68 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Makch ."., 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



TROPICAL FRUITS IN ENGLAND. 



In the Fort-of-Spaln GazeW? for February G, lOOG, 

 a correspondent from Covent Garden, reviewing the 

 English fruit trade for 1905, states that an immense 

 volume of business was done in the importation of 

 fruit, and that the most astonishing development was in 

 connexion with the banana industry. At one time it 

 was the orange, the apple or the tomato ; to-day it is 

 the banana that heads the list. The three great centres 

 of production are the Canaries, Jamaica, and Costa 

 Rica. The sum of over £2,000,000 is said to have 

 been paid for the banana supply during 190.5. 



The following prices of tropical fruits at Covent 

 Garden are taken from a letter of Mr. B. C. Orgill to 

 the editor of the Jamaica Gleaner : — 



Jamaica bananas, 3«. to 7s. per bunch ; .Jamaica grape 

 fruit, from 10s. GJ. to 18s. per case ; Madeira mangos, from 

 4s. to 6s. per dozen ; St. Jlichael'.s pines, from 3s. 6rf. to 5s. 

 each; Si)anlsb pomegranates, from 6s. to 12s. per case; 

 Jamaica oranges, from 6s. to 10s. per ease; Canary tomatos, 

 from 12s. to lis. per nest; avocado pears (very inferior), 

 3s. to 6s. per dozen; cucumber.?, from 8s. to 15s. per dozen; 

 French puniukins, from 4s. to 5s. each ; Rangoon cocoa-nuts, 

 from 10s. to* 16s. per 100. 



THE PUMELOW IN CHINA. 



The Journal of the Society <if Artv for January 

 19, 1906, contains an account of the growing of 

 pumelows in China, from which the following extract 

 is taken, Reference is made in this connexion to an 

 article on grapefruit and shaddocks in the We>it Indian 

 Bulletin (Vol. VI, p. 284):— 



The United States Consul at Hangcliow says that its 

 bearing period, with ordinary Chine.se care, probably ranges 

 from twenty to twenty-five years. The tree apparently 

 grows in any kind of ground, good soil, of course, producing 

 more and better fruit than poor soil, but the habits of the 

 tree recjuire no particular soil or soil conditions. The best 

 pumelows arc grown in the lower portions of Fukien 

 Province, and the upper portion of Kwantung Province. The 

 best pumelows of the world are said to come from a little 

 valley near Chang Chew, a large Chinese city in the interior 

 from Amoy, which has not yet been opened to foreign trade, 

 the village in this valley, named Po Nan, being tlie centre of 

 the trade in fine pumelows. The pumelows grown there are 



of exceptionally fine flavour and size, of splendid and 

 showy appearance, and fetch high prices. So famous are 

 the pumelows grown there, that each year a special tribute 

 of Po Nan pumelows is sent to the Emperor at Peking. 

 The summers in this valley are rather hot and damp, while in 

 the winter there are a good many frosts. The temperature 

 will often go as low as 28° F. and has been known to go as 

 low as 25°, although damage was done at that time. The 

 pumelow is grown far in the interior of China, having 

 been reported as common, by traveller.s, in even the drier 

 portions of Szchuan Province. The Chinese say that a good- 

 sized tree will ordinarily p[oduce from 600 to 700 

 pumelows, and when it is considered that many pumelows 

 will run as large as 7 or 8 inches in diameter and even 

 larger, it will be a[ipreciated that such a tree is bearing 

 a considerable load. The fruit is more oval than round. 

 The structure and covering also are practically those of 

 the grajie fruit, except that the skin and pith padding may 

 be somewhat tliicker on the average, and the small globules 

 of juice and fibre or 'meat' are more perfectly separated. 

 Each section of the fruit contains a large number of seeds, 

 but the seeds are close together on the inner edge of the 

 section of the fruit, and are easily separated from the edible 

 portion without breaking into the juice cells. The Chinese 

 pick their pumelow.s, as they do all their fruit, too green to 

 get the best results, and often the ijuality of the fruit is poor 

 simply because it has not been allowed to ripen i)roperly. 

 This premature gathering of fruit probably also inteil'eres 

 with the maintenance of the highest quality of their seedling 

 ti-ees. jNbmy of the producers practise grafting from trees 

 of unusual merit, but the general rule is to grow trees from 

 the seeds. 



HOW TO CURE LEMONS. 



The following suggestions for the curing of lemons are 

 taken from the Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Societi/ 

 for January last : Lemons should not be allowed to ripen on 

 trees. They must be stem cut just before they begin to 

 show yellow. They should then be piled or lieai)ed on the 

 floor in a dark, close room, and covered with bhmkets for 

 forty-eight hours, which will cause them to sweat profusely. 

 After being wiped dry, and put in single layers on shelves 

 in a dark room, they nurst be left for a week or ten days 

 until they begin to show a clear, straw colour. They should 

 then be sized carefully, since they are sold by size, and then 

 packed like oranges, in boxes. Lemons so prepared for 

 market will keep for months in a perfect condition, thou 

 being no fear about their going bad in the way oranges do 



