5 



I shall be very interested to hear some particulars of the Jamaica plantations if you will kindly 

 furnish me with them on your return. 



I have &c, 



(Sgd.) John Hamilton, 



D. Morris, Esq. 



Copy. 21 Mincing Lane, E.O., 3rd November, 1890. 



Sift, 



We beg to acknowledge the receipt your letter of the 3rd November. 



"We are pleased to hear of the cultivation of bark by private planters in Jamaica, and hope some 

 day that the prices this market will pay them for their consigments will be much more satisfactory 

 than at present. 



We do not see that the outlook for the year 1891 will be better than this one. 



In our opinion the unit of quinine will rule from ljd. to 2d. for the next fourteen months. 



The immediate future of Cinchona is not reassuring. 



Thanking you for your letter. We are, &c, 



(Sgd.) Jenkin & Phillips. 



Mr. D. Morris. 



ORANGES . CURING AND PACKING. ORANGE WINE. 



The following extracts are taken from a Treatise on Citrus Culture in California by Mr. B. M. 

 Lelong, presented to the Department by Capt. Forwood. 



Enquiries are sometimes made about the manufacture of Orange Wine, and the recipe here given 

 has been successfully tried in Jamaica. 



Curing and Packing. 



Picking Oranges. — The tree should never be picked clean ; only the ripe fruit should first be picked, 

 thus lightening up the trees. The clean, bright colored, smooth, fine skin, and firm oranges will 

 always command the best prices. 



Orange Curing. — The fruit should b9 handled with care. It is better to stem-cut than to pull the 

 orange, as in pulling there is danger of tearing the skin. The fruit should not be packed fresh from 

 the tree, as when packed it will heat and sweat in the boxes at an ordinary temperature, and as the 

 entire contents in the box becomes damp, there is great danger from rot and decay. The fruit should 

 be picked in boxes and left under the tree three or four days, to allow the rind of the fruit to shrink 

 and to lose the surplus moisture in the rind. Another way is to place them in heaps in a dry room. 

 Unless the weather is very cool they go through a natural sweat, in which the surplus moisture escapes 

 and the rind becomes tough and pliable, many unseen imperfections, such as slight bruises, etc., will 

 develop into spots and permit a more certain selection of the peifect fruit for market. When the 

 weather is too cool the oranges do not sweat naturally ; they are then covered with blankets, etc. 

 During the sweating process the fruit should be carefully examined from time to time; the doors 

 should always be kept shut, and a current of air should not be allowed to pass through the room. In. 

 three or four days a slightly sticky appearance will be noticed on the rind ; then the fruit is wiped dry 

 and put into boxes, filling them half full, and are left in the room until dry; then they are ready for 

 packing. They should be in such a condition that when they are packed they will not become loose, 

 so that every time the car shakes they will knock one against the other ; this is the great secret of lose 

 in fruit, especially when shipped to the eastern market. 



Points in Packing. — The fruit should be carefully assorted as to size and color. Small and large 

 oranges should never be put into the same box. The wrapper should be careful to reject every bruised 

 or otherwise injured orange. The packer should be careful not to put different varieties in the same 

 box in packing. The oranges should be placed one by one, closely together in layers, so that there 

 can be no sliding or rolling of the fruit in the box. The top layer should project not less than one 

 half inch nor more than three quarter of an inch above the side of the box, so that the top, when nailed 

 on, should hold the layers firmly in their places even after there has been some shrinkage of the fruit. 



Wrapping. — The fruit paper used for wrapping should contain as little oil as possible so that it 

 will readil) absorb and throw off moisture. Wrapping oranges is regarded by many as being useless 

 and unnecessary. Experience has taught the orange growers in the last few years that it is better in 

 every way to wrap the fruit, for it carries better, especially when the fruit is to be transported a con- 

 siderable distance by rail. 



Size of an Orange Box. — The standard size orange box is twelve inches by twelve, by twenty-six 

 and a half, outside measurement, with a partition exactly in the middle. They should be made of light 

 and well seasoned material, neatly and strongly put together. 



Standard Counts. — The standard counts to the box are eighty, ninety-six, one hundred and twelve, 

 one hundred and twenty-eight, one hundred and forty-six, one hundred and sixty-four, one hundred 

 and seventy-six, two hundred, two hundred and twenty- six, two hundred and fifty, and two hundred 

 and eighty-two. When the fruit is graded to these sizes and properly packed in regular layers, they 

 fit and fill up the box in the best possible manner. The number of oranges and brand should be 

 marked on each box. This is important as buyers always prefer to know just how many oranges they 

 are buying. The number contained in the standard box also gives an exact idea of the size of the 

 fruit. 



Orange Wine. 



Take one part orange juice well strained ; one part water ; three pounds sugar per gallon. Any 

 kind of sugar will do, and the darker the sugar the richer will be the color of the wine. For each ten 



