156 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE chap. 



ployed. The writer of this book, on his lime plantation in 

 Dominica, has the skins and pulp of the fruit, after the juice 

 is expressed, put on the roots of the trees so as to give back 

 to the soil as much as possible of the produce raised from it. 

 This system answers remarkably well, and it has been 

 adopted by other planters. When the juice is concentrated 

 and wood is used for fuel, the ashes from the furnace should 

 be applied to the roots of the trees, for, as was pointed out in 

 the first part of this book, wood ashes contain a large propor- 

 tion of potash. 



Yield per CROPS. — The yield per tree varies considerably, according 



to soil, tillage, rainfall and climate ; but, with careful culti- 

 vation, a fair average soil, and a rainfall of about 60 inches 

 pe7' anjiwn^ from three-quarters to a barrel of limes can be 

 reckoned on from each tree. The flowering usually begins 



Crop time, in March, and the crop commences in June or July, and 

 continues to December, but a few limes may be gathered all 

 the year round, except at the end of the dry seasons, during 

 which time vegetation is at rest. 



Except when the fruit is exported, the limes should not 



The fruit to be picked off the trees. They should be allowed to fall to 



be allowed to -^ .... .... • , , i- 



fall to the the ground, and in this way the fruit is got m the best condi- 



groun . ^-^^ ^^^ obtaining the juice. On no account must the trees 



be shaken or beaten to cause the limes to fall, for the crop 



would then be lessened, by many flowers and much young 



fruit being thrown down. 



c • Preparation of the Juice.— The juice is extracted 



Squeezing -' ■' 



out the from the limes in various ways, but the process of squeezing 

 underlies them all. Cider presses are used in some places, 

 the fruit being cut up before it is put in the press. Small 

 sugar cane mills are used in other places, and they do the 



Mills. work remarkably well. The best form of mill is one made 



with heavy horizontal wooden rollers covered with sheets of 

 copper roughly perforated so as to catch the limes. With a 

 good press or mill from seven to eight gallons of juice can 



