340 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 3, 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



FRUIT-CANNING INDUSTRY IN THE 

 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 



Reference was made in the Agricultural News 

 {Vol. V, p. 178) to the fruit-canning industry of the 

 Straits Settlements. The following note from the 

 U. S. Monthly Consular Reports, for March last, is of 

 interest : — 



Consul-General Wilber says there is only one European 

 •canner at Singapore and he employs Chinese. All the rest 

 are purely Chinese canners, with cheap Chinese labour and 

 without power machinery. The cans are made by coolies in 

 slack times, and so cost less than by machinerj-. The Chinese 

 canners are practically controlled by European exporters. 

 They advance the canners the tin plate and in return take 

 the canned product. The canners work on small profits, and 

 many of them have failed during the last two years. Prices 

 vary much. Fresh pine-apples sell to canners for about )?ii'.50 

 ^old per 100. The quality is irregular. There were exported 

 from Singapore during the year 1904 to all countries 437,95.5 

 cases, valued at ■?2,490,60l'. Straits currency ; to the United 

 States 55,124 cases, valued at .8327,929, Straits currency. 



In the August issue of the same publication there 

 appears a further report by Consul-General Wilber, in 

 which he deals fully with the important pine-apple 

 canning industry of the Straits Settlements as 

 follows : — 



The sixteen pine-apple canning factories at Singapore, 

 all but one of which are owned by Chinamen, had an output 

 of 548,330 cases in 1905, the Value being .?2,788,269 in 

 •Straits currency (.$1 of which is worth 56;c. gold). This was 

 an increase in production of •'?297,667 over the previous year. 

 Of the amount exported in 1905, 57,411 eases went to the 

 United States and 294,792 cases to England. The most 

 popular variety for canning purposes is called the Black 

 Gamisca. The finest pine-apples grown in this part of the 

 world are found in Sarawak, British North Borneo. A few 

 come here for table use which are exceedingly large and have 

 a delicious flavour. 



The pine-apple yield in the vicinity of Singapore, where 

 they are grown for canning purposes, will average about 

 4,000 lb. per acre after two years, about 4,000 plants being 

 set out per acre. There is practically but one crop a year, 

 and the middle of June is the height of the harvest. Some 

 backward plants that do not come in bearing at this period 

 will, in .January, produce the 'small crop.' Canners pay 

 from §2 to •'Jo, Straits currency, per 100, according to size of 



fruit and extent of the crop. The pine-apples grown on 

 Singapore Island for canning purposes are small and medium 

 in size, and quality varies greatly. As to w^hether the industry 

 will increase or not depends on the demand. Chinese coolies 

 are employed on all plantations, and receive from .$6 to •'JS 

 Straits currency, per month, with food and quarters furnished. 

 Food will cost about .?6 per month. 



COCOA-NUT GROWING IN CUBA. 



According to the otlicial report of the United 

 States Consular Agent A. F. Lindley, sa3's the Caha, 

 Reriew, 18,500,000 cocoa-nuts were exported from 

 Earacoa during the year ended June 30, 1906. The 

 fruit was shipped mostly to Xew York and Philadelijhia. 



In his researches for facts regarding cocoa-nut 

 growing, Mr. Lindley elicited the following informa- 

 tion : — 



Cheap land, useless for other purposes, can be utilized. 

 The tree needs plenty of water, and the nut increases 

 materially in diameter during the rainy season. Sandy soil 

 is good, and salt water does not hurt them. It is best to 

 plant nuts already sprouting. 



The best nut is the San Bias, brought from South 

 America. It is a free huller, brings a better price in the 

 States, and is free from disease. The nuts should be planted 

 about 28 feet apart — about fifty-five trees to the acre. 



The cocoa-nut tree begins to bear in about five years on 

 the seashore, and in seven or eight years inland. Age does 

 not count against the tree ; in fact, some of the best trees 

 here are over fifty years old. Each tree drops about sixty 

 nuts a year, although one often hears the statement made 

 that a tree gives a nut a day. 



The nuts bring .?4 per 1,000 under 3^ inches in diameter, 

 and the same for sprouts and cracked nuts, while first-class 

 ones run from 810 to -818 a thousand, delivered. A planter 

 should get about 86 a thousand as profit, or about 26c. a tree 

 per year. 



The lower-grade nuts, he .says, can be used as food for 

 hogs. They are very fattening, and the lard is very firm. 

 Mr. Lindley aho calls attention to the profitable oil possi 

 lilities of the unmarketable sizes. One thousand nuts will 

 yield 30 gallons of oil by the hand process. It sells at 35c. 

 per gallon, and, as showing what a home market there is at 

 the colonists' door, he states that, of the 2.5,000 barrels of oil 

 manufactured at Baracoa, all went to different parts of Cuba. 



