26 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



In extracting the juice the hands 

 should be protected by rubber gloves, 

 as in its crude state it attacks the tis- 

 sues. An average tree will produce 

 ab^ut o;ie-fourth of a pound of the gran- 

 ulated juice. It sells in the United 

 States for from $4 to $6 per pound in 

 the crude state. 



"Papaya, Carica papaya, L. (Passi- 

 floraceae). A tree commonly cultivated 

 for its edible fruits, introduced from 

 America. The papaw. Merrill. " A 

 great many types of this tree grow in 

 these islands. It is subject to great 

 variations in growth, gives a heavy yield 

 per acre, and makes a good hog feed. 

 When set out 10 by 10 feet apart and 

 cultivated it improves greatly in quality 

 and quantity of yield. — Editor, Phil- 

 ippine Agricultural Review, March, '09. 



Cover Crops for Citrus Groves. 



Ceiba IMocha, Cuba. 

 Editor The CUBA REVIEW: 



Dear Sir: — As a good many readers 

 of the Review are interested to some ex- 

 tent in the citrus fruit industry in Cuba, 

 my experiments with cover crops for the 

 groves may prove of value. 



The accompanying pictures were tak- 



en in the same grove at different times 

 — No. 1 seven months, and No. 2 four- 

 teen months from planting. The crop 

 shown in the pictures is the "Dolichos 

 Lablab," or, as it is generally called, the 

 lablab bean. These beans were planted 

 early in May, 1908, and just as they were 

 coming up the cutworms destroyed a 

 good many of them, and as I had no 

 more beans I planted cowpeas and there- 

 by learned a valuable lesson. The cow- 

 peas grew much faster in the start than 

 the lablad beans and covered the ground 

 quickly, holding down the weeds and 

 grass until the lablab vines could cover 

 the ground, by which time the cowpeas 

 were ready to pick. The pea vines soon 

 dried up, furnishing a lot of vegetable 

 mould in addition to the valuable nitrates 

 deposited in the soil. The lablab beans 

 began to ripen in December, and con- 

 tinued blooming and bearing until April. 

 I found the green shelled beans very 

 good for table use, and our chickens fed 

 on the dry beans in the patch. 



As soon as the beans began ripening 

 the vines began shedding leaves, furnish- 

 ing a continuous supply of humus. I 

 have examined the ground frequently 

 under the bean vines and always found 

 it in fine condition. Even in the dry sea- 





Lablab Bean, seven months after planting. 



Las habichuelas "Dolichos Lablab" en Cuba. Se siembra entre las hileras de cidros, y muy 

 pronto cubren la tierra manteniendola en perfecto estado aun en el tiempo de seca, cuando los terrenos 

 decubiertos se ponen duros como piedra. Las habichuelas frescas son buenas para comer, y cuando 

 se secan se echan a las gallinas. En el grabado que antecede se ven las plantas siete meses despues 

 de scmbradas, y en la pagina siguiente se ven a los catorce meses de sembradas. 



