186 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 16, 1906, 



TRADE IN CITRONS IN BRINE. 



The Consular Report on the trade of the Morea 

 (Greece) for 1905 has the following reference to the 

 trade in citrons in brine. A note on this trade dui-ing 

 1904 was published in the Agricultural JS^etvs (Vol. IV, 

 p. 180) :— 



The demand which has sprung up of late years for 

 citrons Las caused land owners in suitable localities to 

 devote attention to their cultivation, so that quite a large 

 business is now the result. The citron is cut in half and 

 .shipped in casks containing strong brine. The Greek fruit is 

 considered of fine quality, and is mostly sold to the United 

 States. Last year from Patras alone £7,500 worth went to 

 the latter destination, and, exceptionally, some 300 tons, of 

 a value of about £10,000 were shipped to the United 

 Kingdom, which had hitherto imported very little of this 

 fruit from Greece. In normal season.s, when the various 

 producing countries in this part of the world have average 

 crop.s, the price of citron in brine varies from £17 to £20 per 

 ton, but last year there was a general shortage, and prices, 

 which opened at £24 per ton, were gradually driven up to £38. 



THE LIME INDUSTRY OF THE WEST 

 INDIES. 



The Pharmaceutical Journal, for April 28, has 

 the following note on the West Indian lime industry : — 



The exports of limes, concentrated lime juice, and 

 essential oil of limes from Dominica are of the annual value 

 of £45,370. Lime juice and oils are exported from Mont- 

 serrat of the value of £8,090 ; limes and lime juice from 

 Jamaica of the annual value of about £G,000. Trinidad 

 also exports some lime juice. 



The total lime shipments from Dominica, converted 

 into barrels of fruit, on the bases of a concentration 11 to 1, 

 and of 8 gallons of juice per barrel of fruit, are as follows : — 



There is a steady demand for West Indian limes in the 

 United Kingdom. The late Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 

 held at the Crystal Palace, proved of considerable service in 

 bringing limes under the notice of the British public, and 

 encouraging their more general use instead of lemons. 



HONEY FOR THE ENGLISH MARKET. 



The following note.s, extracted from an article on 

 honey, in the Agricultural Gazette of New South 

 Wales, for March last, are of interest in indicating the 

 requirements of the English market with regard to 

 honey : — 



That Australian honey in England is not relished as an 

 article of diet is well known to the Australian producer. 

 There is no denying the fact that a deeply rooted antipathy 

 towards Australian honey exists in the old land, caused, no 

 doubt, by the inferior grades of the article shiijped home. 



' A burnt dog dreads the fire.' So Londoners and 

 others having once tasted the inferior article sent home, 

 have come to the conclusion that all our honey is of the 

 same mixed character. Xevertheless, there are grounds 

 existing for a dislike to some of our honej-s. The honey 

 produced from some of our native flora can never be 

 improved. Bees have no power over the article they gather 

 and store, neither has the variety of bee anything to do with 

 it. Xo matter be they the high-classed Italians or the old- 

 fashioned black bees, the article they bring home is one and 

 the same. The hollow tree, box-hive, or bar-frame in no way 

 aft'ects the flavour of the honey obtained from the nectar of 

 the flower. The honey extracted from the combs of the 

 bar-framed hive is undoubtedly far more marketable than 

 in either of the other bee-homes on account of the absence of 

 the foreign matter therein contained. 



We are told the chief characteristics in honey suitable 

 for the British market are flavour, colour, and clearness. 

 The best honey should be sweet and clean in flavour. By 

 ' clean in flavour ' I suppose is meant a honey that leaves 

 no twang in the mouth after being eaten. In appearance, 

 a honey that is something of a water-white is the honey 

 that takes first place. 



For table jjurposes the honey imported into Great 

 Britain from California is the most sought after. This 

 honey is obtained from a Salvia locally known as mountain 

 sage, and also from lucerne. The United States of America 

 is noted for the light-coloured honeys. We have therefore 

 very little chance to obtain a footing in the London market 

 with our honeys for table use until our rural population are 

 seized with the idea of growing artificial forage plants. 

 Along the coast districts white clover is making itself known 

 to bee keepers, and the same may be said of lucerne, but the 

 latter is cut for hay just as it comes into flower. 



THE METAYER SYSTEM IN TUSCANY. 



A recently issued Consular Report on agri- 

 culture in Tuscany gives the following particulars of 

 what is known as the metayer system of land tenure : — 



The greater part of the agricultural population is com- 

 posed of metayers. The economic condition of metayers is 

 a privileged one among all tillers of the soil. An equal 

 division of the products of the soil between the owner and 

 the farmer, with other advantages which are in favour of the 

 metayer, is largely the rule in Tuscauj-. 



Amongst the many advantages enjoyed by the metayer 

 are the following : He pays no rent and no interest on 

 advances made by the landlord for the purchase of cattle, 

 implements, food, etc.; he is allowed land to cultivate as 

 kitchen garden, to keep poultry and a pig for which he pays 

 nothing beyond a small annual tribute in kind (' patto 

 colonico '), such as vegetables, a few chickens or dozens of 

 eggs and a ham. 



