 

 Cardamoms at elevations under 2,500 feet, which would ap- 

 pear to be the best localities for Cardamoms in Jamaica. 



It may be mentioned that boxes of Cardamoms contain- 

 ing 100 plants established in soil can be forwarded free to 

 any outport on receipt of a remittance of ten shillings. 



Nutmegs : — I have to report moderate progress in the 

 cultivation of nutmegs, but not nearly in proportion to the 

 suitability of many districts in Portland and other parishes 

 for the cultivation of this useful spice. Well established 

 plants in pots are always kept for distribution. 



Tea : — The experimental plantation for tea at 5,200 feet 

 has lately been pruned and seeds should be produced to- 

 wards the close of 1884 in large quantities. Tea seed, it 

 may be mentioned, will not bear long transit unless packed 

 in earth. Tea plants are available in limited numbers ready 

 for planting out. 



Cinnamon : — The forms of Ceylon cinnamon propagated by 

 layers and plants continue to be distributed in small quant- 

 ities. 



Kola Nut : — As the interest in this plant has so greatly 

 increased it is found that it is much more widely distrib- 

 uted in the island thau was at first supposed. During the 

 proper season seed nuts may be obtained in large quant- 

 ities, as also a few plants in pots suitable for distribution. 



Vanilla and Black Pepper : — Numerous cuttings of these 

 with full directions as to treatment, have been distrib- 

 uted by post and the cultivation is slowly extending. 



Mangoes: — The export of mangoes is not extending al- 

 though the fruit is so abundant and so largely sought for 

 in America. This is chiefly owing to a want of care in 

 picking and carefully selecting the fruit as well as in 

 packing. It may be mentioned that the new East Indian 

 varieties possess much better keeping properties thau the 

 ordinary No. 11 of Jamaica, and grafted plants of the 

 former are always available at the Hope Plantation. The 

 export of mangoes for the year 1883 was 81,320 of the 

 value of £106. 



Pineapples :— For export purposes the more common 

 kinds such as the Jamaica black pine appear to be in 

 greater request thau the choice Ripley as the latter does 

 not travel so well. During the past year the Cuban and 

 Scarlet pines from the Bahamas, as well as the cultivated 

 Pitch Lake pine of Trinidad, have been introduced for ex- 

 perimental purposes. A fine selection of the best English 

 pines from Windsor Castle and Lord Carrington's nurseries, 

 have also been obtained through the Royal Gardens, Kew, 

 which are doing well at the Hope Plantation. The export 

 of pineapples last year was 7,722 dozens of the value of 

 £1,158. 



Oranges ■ — The export of oranges chiefly to the American 

 market has now reached the large number of 34 millions 

 of the estimated value of £37,560. 



AVith a few notable exceptions, however, the cultivation 

 has not much improved and the self-sown trees which yield 

 this large return are practically wild. The Tangerine orange 

 is receiving greater attention, and I am hopeful that orange 

 culture in Jamaica will before long be taken up as seriously 

 and as intelligently as it is in Florida and California. 

 Orange trees on lands in the neighbourhood of the Rio 

 Cobre Irrigation Works are doing well ; and there is no 

 reason to doubt that orange-growing as a regular industry — 

 which it is not now — would prove highly remunerative. 



6inger\ — The cultivation of ginger in Jamaica would ap- 

 pear to be gradually dying out. This is no doubt owing to 

 the smaller yield of plants cultivated so persistently on the 

 same land, to the uncertain nature of the crop no less 

 than the difficulty experienced in many districts in curing 

 it properly. Only the richest and best hinds are suitable 

 for the ginger plant and as it is very exhausting crop its 

 centinuence as an industry in the island is entirely depend- 

 ent ou the reserve of good land still available in the districts 

 in which it is cultivated. 



The export of ginger during the lsst five years has averaged 

 7,036 cwt. of the value of £16,01 10 compared with 11,219 cwt 

 of the value of £22,000 during the five preceding years 



1874-79. This shows a falling off at the rate of 36 per 

 cent. 



Bananas: — This is the most extensive and most valuable 

 fruit interest in the island. The export for 1883 were 

 937,951 bunches of the value of £93,795, which is more than 

 six times the number and value of those for 1877. 



