154 



665-BSSBNTIAL OIL FROM THE "KING ORANGE" 

 AND FROM UNONA DISCOLOR. 



The " King" orange is a fruit imported several years ago from 

 Florida, and is now growing and fruiting at the Experiment Station, 

 St. Clair. The fruit belong to the type of Citrus nobilis jv " Tan- 

 gerine"' class. It has a dark green skin while immature, changing 

 but slightly to yellow when fully ripe. The pulp of the fruit has a 

 fine flavour, and is bright vermillion in colour. The skin is thicker 

 than is usual with the Tangerine class of fruit, and the oil cells are 

 larger and more prominent in appearance, ll bears freely and regu- 

 larly, and the tree has a peculiarly erect habil distinguishing it at 

 once from commoner kinds. 



Recently, a fine clear light e-sential oil ha- been extracted from 

 the skin or rind of nearly mature fruits by aqueous distillation. This 

 shows a specific gravity of , 834. While the ordinaiy Tangerine 

 yields an oil showing 0*856 specific gravity. The yield in comparison 

 with other citrus oils is nearly double from the same weight of 

 material. The oil has a fine sweet odour, but we have yet to learn 

 from experts how it will rank with others of it- class. 



Another oil has recently been extracted from the fruit and 

 flowers of Unona discolor. The oil from the flowers is heavier 

 and darker than that of the fruit and possesses a stronger odour. It 

 partakes apparently of the character of the oil obtained from 

 Artabotri/s odoratissima, and belongs to the same order of plants 

 namely, the Auonacea. 



666.-COTTON "BOLL ROT." 



The growth of cotton plots has on the whole been very 

 satisfactory so far as growth is concerned, but on some of the fields 

 " Boll rot" is present to a considerable extent. 



Of this disease the Bulletin of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture says : — 



" Boll Rot." — This disease which is due to a bacillus, is far more 

 serious than those mentioned, although up to the present only one or 

 two cases of it have been noticed in the Wes1 Indies. The rot start- 

 in the inner tissues of the boll near the point of attachment of this 

 to the stalk. All the ti-sues at this point, including the cotton and the 

 young seeds begin to decay, and are transformed into a .-limy mass. 

 The decay gradually spreads through these tissues and finally involves 

 the whole of the inside of the boll. It is not till this happens that 

 one notices the disease from the outside, as the rot now begins to 

 spread to the walls of the fruit and these begin to present an 

 unhealthy appearance." 



That the disease has affected plots in Trinidad now appears 

 certain, as some of the Polls from the experiment plots have been care- 

 fully examined and the central rot found in bolls only half grown, the 

 outside of which presented a healthy appearance, but on cutting 

 through the centre both the cotton ami the young seeds were seen to 

 be affected. 



