198 
islands to Great Britain. This is an important fact in regard to 
the future of the fruit trade between Great Britain and North 
fruit even a few hours curtailmen n Ocean vo eans some- 
times all the ime between profit and loss, Possessing a fertile 
soil, unsurpassed in any other part of the world, an abundant rainfall, 
and a wide diversity of climate, owing to the mountainous nature of the 
country, the capabilities of Dominiea for the culture of tropical and 
sub-tropical fruits can scarcely be over-estim ere can, there- 
ore, be no doubt that when the ral advantages of the island 
form farms for the "Pim of the various fruits and vegetables that 
can be exported at a 
The earliest recorded. instance of a trade in Dominica fruits is found 
* scenting blossoms, and the fruit of both is in great abundance, 
t 
even now, for quantities of the island fruit are exported not only to 
England and America but also to many of the neighbouring islands. 
It was not, however, until recent years that fruit became a regular article 
of export from the Colony, for the — prosecution of such an 
is style the 
industry requires experience in what is de andling” of the 
fruit, experience also in the various ees of mola, and a knowledge 
of the requirements of the markets abroad times American 
schooners used to come to Roseau, the chief port of Dominica, for 
pay; a 
knocked off the trees, and the bruised fruit was shipped roughly i in bulk 
in the hold of the vessel, with _the result that most of it became r rotten 
po s 
1151., the value of the Lime juice exported that year. With the exception 
of 1,019,800 Oranges shipped to the United States, and valued at 489/., 
there are no details given of the kinds of fruit exported; and as no 
| wer to. i fterwards, it 
must be assumed that the venture was iol a paying one. About 14 
bra ago, with a view of demonstrating the capabilities of the island 
or a pie t pen I made a few trial shipments of Oranges and Shad- 
eeling and Hunt, of Monument Yard, London. 
Notwithstanding ‘the long voyage by the Royal Mail steamers, longer 
n point of time than it is now, and the transhipments at Barbados and 
t. Thomas, the fruit, which was carefully selected and packed, arrived 
in London in Vr: condition, and fetched the highest price in the 
where it was then somewhat scarce, and as a consequence the 
— of the l a eel a large profit on the outlay. I showed 
of our local merchants the account sales, but nothing was done 
to beate oad trade, and things went on in their usual style, for 
Oranges appear in the official lists of exports for the years 1876 and 
1877, and they that disappear again, as might be expected, for the 
ipments could not possibly have paid owing to the rough handling of 
the fruit. Probably there would have been no considerable fruit trade 
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