As the bananas are utilized in many cases as nurse- 

 plants for cacao, nutmegs, 'oranges, Liberian coffee, 

 cinnamon, coconuts, cardamoms, and rubber-yielding 

 plants the banana culture is leading to numerous 

 permanent cultivations which will remain after the bananas 

 have died out. In this respect it is the means of perma- 

 nently reclaiming extensive areas which hitherto had been 

 utterly neglected. 



Para or Brazil Nut : — Several thousand seeds of this plant 

 were distributed over the island in May, 1881, and al- 

 though many failed to germinate, it appears that where 

 carefully watered and treated for several months — some 

 even for two years — they have done well. In the nurseries 

 at Oastleton and the Hope a few plants are still available 

 for distribution. 



Sapucaja Nut (Lecythis sapucajo) : — About thirty plants 

 of this were successfully raised at the Hope many of which 

 are doing well in suitable localities. 



Tonquin Bean : — This is a fragrant seed yielded by Di- 

 pterix odorata, a tree of South America, now naturalized at 

 the Oastleton Gardens. The odour resembles that of new 

 mown hay, due, it is said, to the presence of Coumarine. 

 An allied plant under the name of Sarapia or Venezuelan 

 Tonga beau has lately been received from Trinidad. 



Coca: — This plant known to botanists as Erythroxylon 

 coca is well established at all the establishments and if a 

 demand arose for its leaves (which are said to contain a 

 slightly stimulating and tonic principle) it might be cultiv- 

 ated to a considerable extent. 



Sarsaparilla. : — The cultivation of this plant is confined to 

 a smalt district in the Parish of St. Elizabeth where set- 

 tlers treat it as they do the ordinary yam. The plants, 

 mostly seedlings, are put out at about 20 feet apart and 

 trained to stakes and trellises. They begin to yield crop, 

 consisting of the roots (washed and dried in the sun) in 

 about two or two-and-a-half years. Mr. Syme, who visited 

 the district, mentions that as much as 20 pounds of dried 

 roots are yielded per plant as a first crop and from 30 to 40 

 pounds as a second crop. At the present price of sarsa- 

 parilla, the gross return is estimated at 30s per plant or at 

 the rate of £50 per acre. 



Annatto: — The seeds of this dye plant (Bixa orellaua) 

 are still exported in fairly large quantities in spite of the 

 low prices at which they are quoted in the New York market. 

 The exports last year were 131,288 pounds of the value of 

 £1,367. 



Fibre-yielding Plants : — Increased attention is being de- 

 voted to the utilization of the many native plants capable 

 of yielding fibre. The most promising plants appear to be 

 the various species of Agave, Furcrcoa, Sausevieria, and tho 

 China grass, Brahmeria nivea. Furcrcea Cubensis is widely 

 distributed in the island and especially in t the parish of 

 Westmoreland where it is known as " Silk grass." The 

 common Keratto yields a good soap as well as a fair fibre. 

 The bamboo is utilized also for fibre purposes, b iug ex- 

 ported in a crushed state and packed by hydraulic pressure 

 in convenient bales. The New Zealand flax has been in- 

 troduced and is now established at the Cinchona Plantation. 



Rubber-yielding Plants : — The Oeara rubber, Maniho t glazi- 

 ovi, and the Central American rubber, Oastilloa elastica, 

 appear to be best suited to the climate and soil of Jamaica. 

 AVith regard to the latter I have described it as follows in a 

 recent work entitled ihe " Colony of British Honduras," 

 see pp. 74, 75, 76, & 77 : — " Next to cacao the most interest- 

 ing plant fouud wild in the forest of British Honduras is 

 the india-rubber tree, called by the natives ' Toonu. 1 This 

 tree (Oastilloa elastica), a member of the breadfruit family, 

 aud whose product is known in commerce i as Castilloa, or 

 Ceutral American rubber should become, in course of time, 

 one of the most important cultivated trees in the colony. 



t( The large and increasing demand which arises for india- 

 rubber for all kinds of appliances in arts and manufactures 

 renders the production of this article an industry of great 

 value. The original supplies of india-rubber, derived from 

 various trees growing wild in tropical forests all over the 

 world, are likely at no distant date, to fall far short of 



