68 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



March 4. 1911. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE MANGOSTEEN IN DOMINICA. 



Mr. J. Jones, Curator <if the Botanic Gardens, 

 Dominica, has forwarded the following note on the 

 mangosteen in that island. The acclimatization of this 

 plant that appears to be taking place in Dominica 

 would seem to be a matter for encouraging the growing 

 of the mangosteen on a larger scale in the West 

 Indies: — 



At the Point Mulutre estate, Dominica, two fine mangos- 

 teen trees, thirteen years old. arc now fruiting for the first 

 time. One specimen is bearing several dozen fruits, and the 

 other a single fruit. There are now known to be four Ijearing 

 mangosteen trees in Dominica. As quite a number of estates 

 possess a few young specimens of this interesting tree, it is 

 probable that in the course of a few years the fruit will be 

 fairly well known in the island, and may, in the course of 

 time, be available for export. 



One point in this connexion is worthy of notice. The 

 seedlings raised from trees established in the West Indies 

 show much greater vij;;our, and thrive better, than did the 

 original imported plants. This is probably due to acclimat- 

 ization. AN'ith this increased vigour, and with great care in 

 growing and .selecting land and position, it may be possible to 

 bring trees in fruit during their ninth or tenth year. 



The first imported mangosteen plant took manj' years to 

 come into bearing. The plant at the Botanic Station required 

 sixteen years. Now, trees have fruited at thirteen years. 

 The vigour of some of the younger specimens is such as to 

 warrant the expectation stated above. 



COFFEE AND COFFEE DISEASE. 



An article in L' Ayricaitini I'raluiue des Pays Chauds, 

 No. 91, p. -'^ST, gives a short account of some of the efforts 

 that arc being made in the French colonics against llemileia 

 m«to(»-i.'— the most destructive fungus pest of coffee. In 

 Reunion, it seems, these are chiefly concerned with the 

 employment of .solutions containing sulphate of copper, 

 which are apjilied three times in (juick succession, at inter- 

 vals, without waiting for the appearance of the disease — 

 a treatment that has met with encouraging success during 



the two or three years in which it has been tried. Added to 

 this, for the l)etter success of the method, planters are 

 paying more attention to the use of manures for increasing 

 the power of resistance of the trees, and are receiving useful 

 assistance through the employment of judicious pruning. 

 In the Comoro Islands, etibrts to combat the disease have 

 been restricted so far to the introduction, to some extent, of 

 Liberian coffee (Coffea liberira), mainly because the produc- 

 tion of coffee is regarded as a secondary industry. 



It is in Madagascar where the most conclusive results 

 have been obtained through the introduction of resistant 

 varieties. Liberian coffee grows succe.ssfully, but its special 

 characteristics lessen the interest in it. The greatest success 

 has been obtained with Coffea ronf/ennix, var. Chalotii, and 

 then with C. rdnt'phom, var. opara, and (J. javanica. 



The Manchester Fruit Market.— Manchester has 

 for some considerable time been the second soft fruit market 

 for the Tnited Kingdom. But until 1894, no market was 

 e.stabli.shed in .Manchester for green fruit, merchants obtaining 

 their supplies from Liverpool. With the inception of the 

 ship canal an effort to establish a green fruit market suc- 

 ceeded, and since that time trade has yearly increased, until 

 Manchester has become one of the foremost markets in the 

 country. Goods are sold by auction by three firms of brokers, 

 who collectively handle over 1,000,000 packages of oranges, 

 apples, lemons, grapes, etc., re[)resenting a turnover of more 

 than £500,000 per annum. The sales (which are held twice 

 weekly) are attended by buyers from all parts of the country, 

 and at a recent .sale day some -10,000 packages of fruit were 

 sold. Eleven steamers are employed to bring fruit from the 

 Mediterranean. Large supplies of apples and pears also 

 arrive from America and Canada by the regular lines of 

 steamers. Manchester is admittedly the best market in 

 England ii>v Spanish onions, and favourably compares with 

 other markets for oranges, lemons, etc. American and 

 Canadian .shippers are waking up to the advantage of ship- 

 ping apples to Manchester. Very satisfactory prices have 

 been olitained this season as compared with those in other 

 markets, and there is every prospect of prices further advanc- 

 ing. (The Chainher of Commerce Jourmtl, Trade Ririew, 

 .Januarv 1911.) 



