TH E CUBA REVI E W 



29 



AGRICULTURAL MATTERS. 



Cocoanut Palm Yield — Fruit Packing for Export — An Ingenious Fertilizer 



Distributor. 



Cocoanut Palm Yields. 



A good cocoanut tree should yield an 

 average of 100 nuts per year, and under 

 favorable conditions 200 have been ob- 

 tained. In Porto Rico, however, a re- 

 turn of sixty-five nuts per tree is prob- 

 ably about the average figure. This low 

 return emphasizes the general want of 

 care and attention from which the in- 

 dustry is suffering. The cocoanut palm 

 will continue in bearing for so long as 

 seventy or eighty years. During the 

 early years of its growth, catch crops of 

 various kinds, as provision crops, etc., 

 may be planted between the trees or, bet- 

 ter still, leguminous plants, as cowpeas 

 or velvet beans. 



In planting, select only fine, ripe seed 

 nuts, the produce of healthy, well de- 

 veloped trees, of good bearing capacity. 

 The ripe nuts are first set out at dis- 

 tances of one foot from each other in 

 holes two feet deep, and with about two 

 inches of the surface of the nut ex- 

 posed. The seed bed should be kept 

 moist, but not wet. After a period of 

 from four to six months the young seed- 

 lings can be transplanted. They should 

 be set thirty feet each way and the soil 

 around the young trees should be 

 mulched with leaves. 



The cocoanut palm responds well to 

 cultivation and applications of manure. 

 Green manuring is frequently recom- 

 mended, and by growing crops of beans 

 between the trees and digging the vege- 

 tation into the ground growth is consid- 

 erably hastened. They bear transplant- 

 ing well, and if the young trees do not 

 appear to be flourishing they may be 

 taken up, some manure and trash worked 

 into the hole, and the trees replanted. 



The period at which the cocoanut palm 

 begins to bear fruit varies from five to 

 ten years, depending largely upon the 

 location and the care given to it. — Bar- 

 bados Agricultural News. 



Citrus Fruits for Export. 



The best months to export citrus fruits 

 to England are in August and Septem- 

 ber, although there is a good market 

 for high-class oranges and mandarins in 

 June and July also. In packing for ex- 

 port fruits should in all cases be wrapped 

 separately in glazed or thin wax paper. 



Trial shipments of mandarins and 

 other kinds of oranges from South Af- 

 rica have lately been placed on the Eng- 

 lish market. Exporters have adopted the 



plan of packing these in fancy trays 

 which hold only one layer of fruit, and 

 then binding five of the trays together 

 in one package. This method of pack- 

 ing appears to be a new one, but is giv- 

 ing satisfactory results. 



Bananas to England sent green from 

 the Canary Islands are packed each 

 bunch in a separate crate. The bunch 

 is first wrapped in a layer of cotton 

 wool, then in paper and then in straw 

 or dry leaves. 



Saves the Fertilizer. 



Fertilizer is expensive. By the old 

 method of distributing it there was us- 

 ually enough wasted to represent _ a 

 pretty penny. Then came along a Vir- 

 ginia man and invented the hand fer- 

 tilizer dropper. This device consists of 

 an odd-shaped bucket, running to a 

 point at the bottom and having a small 

 opening there, through which the con- 

 tents filter. A hinged valve, operated 

 by a rod that leads to the handle of 

 the bucket, controls the flow. The top 

 of the rod is connected to a crossbar, 

 which runs under the handle of the 

 bucket. This bar is in close reach, and, 

 when resting on the top of the bucket, 

 the valve is open. To close the valve 

 the operator merely extends a finger 

 and lifts the bar, thus shutting off the 

 flow of the fertilizer. The valve flares 

 at the bottom, spreading the fertilizer 

 in a broad, fine stream. For small 

 farms, gardens and lawns this device is 

 of great convenience, and is a money- 

 saver. 



