428 FEUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Mr. Hart to Consul Sawyer. 



[Inclosure in Consul Sawyer's Report.] 



Varieties. The St. Michael, or ordinary sweet orange. Citrus awrantium, or the 

 Mandarin and Sangerine. 



Situation. In sheltered valleys, at elevations from 100 to 1,000 feet above sea- level, 

 and from one-fourth mile inwards. The trees are slightly shaded from the sun. Shel- 

 tered valleys are best; soil, loamy, alluvial; subsoil, volcanic (trap). 



Temperature. Mean maximum, 87. 5 Fah. Mean minimum, 69.7. Mean annual, 

 78. 6. Maximum, 91, September mean for mouth. Minimum, 66.9, February mean 

 for month. Range of temperature varies from 21 to 30 daily. 



Average rain-fall for twenty-jive years, 65.49 inches. Growth takes place during 

 rainy season, from July to December. (Driest month, February.) 



Irrigation. No artificial irrigation used. 



Cultivation. Practically the trees grow without attention. (Weed.) 



Fertilisers. No manure used, except near a homestead, when farm-yard manure is 

 very beneficial. 



Pruning. Little or no pruning practiced. Trees would be better for attention in 

 this direction. 



Picking. When commencing to turn yellow, or when " full," to use the local term. 



Curing. Simply dried. 



Packing. Packed in cases containing 2 cubic feet, with one division ; wrapped in 

 paper. 



Planting. ~No regular plantations yet exist. Trees are planted irregularly, and all 

 trees are raised from selected seed at Royal Botanic Gardens and distributed through- 

 out the colony. 



Maturity. Trees begin to bear at five to six years, and reach full maturity at twenty 

 years. 



Insect pests. Insects common: Brown and white scale, cottony scale ; sometimes 

 destructive ; cleaned with lime wash and soap solutions. I know of no useful insects 

 but the numerous varieties or species of wasps. 



No printed matter available. 



Cuttings. Cuttings can be secured through the New York agents of Direct Line 

 Steamers, George Christall & Co. 



J. F. HART, F. L. S., 

 Government Botanist and Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Trinidad. 



DUTCH WEST INDIES. 



REPORT BY CONSUL SMITH, OF CURASAO. 



i 



In regard to the information relative to the cultivation of oranges, 

 lemons, figs, and olives, requested in circular dated the 28th September, 

 I have to report that said fruits are not cultivated here. In former 

 times, when rains were more regular, a kind of bitter oranges, from the 

 peels of which the Cura9ao liqueur is made, was grown here, but is now 

 almost entirely abandoned. 



L. B. SMITH, 



Consul. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Curasao, W. /., November 8, 1889. 



