September, 1910.] 



213 



Edible Products. 



regarded with increasing favour in all 

 countries where it is known, and the 

 cultivation of this plant has now ex- 

 tended to practically all the tropical and 

 many sub-tropical parts of the world. 



In the West Indies avocado pears are 

 produced in sufficient quantity to supply 

 the local demand, but it is unfortunate 

 that the great susceptibility of the fruit 

 to damage by bruising should be a great 

 obstacle in the way of building up an 

 export trade, otherwise a remunerative 

 industry might already have been estab- 

 lished in this direction. The avocado 

 is undoubtedly one of the most delicate 

 of West Indian fruits, and it is necessary 

 to use the greatest care in gathering and 

 handling it. The slightest bruise is 

 sufficient to cause the pear to rot in a 

 very short time ; indeed, it is often 

 much bruised by its own seed carelessly 

 shaken. 



Notwithstanding this, however, it has 

 been amply demonstrated that it is 

 possible successfully to ship avocados for 

 very considerable distances, if due care is 

 exercised in gathering, packing, etc. 

 West Indian pears have been exported 

 in small quantity to New York and to 

 England, and experimental shipments 

 from the Hawaiian Islands to the Pacific 

 coast of the United States (reported on 

 in the Agricultural News, Vol. VI., p. 404) 

 gave very satisfactory results. Under 

 the system of packing which seemed 

 most suitable, the pears arrived at their 

 destination (Portland, Oregon) with a 

 loss of only 2'9 per cent. It is generally 

 recommended that the cases in which 

 avocados are packed for transport 

 should be small in size and contain but 

 few fruits. The crate found most 

 satisfactory in the Hawaiian experi- 

 ments (with medium-sized fruits) was 

 of the following dimensions, inside 

 measurement : 13 x 14 x 3| inches. This 

 crate contained about one dozen fruits, 

 necessarily in a single layer, the fruits 

 being merely wrapped in a single paper 

 cover. 



There is a good market for avocados 

 in the United States, and the crop is 

 being increasingly cultivated in Florida, 

 where efforts are being made, by selec- 

 tion and breeding, to produce improved 

 varieties. It is stated in the Yearbook of 

 the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

 (1905) that West Indian avocados were 

 exported to New York so long ago as 

 1887, when one firm handled from 300 to 

 500 fruits per week from these colonies 

 during the months from June to 

 November. It would seem that the West 

 Indian avocado trade did not survive 

 competition with the Florida product. 



Avocado trees are usually produced 

 from seed, but as with most other fruits, 

 the vegetative method of propagation 

 is to be recommended in preference. 

 Budding lias proved very successful 

 with this tree, the simplest form of 

 the operation— that known as shield 

 budding— being the best to employ with 

 the avocado. 



CORN GROWING IN THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



By H. Cuzner. 



(From the Philippine Agricultural Re- 

 view, Vol. III., No. 5, May, 1910.) 

 Corn in the Philippines probably ranks 

 second in importance among the grain 

 crops both as to the amount grown and 

 the amount used for food of men and 

 animals. 



According to the best information 

 available it seems that there are grown 

 on the average about 14,546,477 cavanes* 

 from a total area of 1,011,841 hectares, 

 which would give an average yield of 14 

 cavanes per hectare. This amount is 

 augmented by the importation of corn 

 in the form of corn meal and mixed 

 feeds. 



Leaving out of account the fact that 

 the farmers might grow and feed more 

 corn to advantage in fattening animals, 

 it is evident that the production does 

 not at present equal the demand, and the 

 country is sending out money to buy 

 things which it ought to produce at 

 home. 



The question then arises as to how the 

 farmer is to produce more, for he may 

 argue that he is cultivating all the land 

 which he has animals to work. The 

 problem thus resolves itself into one of 

 making the same area of land produce a 

 greater yield than it has done heretofore. 

 There are several ways in which this 

 object can be partially accomplished, 

 namely, by more thorough cultivation, 

 rotation of crops, and by breeding better 

 and more productive varieties. 



In going over the country one notes 

 three principal conditions under which 

 corn is growing. The poorest where it 

 is sown as a catch crop with rice on the 

 unploughed on the "kaingin." Then 

 comes that in which it is planted in the 

 well-cultivated fields as a catch crop 

 with cane ; and, lastly and best, where it 

 is grown in pure stands on land that has 

 been more or less thoroughly prepared 

 and cared for, according to the ambition 

 and agricultural ability of the grower. 



* 1 Cavan=75 litres. 



