36 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 3, 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



PACKING AND TRANSPORT OF ORANGES. 



The fblliiwing note is extracted from the llV.si 

 India Committee Circular, of January 5: — 



The oranges which enter mostly into competition with 

 the We.st Indian are the S[ianish, which begin to arrive in 

 large quantities in the month of September. The consump- 

 tion of these i.s enormou.«, during tlie last three or four 

 weeks amounting to as much as 100,000 cases per week. 

 Mr. Thomas Nash, the fruit broker, of I'lymouth, has issued 

 a circular letter on the subject of the inferior packing of 

 West Indian oranges, in which he states: 'They (the 

 Spanish oranges) are beautifully graded and packed in 

 attractive papers with various designs printed in colours, 

 gold and silver, according to the design of the jwcker. These 

 •cases are well made and clean. I find that when these 

 arrive the West Indian oranges are cast aside by the buyers, 

 and do not find a ready sale, but have to lie worked and 

 jiushed on our customers. This need not be. The West 

 Indian oranges, even in the face of the large Spanish imports, 

 would sell readily if the packers would take a leaf from the 

 experience of the C'alifornian orange growers. If these 

 oranges were carefully graded, packed in jiapers printed with 

 an attractive design, and in nice clean boxes turned out by 

 machinery with a coloured design on them, they would take 

 much better.' Mr. Nash also draws attention to the high sea 

 freight — averaging from 2s. to 2.s. 'id. i)er box — which should 

 be reduced. As to the carrying, he states that a large per- 

 centage arrive here with the appearance of being 'cooked,' 

 ■which he attributed to steam in the hold. Oranges .should 

 not be packed in the same hold with bananas, and he considers 

 the superiority in colour of those coming from Jamaica by the 

 specially fitted-uji boats of the l^lder, l)cmiister line, to tliose 

 from Trinidad, is thus explained. !May not, however, the 

 •differences in climate have something to do with this, due to 

 the more equatorial conditions of Trinidad f 



JAMAICA ORANGES. 



A leading article in tlie Janiaira l)((ii(/ Tdt'(jriijih, 

 for January 10, lOOU, deals with tiie necessity lor 

 j^rading and packing oranges under proper supervision 

 for export trade with the northern markets. The 

 following are .sotne of the chief point.s brought forward 

 for consideration : — 



.Jamaica oranges are reported to be fetching low prices 

 in London and New Vork at the present time, although they 

 are at their best, and compare in quality very fa\ourably 

 "with Jaffa and California fruit which are being bought at 

 good jirices. 



The reason for this state of affairs is not as is su^jposed, 

 that the keeping and carrying (jualities of Jamaica fruit are 

 not so good during the winter months as they are in summer, 

 but rather in the absence of all restrictions on the export of 

 fruit. Very inferior oranges are in consequence exported 

 from Jamaica in August and September, with the result that 

 all oranges from this island are looked upon with suspicion 

 by the bu3ers. This need not be so. Reference is made to 

 the manner in which the excellence of Canadian apples is 

 maintained by the following sentence, which is quoted from 

 an article '.n a recent issue of the London Daily Tderjrnph: 

 ' Canadian growers start with the advantage of a government 

 supervision at the place of export, which is jealously careful 

 of the Dominion's good repute in foreign markets ; and the 

 knowledge of this acts in a most excellent way in enforcing 

 the best grading and packing at the orchards.' 



The Jamaica Daily Tthgrnph believes that such 

 a system as this, in which all oranges intended for cx[iort are 

 subjected to careful insiiection by a government otticial, would 

 build up, in foreign markets, a desirable reiaitation for 

 Jamaica oranges. This would induce growers to be more 

 careful in selecting, grading, and packing. It would probably 

 result in a reputation among buyers that, while i)lacing 

 Jamaica oranges on a par with the oranges from other 

 countries, would materially assist in establishing a remunera- 

 tive trade in this excellent fruit. 



The Durability of Bamboo. The A<iri,:nliural 



Herord of Trinidad, for December ISiJl, contained an article 

 dealing with the durability of baniboo, and referred especially 

 to the popular notion that bamboo cut at a 'good moon' was 

 very durable, while the same quality of bamboo cut at 

 a 'bad moon' had no lasting qualities. The author of the 

 article, Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., states that, by merely 

 soaking freshly cut bamboos in water for a fortnight, their 

 durability may be greatly increased ; and that bamboos cut 

 in a 'bad moon,' may thus be rendered more durable than 

 tho.se cut in a 'good moon,' which have not been .soaked. 

 The author further explains that the bamboo suffers much 

 from the attacks of insects, among which is the small weevil 

 (Diiioderas miiuilux). The effect of the soaking is stated to 

 be the extracting of .sugar or other matter which attracts the 

 insects ; and, as a consequence, they attack the wood les.s 

 vigorously. 



It would be interesting to know whether further 

 experiments have been carried cut since this article appeared, 

 in order to prove the efficiency of this process with legard to 

 other woods and timbers. 



