372 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



December ], 190i5- 



WEST 



INDIAN 



FRUIT. 



COCOA-NUTS IN THE MALAY STATES. 



In liis report on a visit to tlie Federated Malay 

 States (see Agricultural Neus, Vol. V, p. 323), the 

 Hon. Staniforth Smith, of the Parliament of the 

 Commonwealth of Australia, deals at some length with 

 the cocoa-nut industr}-. The following information i.s 

 extracted from this report : — 



The area under cocoa-nuts in the States is estimated at 

 86,000 acres, the plantations lying chiefly along the west 

 coast, as the trees yield best when they can taste the sea. In 

 1904, 976 tons of copra were exported — an exceedingly small 

 return for the area planted. This is to be accounted for by 

 the fact that the trees in the great majority of the plantations 

 are just coming into bearing. With the present area in full 

 bearing, the export of copra should be something like 4.", 000 



tons, or -J 



ton to the acre, as the vield of the trees in the 



Peninsula is heavy. 



The trees begin to yield in five years, and are in full 

 bearing when eight or nine years old. A full-grown tree 

 .should yield sixty nuts a year, and with fifty planted to the 

 acre, that area will jield 3,000 nuts, or 1 ton of copra, 

 ■worth £5. 



An idea of the value of a cocoa-nut plantation in the 

 Malay States can be gained by the report issued by the 

 Inspector of Cocoa-nut Trees, in which he records the sale of 

 a plantation of trees just coming into bearing at £30 per acre. 



A factor of great importance in connexion with the 

 copra industry is the absence of large fluctuations in the price 

 of the product, and the remote probability of there being 

 a serious slump in prices, as the demand for the oil is almost 

 unlimited. One of its principal uses is for .soap manufacture, 

 and as the price of cocoa-nut oil is very little more than that 

 of the best tallow, the demand is not at all likely to fall off. 



Cocoa-nut trees in the Peninsula have suffered consider- 

 ably from the attacks of the cocoa-nut beetle, and this evil 

 assumed such proportions, owing to the carelessness of the 

 native cultivators, that the whole industry was jeopardized. 

 To cope with this danger, ' The Cocoa-nut Trees Treservation 

 Enactment ' was passed, and an inspector appointed. 

 Plantations were regitlarly inspected, the rubbish which had 

 been a breeding ground for the beetles was collected and 

 burnt, diseased trees were destroyed, and plant sanitation was 

 rigorously enforced. The Act endowed the inspector with 

 powers to enforce his decisions ; if the cultivator refused to 

 obey instructions, the work was done at his expense, and the 

 owner punished. This wise and firm treatment has rehabili- 

 tated the industry and placed it on a sound basis. 



PINE APPLE INDUSTRY IN THE BAHAMAS. 



It appears from the Annual Report on the 

 Bahamas for 1905-ti that energetic action is necessary 

 to revive the colony's pine-apple indnstrj'. 



There was a decrease in amount of over 31,000 dozen, 

 and in value of over £2,800, of fresh pine-apples exported 

 from the colony, as compared with 1904. The exports of 

 preserved pine-apples were 64,606 cases, as compared with 

 6.5,1-59 cases in 1904, valued at £11,713 and £13,033, 

 respectively. 



The factory of .J. S. .Johnson Co. in Nassau canned .51,302 

 cases, containing 162,118 dozen pine-apples. This is an 

 increase of some 9,000 dozen fruit over the previous year. 

 At the three factories at Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, 

 22,000 cases were canned, containing 84,000 dozen pine- 

 apples. 



The Kesident .Justice at Governor's Harbour reports that 

 this industry is rapidly declining owing to the poor .soil, the 

 red spider, the want of a new stock of plants, and the use 

 of unsuitable fertilizers. The Curator considers that the 

 importation of fresh stock and the better selection of stock 

 for planting purposes would materially help to revive the 

 industry. 



The Curator reports that large quantities are shi|>ped in 

 bulk in a green state to America, often arriving in bad 

 condition and causing a heavy loss to shippers, and he is of 

 opinion that all fruit should be canned here instead of being 

 shipped in a green state. 



LEMON AND ORANGE SYRUP. 



The Pharmaceutical Journal gives the following 

 ' Improved method of preserving syrup of fresh lemon or 

 orange peel ' : — ■ 



Take 4 It), of loaf sugar in large lumps, 7 gills of dis- 

 tilled water, an ounce of citric acid, and one lemon or 

 orange. A lemon or orange with a good peel is selected, 

 and this is rubbed en the lumps of sugar until the white 

 portion becomes evident. Meanwhile, the citric acid is 

 dissolved in the water; the sugar is broken up small and 

 added to the acid liquid, which is then heated to boiling 

 and strained, or it may be dissolved in the cold. The flavour 

 of the syrup thus prepared is infinitely superior to that of the 

 official (Codex) n-iethod. It keeps well. — Manseau {Bull. 

 Soc. rharm. de Bordmux, 1906, 16: '^00.) 



