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ECONOMIC PLANTS. 

 Bananas. 



Extension of cultivation. -The planting of Bananas has gone steadily 

 forward, and there need be no fear of overdoing the market. If 

 the whole of the West Indies, including Cuba, and adjacent territories 

 on the mainland, grew bananas wherever good 1 inches were produced, 

 the demand would still increase with the supply- There could be no 

 better nor cheaper food for the hungry millions of the British Isles, 

 Canada and the United States than the banana. 



Meal. — No further advance has been made in the utilisation of 

 bananas to make meal. Excellent meal has already been made in the 

 Island, and no doubt a company with a large capital could put it on the 

 market at a much lower cost than has hitherto been found possible, 

 especially if they started work in a banana district where they could 

 buy up small bunches. But it must be produced at a cost that will en- 

 able it to compete with flour. 



Dried bananas. — At the Hon. Evelyn Ellis' estate Mr. Zurcher has 

 solved the problem of so drying and putting up bananas that they keep 

 in good order like figs for a very long time. It is a secret process, but, 

 as the demand grows, factories will probably follow in other districts. 

 As it is probably possible to put the fruit in this condition on the mar- 

 ket at as low a cost as the fresh banana, there are immense possibilities 

 in this direction. 



Citrus Trees. 



The Superintendent of Hope Gardens reports results of experiments 

 in budding on various stocks : sweet orange on lime has done well, 

 although the tree has not grown large. Sweet orange on lemon are 

 looking fairly well. A sweet orange on sour stock gummed and was 

 destroyed. Navel oranges on sour have done well, especially the 

 Washington navel. The Imperial lemon on sweet orange did so badly 

 that they were destroyed: on rougn lemon, half are looking well, and 

 half were destroyed; others will be tried oa sour stock. Grape fruit 

 on rough lemon are looking well, but some on sweet orange were un- 

 healthy and were destroyed. The tangerines are looking well. 



At the Hill Gardens some of the trees have suffered a little from 

 scale-insects, but otherwise they are very healthy. There are in the 

 orange- grove 556 citrus plants put out in their permanent places, and 

 156 other fruit trees, making a total of 712 fruit trees, covering an area 

 of more than 10 acres actually under permanent trees. The nurseries 

 and roads<are perhaps of equal or even greater extent. 



Throughout the island there has been great activity in the planting 

 and cultivation of new orange groves. In many places the trees have 

 been affected in various ways, and assistance has been given by the 

 Department in ascertaining tie causes of the troubles, and giving 

 advice as to remedies. Frequently unhealthiness was caused by plant- 

 ing the young trees too deep, instead of so placing the topmost roots 

 that they should be only just covered by the soil ; or by giving too 



