THE AGllICULTUllAL NEWS. 



January 20, 190G. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



BUDDED ORANGES. 



The folluwiiiff is a list of budded oranges 

 cultivated at the St. Clair Experiment Station at 

 Trinidad, with notes furnished by Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., 

 the Superintendent. A complete set of these oranges 

 was recently forwarded to the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture for a report on their relative merits. 

 The notes made by Mr. Hart, based on observations 

 extending over a period of three years, are well borne 

 out by the specimens examined by the Department. 



As far as can be judged from the fruit produced 

 this j'ear, the sorts are fairly true to name, especially 

 the King, Jaffa, Pine-ajjple, Hart's Tardiff, Washington 

 Navel, Parson Brown, and the Tangerine. These are 

 practically the best sorts for growing in the West 

 Indies. At Jamaica, a planter, with about 10,000 

 orange trees in full bearing, expressed the opinion that 

 the Centennial and the King were the finest oranges of 

 any : Hart's Tardiff came next, and then the Jaffa and 

 Pine-apple. We should be inclined to add the Wash- 

 ington Navel, when true to type, to this list, which 

 would then be complete for all practical purposes: — • 



DESCRIPTION OF ORANGES GROWN AT ST. CLAIR EXPERIMENT 

 STATION, TRINIDAD — BUDDED ON SOUR ORANGE STOCK. 



Homosassa. — A medium-sized orange, very sweet. Does 

 not colour imtil late (December to January). Good bearer. 

 Thin rind. 



Majorca. — Good size and colour. A spare cropper. 

 Fruit highly flavoured. The tree is erect branched and 

 irregular in growth. 



Parson Broivn. — Veiy productive variety and a vigorous 

 grower. The fruit colours late. A fine orange of medium 

 .size. To be recommended for heavy cropping. 



Tardiff. — An orange that ripens late, December and 

 Januar}-, or later. The last of the season, excluding the 

 King. Slightly acid flavour, with plenty of juice. 



St. MichacVs Blood. — A good bearer, producing medium- 

 sized orange. Sweet and excellent in flavour. The tree is 

 of straggling growth. Many people assume that the flesh of 

 the orange under this name is the colour of blood. Our 

 specimens are deep yellow onlj\ 



Rxihij. — Produces good-sized fruit with plenty of juice. 

 Very sweet with deeply tinted flesh. Good cropper. 

 Irregular growing tree. 



Bt. Mkhid. — Our form is a good bearer, fruit.s of 

 medium size ; flavour excellent, with a rather thick rind. 



Sandford's Mediterranean. — An excellent cropper ; rather 

 late in ripening. Fruit medium sized. Rind thin. Good 

 flavour. 



King. — An orange of the tangerine type, with a coarse, 

 thick rind. The tree is an erect grower and abundant 

 bearer. The flesh has a fine, almost vermilion colour, and 

 when fully ripe has an excellent flavour. The fruit ripens 

 very late in the sea.son. The rind, it may be added, yields an 

 excellent essential oil. 



Lamb's Summer. — A regular cropper, giving oranges 

 nearly all the year round; but mostly in season from October 

 to December. The fruit is of medium size; sometimes in 

 dry weather it comes small. A good-flavoured orange with 

 a thin rind. 



large, yellow orange. Fine flavour ; 

 The tree is vigorous, rather tall, and 

 A kind to be strongly recommended, 

 fine cropper yielding oranges of a fine 

 yellow colour ; medium in size and deliciously sweet, with 

 a flavour peculiarly its own though scarcely true to the name. 

 Its one fault is that it produces numerous seeds. The tree 

 is a good bearer and regularly productive. 



Washiiif/ton A'ave/. — Produces large oranges of a fine 

 yellow colour and characteristic form ; possessing fine sweet 

 pulp and juice. The fruit is large in size ; not a heavy cropper. 

 Tangerine. — A Florida variety ; medium sized. A fine- 

 flavoured variety of Citrus nohilis. It has a thin rind, and 

 when ripe is of a dull-yellow colour. The tree bears well 

 and appears to thrive in Trinidad. 



Jafa. — A fine, 

 sweet ; medium rind. 

 a regular cropper. 



Pine-apple. — A 



MOSQUITO-CATCHING PLANT. 



^Ir. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., Superintendent of the lloyal 

 Botanic Gardens in Trinidad, writes that he recently had 

 under observation some interesting specimens of an acpiatic 

 plant collected from the Pitch Lake at La Brea. Some of 

 the material produced peculiar pear-shaped organs at regular 

 intervals on the stems. ' I observed one of these organs 

 holding the larva of a mosquito by the tail, the larva being 

 quite dead. . . Later, I observed another larva just caught 

 and securely held, which, though struggling hard, could not 

 procure its freedom.' 



]\Ir. Hart suggests that, by encouraging the growth of 

 this plant in pools, it may be possible to keei' down 

 mosqviitos. 



The plant has been identified by Mr. Hart as belonging 

 to the genus Utricularia of the natural order Leiitihidariae. 

 The organs of these plants have long been known to be 

 capable of catching small aquatic animals. 



