212 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 8, 191L 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE RELATION BETWEEN THE WEIGHT 



OP THE SEEDS AND THE PODS 



IN CACAO. 



It is iKiiiited out in a recent article that, in deciding as 

 to the relative value of different kinds of cacao, little attention 

 has been paid in the past to the relation which the weight 

 of the seed in the pods bears to that of the pods themselves. 

 This article, which is by M. A. Fauchcre, Director of the 

 Experiment Station of Tamatave, Madagascar, de.scribes 

 briefly the work of the author, which has been undertaken 

 since the year I'JOG, for the purpose of obtaining definite 

 knowledge of the subject, as well a.s of employing the rela- 

 tionship in the selection of different varieties of cacao for 

 planting. Although the work is incomplete, it tend.s to show 

 that, if consideration is given to this factor in selection, the 

 relative value of the known kinds of cacao will have to be 

 rsgarded very differently from the way in which they are 

 yiewed at present. 



Attention is drawn to the fact that a cacao fruit is com- 

 posed of two parts: the fruit covering, which is worthless from 

 a commercial point of view, and seeds, which are the portion 

 bearing the chief interest for the producer. This leads to the con- 

 clusion that the aim of the planter should be the production of 

 seed, and not of husks; whereas the opposite often appears to 

 be the ca.se, for it is everywhere sought to obtain large fruits., 

 and therefore large husks. In this connexion, it is the opinion 

 of the author that the varieties of cacao having the best 

 reputation in the West Indies are those which produce the 

 least seed in comparison with the total weight of the fruits. 

 It cannot be agreed, however, that this state of affairs exists 

 to the extent that would appear to be indicated by 

 M. Fauchere. 



An account of definite experiments that were undertaken 

 in regard to the matter is followed by the statement that 

 these show clearly that the kinds of cacao known as Calaba- 

 cillo arc the richest in .seed, when the weight of this is referred 

 to the gross weight of the fruits. Three kinds of Calabacillo 

 examined gave 311 kilos., 297 kilos., and 20-7 kilos., per 

 100 kilos, of fruits; whereas two forms of Criollo from 

 Trinidad only gave 1.5 '9 and 19 kilos. It is consequently 

 evident that if the fruit-bearing powers of the trees are regard- 

 ed as being equal, the advantage remains with Calabacillo, 

 even if the seeds of this variety are considiMed to be of inferior 

 quality to those of the other-- a matter which, in the opinion 

 of the author, has probably not been demonstrated. 



It remains to be found if the fruiting capacity of Criollo 

 plants is sufficiently large to compensate for the smaller 

 richness of the fruits in .seeds. This point is to be made the 

 subject of an investigation by .M. Fauchere, who expresses the 

 certainty that the advantage will be in favour of Calabacillo, 

 which shows itself to be extremely prolific at Tamatave. The 

 article to which reference is made appears in the Journal 

 d' Agriculture Tropicale, No. lib, ]). 106. 



GRAPE FRUIT FROM EAST AFRICA. 



The following information concerning grape fruit 

 from East Africa is given in the latest issue of the 

 Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (Vol. IX, p. 15): — 



A small box of grape fruit grown at Nairobi was for- 

 warded to the Imperial Institute by the Director of Agricul- 

 ture in the East Africa Protectorate in .July 1910, with 

 a request for information as to the condition of the fruit on 

 arrivrtj, its qualitj', and as to whether there is a market for 

 such fruit in London. 



The box contained ten fruits of various sizes, which 

 were submitted to experts immediately on arrival, 



Thecondiiion of the fruit was stated to be practically 

 perfect, and its quality to leave little to be desired. The 

 only point to which attention was drawn was that these fruits 

 from Nairobi contained more pith than the grape fruit 

 received from Jamaica and California, and this fact might 

 detract a little from their value when placed in competition 

 with fruit from those countries. This slight defect will, how- 

 ever, probably not exist in fruit gathered from older trees. 



The commercial value in the I'nited Kingdom of grape 

 fruit from the East Africa Protectorate will depend on 

 (1) the time of year at which it can be placed on the market, 

 and (2) the grading and packing of the fruit. 



During the months of July and August there are practi- 

 call)' no arrivals of grape fruit in luirope. If any quantity 

 of the fruit could be landed in this country from the East 

 Africa Protectorate during those two months (in the present 

 case the fruit reached London on August 2i), a very profit- 

 able business would result, and prices averaging from 15s. to 

 20s. per case could be obtained. During the other months of 

 the year Jamaica, and California send fair suiiplies of grape 

 fruit, which realize prices ranging from 10,<. to 14,s. per case. 



The fruit is graded into several .sizes. The largest size, 

 which is larger than any of the fruits in the present siimple 



