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The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



blown at times. China tea planted along road- 

 sides in 1866 is still flourishing. The next oldest 

 field (84 acres) planted in 1875 is also doing 

 well." In 1907, the yield was 401 lb. The 

 field was again pruned early this year, and Mr 

 Deane does not think there will be anything 

 further worth chronicling before 1911. At the 

 same time he points out that the information 

 supplied to us in 1908, during his absence, to the 

 effect that the field was manured, is incorrect 

 We also must not omit to refer to the fam- 

 ous Mariawatte plantation of the Ceylon Tea 

 Plantations Co., Ltd. — famous for its wonderful 

 yield of tea. Its oldest field (10l£ acres) gave last 

 year 818 lb. made tea per acre against 789 lb, in 

 1908 ; while the average for the whole estate (458J 

 acres) was 813 lb. against 678 lb. in 1908. This 

 is a distinct improvement, which we hope will 

 be more than maintained in years to come. 

 The average for 18 years (1892-1909) equals 796 

 lb. made tea per acre for the 458^ acres and 

 for 26 years the average of the oldest field 

 (101J acres) is 1,068 lb. We take it that such 

 figures are without parallel in the history 

 of Tea Cultivation in India and Ceylon, and 

 sincerely hope Mariawatte will long continue 

 to break the record. 



THE PINEAPPLE INDUSTRY OF 

 HAWAII. 



Mr. E. B. Nathanielsz, a Ceylonese who has 

 settled down in America, has sent the Secretary 

 of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, some inter 

 esting information about the pineapple canning 

 industry of Hawaii, where there are extensive 

 plantations. In view of a report that a local 

 syndicate is thinking of starting a canning fac- 

 tory near Colombo, this information should be 

 particularly useful. The chief element of success 

 in the industry seems to be the type of can used 

 or the purpose of preserving the fruit. This- 

 is the "sanitary can," one of the finest contri- 

 vances known, which absolutely prevents con- 

 tamination of the contents by acid or solder. The 

 can is sealed by a mechauical process without the 

 use of either of these two injurious factors. The 

 centre of the pineapple industry is the island of 

 Qahu, on which Honolulu stands. Ten years 

 ago the cultivation began with 40 acres : in 1908 

 there were 5,000, and the area has spread con- 

 siderably since then. The fields are so big that 

 the rows of pineapples are sometimes 2 mile, 

 long, stretching towards the mountains. The 

 variety cultivated is the Smooth Cayenne (the 

 " Kew" pine of Ceylon) which is the very finest 

 variety known. A few figures will show the 

 magnitude of the industry in Hawaii. Six years 

 ago some 3,000 cases were being put up a year. 

 Last year 400,000 cases— most of it for American 

 U8e — were sent out. Now, 400,000 cases, mean 

 9,600,000 cans, which, however, are still much 

 below the demand. The canning process is quick, 

 and, after being brought to the factory in trucks, 

 the fruits are not touched by hand. They are 

 pared, cored, and sliced by different machines, 

 after which they are inserted into the sanitary 

 cans and a syrup of pure granulated sugar poured 

 over them. The cans are then quickly sealed. It is 

 said that within six minutes of the fruits being 



delivored at the factory, they are parod, corod, 

 sized, sliced, packed, and the sealed cans sub- 

 merged in a steam bath for purposes of sterili- 

 sing the entire package. The fruit is put in in 

 three ways— sliced as already described — crushed 

 or grated. The crushed and grated forms are 

 used largely for pies, cakes, puddings, ices and 

 cooking purposes generally. The Hawaiian 

 canned pine has driven the Singapore and Ba- 

 hama product out of the American market. Pine- 

 apples are eaten with whipped cream, or with 

 mayonnaise dressing, gelatine, ice-cream and in 

 various other combinations. They are valued 

 not merely as dessert fruit, but also for their 

 medicinal virtues. The juice is recommended to 

 be used in cases of fever, and as a gastic tonic. 

 It is also believed to retard bacterial growth. 

 We understand that the Secretary of the Ceylon 

 Agricultural Society is indenting for samples of 

 the sanitary cans referred to, as there are un- 

 doubtedly good prospects for those who would 

 start canning the large surplus of Ceylon fruit 

 available during the season, provided they have 

 suitable cans for the purpose. In this connec- 

 tion it may be mentioned that among the things 

 going to the Director of the Imperial Institute 

 for investigation are some bottles of Ceylon 

 fruits in syrup, which have been found to keep 

 for a considerable period, and should, if they 

 travel well, be much appreciated in England 

 as tart fruit. The enterprising manufacturer of 

 these products is P. J. Silva, of Mutwal. 



NUTMEGS. 



The West Indian Department of Agriculture 

 has recently received inquiries as to the pros- 

 pects ot disposing of the essential and expressed 

 oils of nutmeg at remunerative rates. In res- 

 ponse to these the "Barbados Agricultural 

 News" has collected and published information 

 of a general character, of which we give a 

 summary. We may, however, add that there is 

 only a very limited demand for either the oil or 

 paste. The United States is the largest con- 

 sumer of nutmegs ; but it appears, according to 

 the "Spice Mill," that, although the ordinary 

 consumer has never heard of or purchased Bri- 

 tish West Indies nutmegs under their name, 

 still those articles are being sold mixed with 

 Singapore nutmegs. Owing to the small de- 

 mand in the United States for the West Indian 

 nutmegs, because of their inferior quality, the 

 importations are exceedingly light, amounting 

 to about 2,000 barrels per annum. The nut- 

 megs aro shipped principally from Grenada 

 (which island is the heaviest producer of 

 the entire group of the British West Indies) 

 to London. There they are graded as to 

 size, and mixed with Singapore nutmegs, 

 and then shipped to the United States market 

 and sold under the trade name of Singapore 

 nutmegs, according to size and quality. The 

 total production in the B. W. I. is so small 

 that it is not taken into consideration in the 

 preparation of statistics. Not until the quality 

 of West Indian nutmegs is improved by cul- 

 tivation, can they be sold under their real 

 name. Attention is also drawn to a translation 

 of an article bearing on the subject generally, 



