January, 1910,] 



CI 



Edible Products. 



increase the market value of the pro- 

 duct. It is therefore necessary for 

 Filipino pineapple growers to apply fer- 

 tilizers to their soils so as to provide them 

 enough of the necessary plant foods for 

 their proper development. Pineapple 

 fields should be given at least two ap- 

 plications of fertilizer each year. The 

 plants should be fertilized the first time 

 immediately after their fruits have been 

 harvested, and again about two months 

 previous to blossoming. The last appli- 

 cation should contain a large amount 

 of potash to improve the quality as well 

 as to develop the size of the fruit. 



The following composition is taken 

 from Bulletin No. 8 of the Porto Rico 

 agricultural experiment station, and 

 shows the necessary elements and the 

 amount of such mixtures which should 

 be used for every 1,000 plants. A suffi- 

 cient quantity of tobacco dust should be 

 dropped into the heart of each plant ; 

 the tobacco serves as an insecticide as 

 well as a fertilizer. The application 

 per 1,000 plants following the harvest 

 should consist of about 19 kilograms of 

 dried blood, 11 kilograms of high-grade 

 sulphate of potash, and 18 34 kilograms 

 of acid phosphate ; while the second 

 application may be made of the follow- 

 ing combination : 18 4 kilograms tank- 

 age, '22*08 kilograms of low-grade sul- 

 phate of potash and 5 98 kilograms of 

 basic slag. 



Canning Factories.— The desire of many 

 people to establish pineapple-canning 

 factories in Manila must be known to 

 the growers so that the latter can be 

 induced to produce fruits of a desirable 

 size and quality for shipping purposes. 

 There is also a demand, from some 

 firms in Manila, for pineapple fibre, and 

 the planter might just as well take ad- 

 vantage of this product which is usually 

 left in the field to decay. 



Pineapple Production in Other 

 Countries. 



Before closing this article, we must 

 take a glance at the situation in the 

 principal pineapple-growing countries of 

 the world in order to realize the true 

 importance of the industry. Let us 

 look first at the United States and one 

 of her island possessions, Hawaii. The 

 State of Florida produces annually 

 about 15,000,000 fruits ; while in Hawaii, 

 where planting of pineapples has just 

 been started, it is estimated that 4,560,000 

 fruits will be produced in 1910. To take 

 care of this product, Honolulu, the 

 capital of Hawaii, has established a 

 canning factory that is claimed to be 

 the largest in the world, with a capacity 

 for canning about 132,000 fruits every 



day. At present, Singapore produces 

 the most pineapples, supplying nearly 

 all England and the European Conti- 

 nent with an annual export of about 

 20,313,424 canned fruits. The variety 

 that is most extensively grown in the 

 places mentioned above is the " red 

 Spanish," while the other varieties raised 

 are the " Abbaschi," " smooth Cayenne," 

 " Porto Rico," and " Natal canning." 

 Some of these varieties are now being 

 tested at the Government experiment 

 stations along with our native varieties. 

 With favourable soils and climatic con- 

 ditions, with a growing interest and 

 enthusiasm on the part of Filipino far- 

 mers and business men for improved 

 methods, we could soon place the Philip- 

 pines side by side with the places above 

 mentioned, in supplying the world's 

 demand for pines. 



SUGAR GROWING AND MANU- 

 FACTURE IN NORTHERN INDIA. 



(From the Agriculhiral A T ews, Vol, VIII., 

 No. 190, August 7, 1909.) 



The following article, from the Agri- 

 cultural Journal of Northern India, 

 Vol. IV., Part 2, gives some tacts in 

 connection with the sugar industry in 

 Northern India: — 



Several attempts have been made in 

 recent years to manufacture white sugar 

 direct from sugar-cane as is done in the 

 West Indies, Egypt, Mauritius, and 

 other sugar-growing countries. Con- 

 siderable capital has been invested in 

 these undertakings, the best up-to-date 

 machinery imported from Europe, and 

 skilled Europeans with expert know- 

 ledge, commercial, technical and scienti- 

 fic, have been employed. In spite, how- 

 ever, of Avhat would appear to be most 

 favourable auspices, careful supervision, 

 and a very large demand for the manu- 

 factured article, none of these under- 

 takings have so far achieved more than 

 a very moderate success, and most have 

 had to face serious pecuniary loss, 



At first sight, no country in the world 

 would appear to offer a better field for 

 the cane and sugar industry than India. 

 The consumption of sugar by the in- 

 habitants of this country is enormous, 

 and upwards of half a million tons of 

 sugar are imported into India annually. 

 Why then has the sugar-making indus- 

 try not made better progress ? Various 

 causes have contributed to handicap 

 these pioneer efforts. Although sugar- 

 caue has been grown throughout 

 Northern India for some 2,000 years, the 

 quality of the crop has never been as 

 high as in other cane-growing countries, 



