30 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION 



A NEW WAY TO RIPEN BANANAS COCOANUT LARD 



RIPENING BANANAS BY ELECTRICITY 



In a recent number of the Electric Re- 

 vieiv, Chicago, an interesting description is 

 given of experiments carried on by a large 

 wholesale fruit Iiouse in Spokane, State of 

 Washington, to ripen bananas by means of 

 electricity. According to this account, the 

 results were so highly successful that a 

 permanent installation of the apparatus re- 

 quired was at once decided upon. 



The experiment was carried out by plac- 

 ing heaters on the side of the wall about 

 two feet above the floor line. Though the 

 temperature varied five degrees in various 

 parts of the rooms, it was proved that 100 

 per cent of the fruit so treated could be 

 marketed. 



The installation consists of four 500-watt 

 car heaters and a circulating fan placed in 

 an asbestos-lined box on the side of tlie 

 wall of each room. In addition to this, a 

 500-watt element was placed in a bucket of 

 water, the resulting evaporation furnishing 

 the necessary moisture. Each piece of ap- 

 paratus is controlled by an individual 

 switch. Two rooms are used, each 16 by 

 18 by 7 feet, and each having a capacity of 

 200 bunches. 



By means of a circulating fan. placed at 

 the outlet of an air duct which has its in- 

 let at the base line of the opposite side of 

 the room near the door, cool air is drawn 

 in and blown through the heaters against 

 the distributing door into the room. Within 

 a very short time after the fan was started 

 there remained no appreciable difference of 

 temperature in any part of the room, thus 

 ensuring equal ripening. By alternation the 

 rooms, 200 bunches of the fruit are ready 

 for market every two days ; giving a total 

 capacity per month of ?.,000 bunches. 



In the summer months, the same rooms 

 are used for cooling purposes, the heat gen- 

 erated in the ripening of the fruit being an 

 excess of that required to give the results. 

 The ventilating ducts are opened, and the 

 cool air is circulated through the air duct 

 by means of the fan, thus ensuring an even 

 temperature and so preventing overripening 

 while the fruit is awaiting a market. — 

 Caiiada-lVest India Maqacinc. 



PUTS FERTILIZER IN HOLES 



A new method of applying chemical fer- 

 tilizer to fruit trees, says The Rubber 

 World, is proposed by M. Cadoret, who 

 finds that it gives such excellent results 

 in experiments which he has been making 



in France. The usual method is to simply 

 spread or strew the chemical fertilizer on 

 the ground at a certain distance around the 

 trunk of the tree, but it is found that this 

 has a disadvantage in that the fertilizing 

 principles do not penetrate into the ground 

 as rapidly as might be supposed, so that 

 their action is felt but slowly. M. Cadoret 

 finds that a much better plan is to use ?n 

 iron rod having an expanded part near the 

 point so as to make rather large holes in 

 the ground. Such holes are filled with the 

 fertilizer, which consists of a properly pre- 

 pared mixture, using some precautions. 

 The fertilizer, in order to prevent damage 

 to the roots from the caustic action, should 

 be mixed with crumbled earth beforehand. 

 From four to six holes should be used, to 

 be deep enough to contain all the fertilizer 

 required for the tree in question, and the 

 holes are best placed about twelve inches 

 from the trunk. The depth of the holes is 

 increased to keep pace with the growth of 

 the tree. According to M. Cadoret, the 

 above method gives remarkable results, and 

 he finds that fruit trees of five years' 

 growth are as well developed as other 

 trees of twelve years. — West India Com- 

 mittee Circular. 



VALUABLE BY-PRODUCTS OF COCOA- 

 NUTS 



Cocoanut oil, which used to be the prin- 

 cipal and almost the only valuable con- 

 stituent obtained from copra, is an evil- 

 smelling, although extremely useful and 

 commercially valuable, article, still greatly 

 in demand in India and elsewhere as oil. 

 But the finest quantity of cocoanut lard 

 now produced is a material so exalted 

 above the oil that no ordinary person 

 would think for a moment of associating 

 the two together. Vegetable lard is an 

 almost ideally pure product, perfectly 

 wholesome when used in conjunction with 

 milk for butter making, and a perfectly 

 safe and desirable constituent of confec- 

 tionery of the highest class, including 

 chocolate creams, and so on. This being 

 so. it is not surprising that copra has com- 

 manded a wider field of consumption. It 

 happens, however, that the demand has 

 grown much more rapidly than the pro- 

 duction. 



Not manj- years ago copra sold at iVl 

 per ton. whereas to-day quite ordinary 

 grades sell at i?>2 per ton and better qual- 

 ities at even higher price. — Financier and 

 Bullionist of London. 



