120 
I first paid a visit to the Botanical Station in course of being laid out 
to the south-east of the town, close to the sea shore. The spot is very 
small, but it is the only land available to the Government for the purpose 
at the present time, and, limited though it be in extent, it can be rendered 
.of great service as a nursery or depót for plants and for misisti a 
small representative collection of such trees and shrubs as are suitable 
for growing in the island. 
As the Cotimisdionbr was unable to accompany me on a general visit 
to the principal centres ves cultivation, arrangements had been made for 
me to have the pleasure of doing so with the Hon. J. S. Hollings, C.E., 
a most intelligent and well-informed resident, who was thoroughly 
acquainted with the country. In addition, I was fortunate enoug 
con an invitation from Mr. Hamilton, the able manager of the Mente 
t Company i 
pattie of seeing the many new industries in course of being 
established in the island. We left Plymouth about 9 o’clock, and after 
Briteby Point, we struck iniand and visited the Elberton Lime Estate, 
where they were gathering their annual erop of limes for making into 
lime-juice. Owing to the drought the fruits were not so large this year 
as usual, but the immense golden heaps collected in the fields and near 
the factory were trophies of a harvest well worth travelling all the way 
to the West Indies to see them. ` The West Indian lime (Citrus medica, 
var. acida) appears to be a thin-skinned local variety, little known out- 
side the West So epe It vields juice of a singularly pure acid 
things besides limes. Nevertheless, from limes alone it is possible to 
produce a variety of articles more or less valuable. The limes them- 
selves are exported as gathered, or they are preserved in salt water and 
shipped in a pickled state for consumption in certain parts of the United 
S . Lime-juice, obtained by compression, is exported either raw or 
in a concentrated state. This latter is obtained by evaporating the 
juice in boilers until it is reduced to about one twelfth of the original 
b 
molasses. This is used for the ке“ of commercial citric acid. 
From thé rind of the fruit, by a process known as “ ecuelling," which 
consists of gently rubbing the fruit on өнчү projections arranged 
ide a brass basin, a very fine essence of limes is obtained. Again, 
by distilling the raw lime-juice a spirit is obtained known as oil of 
limes. 
From Elberton Estate we travelled further inland through groves of 
lime trees, and reached Olveston Estate. Here aiso was a large centre 
of activity in connexion with the utilisation of the produce of the lime 
tree. The business of the company was evidently carried on with great 
energy and enterprise, and Mr. Hamilton, who had formerly been a 
Мерг in Ceylon, was thoroughly alive to the desirability of turning to 
account everything that the land could produce. Some excellent cacao 
been cured on the Ceylon method, and while ordinary Montserrat 
cocoa fetched about 60s. per cwt., this cocoa had been valued as high as 
° . There was also some very well cured coffee grown on 
the hill slopes above. In a small factory close at hand there was in 
gei of preparation the juice of the papaw, to be made into ** papaine," 
or vegetable рерзше. tree grown in a garden here as mangosteen 
proved to be a pecu of — swith male бене only. After lunch 
