212 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July U, 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT 



PURCHASE OF BANANAS IN THE 

 CANARIES. 



The following reference is made to the banana 

 trade of the Canary Islands in the Consular Report 

 for 1905 :— 



The exports of bananas, tomatos, and potato.? continue 

 to increase. In the early months of 1905, owing to the keen 

 competition among e.xporter.s, banana farmers in the Canaries 

 obtained prices considerably above the actual market prices 

 in the United Kingdom. In May, however, one of the largest 

 houses doing business in the fruit introduced a new system 

 of receiving and buying. 



Contrary to expectations, the West Indian banana seems 

 to have depreciated the larger-sized bunches. It was always 

 thought (and reasonably so) that the smaller Canary bunches 

 would sutler through the importation of the West Indian 

 fruit, and on that expectation growers were constantlj' advised 

 to exercise the greatest care in cultivation with a view to 

 producing a greater percentage of larger bunches. The 

 unexpected depreciation of the larger bunches has made it 

 necessary to re-organize the whole system of Ijuying bananas 

 in these islands. The method in vogue hitherto was to pay for 

 bunches according to the number of ' hands ' they contained. 

 In view of results it would seem that this system has been 

 entirely wrong. Bunches of bananas vary considerabl}', not 

 only in size, but also in their development; hence two bunches, 

 although containing equal number of hands, need not neces- 

 sarily represent the same value, as one might be poorly 

 developed and the other well developed and consequently of 

 larger size. The result is that the buyer in the United 

 Kingdom pays more for the better bunch, whereas in these 

 islands they are bought for the same money. The injustice 

 of that system is apparent. Farmers who cultivated with 

 care could not obtain better prices than those who merely 

 ■watered their land and cut their fruit. It is well known that 

 the Canary banana cannot be shipped to the United Kingdom 

 naked, but that it must be jwcked very carefully in crates. 

 Therefore the buyer in the United Kingdom will judge by 

 the size of the crate and apparent weight of the fruit. The 

 new system, referred to above as having been introduced, 

 consists simply in paying the farmer according to the quality 

 of his fruit and without reference to the number of ' hands ' 

 contained in each bunch. The introduction of this new 

 system met with great opposition, fostered by the competitive 

 firms, and it appeared as if the bold departure would leave 

 the innovators without any fruit. This took place in the 

 month of May, and the outcry against it was that it would 

 leave the farmer iu the dark as to the yield of his planta- 



tions, which would a] I 

 the system was quite i 

 system, the firm referrii 

 the fruit in accordance ■ 

 markets, which, of com: 

 here. Previously the j 

 a certain number of 

 referred to above, the 

 the prices of the iai 

 buying of fruit had to 1 

 trade now seems to have 

 business, with all its i 

 does not look as if it W' 



:;a natural enough considering that 



ew to him. In addition to the new 

 i1 to adopted a method of paying for 

 '.\itli the prices obtained in the British 



■'r. entailed constant change of prices 

 J 'rice was a fixed one, contracted for 



iiuinihs or even years. As already 



\Ve.-.i Indian banana has depreciated 

 ji;i -.sized bunches, and thei-efore the 

 l"j iiKjditied accordingly. Tlie banana 

 ;' entered into the phase of an ordinary 



i<k,s, and, contrary to predictions, it 



'uld disappear. 



LEMON MARKET IN LONDON. 



In view of the suggested establi.shment of a lemon 

 industry in Dominica, the following letter, dated 

 June 8, from llr. Geo. J\i(inro, of Covent Garden Market, 

 to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, is likely 

 to be of interest : — 



I am in receipt of your letter re lemons, and beg to say 

 that there are a great many lemons on the market besides 

 the Sicilian and they are always sold very cheap through the 

 cold weather. As your letter states that the lemons would 

 probably be shipped from Dominica during the winter 

 months, we do not think that much could be done with them, 

 but if they could be shipped to arrive here during the summer 

 and autumn months when they are used in much larger 

 quantities, there might be a very profitable trade worked. 

 They generally come' in cases containing from 300 to 600, 

 but the package is not .so r>articular if the lemons are good 

 and well graded. We think the ordinary standard orange 

 box of Jamaica and Florida would bring them very well. 



AVe shall be very pleased to handle any that you advi.se 

 being sent to London, and to report fully on them. 



Tonga Beans. In a rejjort on a recent visit to the 

 north-western district of British Guiana, Mr. Edgar Beckett, 

 Agricultural Instructor, .suggests that the collection of tonga 

 beans {Dqiteryx oderata) for export purposes might be 

 profitable. The large tree bearing these beans belongs to one 

 of the few genera of leguminous plants which bear a single 

 seeded fruit. It is a native of Cayenne. Seven other species 

 are known to occur in the forests of Brazil and Guiana. 

 From the beans of D. oderata a perfume is obtained. 



