MaY 1908.] 



441 



Edible Products. 



port of pickled limes from Dominica for 

 the five-year period ending 1896, was 

 1,505 casks and for the five years ending 

 1906, 1,000 casks. A cask holds about 

 2,000 limes, and they are chiefly exported 

 to Boston. 



For pickling, the finest specimens of 

 sound yellow limes are selected and 

 placed in vats into which sea water is 

 pumped. In two or three days, the 

 water is run off. and fresh sea water is 

 pumped in. This process is repeated 

 several times until the limes are cured 

 and the fruits are placed in casks tilled 

 with sea water to which a small amount 

 of salt is added. The casks are then 

 closed and are ready for export. 



Hand-Pressed Lime Oil. 

 This is obtained by hand-pressing the 

 limes over an ecuelle pan. The ecuelle 

 is a shallow, concave, circular copper 

 pan studded with blunt spikes with a 

 receptacle at the base to catch the oil. 

 The work of obtaining hand-pressed oil 

 is done by women, who select the best 

 limes and pass them quickly with a 

 circular movement, over the blunt 

 spikes, exerting sufficient pressure to 

 break the oil cells in the skins of the 

 limes. The oil runs into a receptacle 

 and is collected from time to time in 

 bottles. It is then settled and after- 

 wards passed through filter paper and 

 run into copper vessels for export. 



A barrel of lime should give from 3 to 

 4^ oz. of oil by this process, and the 

 usual price paid for extracting it is Id. 

 per dozen fruits. 



The yield of oil varies according to the 

 conditions of moisture. In localities 

 where the annual rainfall is from 60 to 

 100 inches, the citric acid content of the 

 juice of the fruit is high, and the yield 

 of oil from the rind of the fruit low, but 

 where the rainfall is high — say from 130 

 to 200 inches — the citric acid content is 

 low and the yield of oil high. 



Distilled Lime Oil. 

 Before lime juice is run into tayches 

 for concentration, it is distilled for the 

 oil, and in the case of estates that ship 

 raw juice, the scum that collects on the 

 juice in settling vats is alone distilled. 



The yield of oil by distillation is from 

 3 to 5 uz. per barrel of limes, or, taking 

 30 barrels of fruit to make 1 hogshead 

 of concentrated juice, from 15 to 25 lb. 

 per hogshead. 



The oil is exported in either copper or 

 tin vessels packed in boxes, and com- 

 mands a lower price than hand-pressed 

 oil. It is used in perfumery and for 

 soap making.— The Agricidtural News, 

 Vol. VII, No. 149, 



CITRATE OF LIME AND CONCEN- 

 TRATED LIME JUICE. 



By The Hon. Francis Wates, c.m.g., 

 d. sc., p.i.c, f.c.s., 



Government Analytical Chbmist and 

 Superintendent of Agricidture for the 

 Leeward Islands- 

 Interest in citrate of lime has recently 

 increased in the West Indies from the 

 fact that the article is now being made 

 and shipped on a fairly large commercial 

 scale from the islands of Dominica and 

 Montserrat, In previous papers,* I have 

 discussed the details of its manufacture, 

 and have little to add to what has been 

 already said except perhaps, that it 

 might be found that a well-prepared 

 juice, free from pulp and charged matter, 

 might find direct application in some of 

 the arts, and thereby command a higher 

 price 



One somewhat important point has, 

 however, been brought to my notice by 

 one of the West Indian makers of citrate, 

 namely, that hot lime juice filters readily 

 through suitable cloth. This fact admits 

 of application in the manufacturing 

 process. In making citrate it is desir- 

 able first to heat the juice in a still so as 

 to recover the essential oil, which is a 

 valuable commodity ; after distillation 

 the hot juice can be run through filters, 

 which may advantageously be made on 

 the lines of the well-known Taylor-bag 

 filters commonly used in sugar manu- 

 facture. The clear, filtered juice is then 

 used for the preparation of citrate in the 

 manner previously described. 



Another useful suggestion, for which I 

 am indebted to the same gentleman, is 

 that the juice can be readily and econo- 

 mically heated by blowing naked steam 

 into it, and that, by using a suitable per- 

 forated pipe, the steam so u agitates the 

 juice as to obviate the use of any 

 mechanical stirrer. 



It is preferable to let the steam into 

 the juice on one side of the mixing vat 

 so as to cause a regular circulation. If 

 the juice is brought into the mixing vat 

 as soon as possible after leaving the 

 still, so as to retain a good deal of heat, 

 the dilution caused by the naked steam 

 is reduced, and therefore the filters 

 should be arranged to retain the heat as 

 much as possible. Mixing vats of wood 

 answer the purpose admirably. 



* West Indian Bulletin, Vol. II, p. 308, and Vol. 

 HI, d. 152, 



