Vol. V. No. 116. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



315 



LEMONS IN DOMINICA. 



In view of the efforts that are being made in 

 Dominica to start a lemon industrj', it may be of 

 interest to publish the following information extracted 

 from the Annual Report on the Botanic Station. It 

 contains interesting results in reference to the 

 chemical composition of lemons and limes : — 



Much interest lias lately been shown in the lemons 

 ^rown at the Botanic Station. Two kinds, the Villa Franca 

 .and an Italian lemon, are under cultivation, both being 

 budded on sour orange stocks. The fruits are large, smooth- 

 skinned, and juicy. The London report on thein was not 

 altogether favourable ; among other things they were 

 described as being sweet lemons. The juice tested by the 

 Hon. Dr. Watts, C.M.G., Government Chemist and Superin- 

 tendent of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, showed 

 a greater acidity than that of limes grown in the wet districts 

 ■of Dominica. 



Some hundreds of plants have been budded by request, 

 and it is possible that a small experimental cultivation may 

 be started. If carried on in conjunction with lime cultiva- 

 tion, little financial loss, if any, can result, for, if it is not 

 possible to ship the fruits, they can always be crushed in the 

 mill and the juice concentrated along with the lime juice. 



The Hon. Dr. Watts, C.M.G., has tested the' juice of 

 two varieties of limes and two varieties of lemons grown at 

 the station. The results are given below : — 



LIMES. 



A. Spineless. 



B. Ordinary. 



Average weight of fruit 

 Percentage of juice ... 



Sp. Gravity 



3I-1 grams. 61-9 grams. 

 51 '3 per cent. .50'8 per cent. 



1-0410 1-0390 



16-16 



Total solids, grams per 100 c.c. 11-70 11-1.5 



Citric acid „ „ „ „ 9-82 8-87 



„ „ oz. per gallon ... 15-71 14-18 

 Purity (i.e., ratio of acid 



to total solids) 83-9 79-5 



Dr. Watts adds : ' From this it will be observed that the 

 spineless lime is very much smaller than the ordinary lime, 

 but its juice is richer and purer. The juice of the ordinary 

 lime now examined is, however, somewhat low in purity. The 

 point now to be ascertained is whether the spineless lime will 

 bear such a quantity of fruit as to compensate for the 

 sraallness in size.' 



LEMONS. 



Italian. 



Villa Franca. 



Apparent acid (from sp. gr.) .. 



Real acid 

 Co-efficient of purity 



1-0286 1-03.34 



13-28 oz. per gal. 15-39 



11-17 11-37 



84-1 73-8 



NOTES ON PRUNING COFFEE. 



The Journal u/tJie Jamaica Agriaulttiral Society, 

 for September, has the following article, by Mr. W. 

 Cradwick, on pruning ' long-top ' coffee : — 



There is great diversity of opinion as to the advisability 

 of growing ' long-top ' coffee under any circumstances, some 

 authorities affirming that with some soils and situations 

 ' long-top ' is the most profitable form of cultivation, while 



others affirm that it is inferior to" ' short-top ' both in yield 

 and quality. 



It is a fact that all the coffee 'in Costa Rica is grown on 

 the ' long-top ' method ; and that the yield there per acre is 

 very high ; that the quality is also high is demonstrated 

 by the market reports. 



It is a fact that there are several thousands of acres of 

 coffee in Jamaica, which, if properly pruned on the ' long-top ' 

 method, would yield much more and better coffee than they 

 do at present. 



Unfortunately, it would appear that the majority of 

 cultivators who grow ' long-top ' coffee do not prune at all, 

 except perhaps in the rudest fashion. Pruning is usually 

 understood to mean keeping the trees low, or short top. 

 Hundreds of times, I suppose, I have been told when speaking 

 of pruning that ' you cannot keep the trees low on the land 

 or they will die.' 



The principles of pruning coifee, whether by the long- or 

 short-top method, are exacily the same. You must grow 

 each year a fresh supply ot wood, to supply the trees with 

 young and vigorous wood to bear the future crops. You 

 must each year cut off the old worn-out wood, which, if left 

 on the tree for the following year, will not bear, or, if it does, 

 will be worse than useless, by bearing light coffee, which will 

 spoil the quality of the coffee borne by the good, vigorous 

 wood. It is very easy to see which wood bears good coffee 

 and which bears bad. Pick a few berries from old wood 

 and a few from young wood, cut them open and see what is 

 inside, and you will be taught the lesson at once. 



Then remember that, by leaving on the old wood, you 

 have prevented the young wood from bearing as much as it 

 would have done, and you have also hindered the growth of 

 still younger wood, which should give a crop next year. 



All wood which bends over should be cut off, cutting off 

 down to where young shoots are growing. Follow this up 

 by selecting two of the biggest and strongest young shoots, 

 and pulling oft' all the others; you will then get two, big, strong 

 .shoots, which will bear plenty of good, heavy coffee. Every 

 year grow two more young shoots, and every year you will 

 have a crop of good coffee, instead of a very big crop of poor 

 coffee one year and none the next. 



This is the best year I have seen for some years for 

 heavy pruning, as the continued rains have made the trees 

 grow and not bear. All useless wood can be cut out and you 

 will still have plenty of good wood for next year's crops. 



Do not be afraid to thin out the trees. You must have 

 noticed that the trees on the outside of the cott'ee walks bear 

 the best, while in the middle they bear very little. The 

 reason is that the trees are too thick ; the inside ones get no 

 light nor air like the outside ones, and .so do not bear. 



MINOR INDUSTRIES IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



At the half-yearly meeting of the British Guiana 

 Bank, held on September 1<S, the Managing Director 

 made the following reference to the success of minor 

 industries : — 



There are indications of a considerable increase in what 

 may be termed the minor industries of the colony, of which 

 rice takes first place. The rice crop about to be reaped will 

 be the largest on record, and as prices are favourable to the 

 growers, the result to them should be most satisfactory. The 

 value of the crop is estimated at over .§1,000,000. 



The balata business is doing well, and attention is now 

 being paid to the planting of rubber in various parts of the 

 colony. This industry should in a few years' time prove of 

 great value. 



