388 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 15, 1906, 



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WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



LEMON TRADE. 



The Journal of the Jamaica Agricidtural 

 Society, for November, has the following note on the 

 lemon trade, and draws attention to the possibilities of 

 an export trade in lemons from Jamaica. Reference 

 has alread}' been made in the Agricultural News 

 (Vol. V, p. 244) to efforts that have been made in 

 Dominica in this connexion : — 



The higliest price on record for Naples lemons [in the 

 United Kingdom] was reached at the sales on September 10, 

 when 82s. was paid for some case.s, and an average of 

 50s. M: for 1,247 cases, containing 420 lemons each. If 

 those who have lemon trees woidd only work them to get the 

 fruit in from May to September, very good prices would be 

 realized. 



Two .shipments of lemons — one in August, and one in 

 October — have been sent by us to London to test the market 

 oa behalf of a member. The report on the first wa.s that the 

 fruit arrived in miserable condition, even though they had 

 been sweated here in the most approved style, and were 

 exactly the same class of lemons as were awarded a medal 

 at the Colonial Fruit Exhibition early in the year. The 

 price then ranged from 14s. to 45s. per case of 420. The 

 second shipment was also a bit wasty, that is, a few rotten 

 in each case, but they realized 12s. per case. 



There is no doubt that there is a remunerative market 

 for lemons, if they arrive in good condition in the United 

 Kingdom, from June till the end of Seiitember. At present 

 a trade is being done with Canada via Halifax. 



PROPAGATION OF TOMATOS BY 

 CUTTINGS. 



It is well known in the West Indies, that the seed from 

 a good American variety of tomato, locally grown, does not 

 produce such large fruits, as seed direct from England or the 

 United States. The tomato, however, is very easily grown 

 from cuttings, and advantage can be taken of this fact 

 to prevent deterioration of the fruit. This method has 

 been practised, for several years, at St. Lucia. A planter 

 in Christ Church, Barbados, has also grown tomatos 

 from cuttings, without using any seed, for ten years. 

 The cuttings, when rooted, are planted out in the cane 

 field. The field being a dry one, the plants are not staked, 

 but are allowed to bend to the ground under the weight of 

 the fruit. In favourable seasons excellent crops of this 

 v'hole."ome vegetable have been produced by this method. 



CONDENSED VEGETABLE MILK. 

 The following note appeared in Nature, October 



25: 



^Iv. T. Katayama, a writer in a recent fssue of the 

 Bulletin of the Agricultural College, Tokyo (Vol. VII, no. 1, 

 April 190G), describes the preparation of condensed vegetable 

 milk, a product which, thougli not yet in commerce, would 

 appear to have possibilities for tropical countries. The 

 Japanese prepare vegetable milk from soy beans by soaking, 

 crushing, and boiling in water. The licjuid obtained is said 

 to be very similar in appearance to cows' nnlk, but it differs 

 widely in composition. The average composition of soy milk 

 is given as : water, 92*5 per cent.; protein, 3'02 per cent.; 

 fat, 2 J3 per cent.; fibre, 0'03 per cent.; nitrogen-free extract, 

 U88 i)er cent.; ash, 0"41 per cent. To this material, 

 Mr. Katayama added sugar and a little dipotassiuni 

 phosphate, tlie latter to prevent protein separating out ; he 

 then evaporated the mixture, and obtained a condensed nnlk. 

 This product is described as having a yellowish colour, an 

 agreeable taste like cows' milk, but a slight odour of beans. 

 It is recommended for culinary [lurposes as a cheap substitute 

 for ordinary condensed milk. 



MUSEUM OF THE AGRICULTURAL 

 INSTITUTE, GUADELOUPE. 



During a recent tour through the Northern 

 Islands, the Entomologist on the staff of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture had an opportunity of 

 spending a day at Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, where he 

 paid a visit to the Museum of the Agricultural Institute. 



This museum appeared to contain a very good collection 

 of the various forms of the local fauna and flora, together 

 with many geological specimens and relics of the Carib 

 Indians. 



The zoological specimens represented every class of the 

 animal kingdom, and was said to be fairly complete for the 

 land forms. Fresh-water forms and a considerable number of 

 marine forms were also to be seen, while a large collection of 

 Carib implements and relics was on show. 



It was learned that these specimens were, for the most 

 part, prepared and arranged by Dr. L. Vitrac, by whom, 

 also, many of them were collected. 



Very few insects were in the museum, as Dr. Vitrac 

 keeps that collection at his residence. He is a keen entomo- 

 logist, and his collection is a large one, giving evidence of 

 much time and care .spent in its preparation. 



