198 



tleton, and given a small crop at both Gardens ; but it is still too early 

 to decide whether it is worth growing at all in Jamaica, or whether it is 

 likely to do better than Arabian Coffee below 2,000 feet. 



Grapes. 



Varieties. — Mr. Cradwick, the Superintendent of Hope Gardens, 

 reports as follows: — " The grape vines bore a large summer crop, which 

 commenced to ripen about the middle of May and lasted until the end 

 of July. The variety first to ripen was Raisin de Oalabre and after that 

 Foster's seedling; at this period exceptionally heavy rains fell, as much 

 as twelve inches in twenty-four hours, a great many of the berries split 

 and in some bunches the whole of them split and were spoiled. On the 

 morning of the 28th May, onecwt. and 41bs., were spoiled in this way 

 and were cut off the vines. 



'* The Muscat Hamburgh turned out fairly well, as did also Royal 

 Ascot and Black Prince, but of the black varieties Alicante appears to 

 be best suited to the Hope climate, as it is the only variety not attacked 

 by mildew. The Muscat of Alexandria has again proved to be the best 

 of the white varietes. Foster's seedling is a heavy cropper. 



tk In consequence of the unusual quantity of rain during the last 

 nine months of the year, 1898, the grape vines did not ripen any wood 

 at all for autumn pruning. In order however to demonstrate that un- 

 less the wood is properly ripened, it is useless to expect fruit, 16 vines 

 were pruned, and, as expected, not a single good bunch was produced." 



Instruction. — Mr. Cradwick has travelled in several parts of Jamaica* 

 giving instruction in handling and caring the vines and grapes. Some 

 planters have taken great interest in vine culture, and now possess a 

 large number of vines. Their experience is unfortunately the same as 

 in every land where grapes are grown on a large scale, fungoid pests 

 are exceedingly troublesome. The only plan to save the vines is to 

 adopt the methods found successful in other countries. Notes on the 

 subject are to be found in the Bulletin.* 



Market. — Whether it will be found possible eventually to produce 

 grapes from January to March for the London and New York markets, 

 is still a matter of experiment, but there is a local demand at remunera- 

 tive prices even for summer grapes. 



Distribution. — Young vines to the number of 1,383 have been dis- 

 tributed, mostly to small settlers in the neighbourhood of Alligator 

 Pond, which appears to be a district admirably suited to the cultivation. 



Kola. 



The interest in planting kola is still maintained, as many as 

 12,489 plants having been distributed. 



Mangoes. 



The mangoes at Hope, mis-called " Bast Indian," as all come from 

 the E. Indies, are derived from one of the trees imported by Governor 



* Bulletin, February, 1897, page 37. 



