July, 1908.] 



■ 'A 



Edible Products. 



able to meet the peasants and to show 

 them how agricultural operations such 

 as forking, drainage, and pruning, should 

 be carred out, and how manures should 

 be applied. 



Considerable interest has been shown 

 in the plots by the neighbouring 

 peasants, and the operations carried out 

 upon them are imitated to an encourag- 

 ing extent. The plots are originally 

 chosen in poor areas and where trees 

 have been considerably neglected, in 

 order that the benefits of scientific treat- 

 ment may be the more marked. A good 

 crop serves as excellent object-lessons to 

 all cultivators of cacao and indicates 

 how the most satisfactory results are to 

 be obtained. From one plot, of an area 

 of one acre this year, for instance, the 

 owner has picked two-thirds of the total 

 crop derived from five acres of land. 



With regard to the actual results of 

 the experiments, figures are kept as ac- 

 curately as possible, and published from 

 year to year in the Annual Report of 

 the Botanic Station ; but from a purely 

 experiment point of view, and as means 

 of obtainiug accurate numerical results, 

 the second class of experiments — the 

 'experiment stations' — should afford 

 better opportunities than the experi- 

 ment plots, since they are on a bigger 

 scale and are run more on estate lines. 



These experiment stations are estab- 

 lished on large estates and consists of 

 not less than five acres, or one thousand 

 trees. The cost of the experiments is 

 borne by the owners, the Imperial De- 

 partment supplying scientific advice as 

 to the experiments and the manner in 

 which they should be conducted. These 

 stations, of which there are at present 

 five, have become very popular, and next 

 year a number of others will be started. 



The result of establishing them has 

 been to make the larger proprietors take 

 a lively interest in scientific experiments 

 carried out in their own estates— experi- 

 ments designed to answer questions and 

 solve problems connected with their 

 own soils and conditions. 



It is as yet too early in the history of 

 these experiments to be able to give 

 with any confidence numerical results, 

 but two facts are already apparent; 

 firstly, that cacao grown on the heavy 

 red clay soils of Grenada responds 

 quickly and liberally to applications of 

 lime ; secondly, that pen manure, when 

 applied in heavy dressings and tho- 

 roughly and deeply forked in, is of con- 

 siderable value and give results that 

 compare very favourably with mineral 

 and chemical fertilizers./— West Indian 

 Bulletin: The Journal of the Imperial 

 Agricultural Department for the West 

 Indies, Vol, VIII,, 1907, No. 2. 



TRINIDAD CACAO EXPORTS. 



Cacao growers in Trinidad are cer- 

 tainly experiencing a favourable season 

 and good returns for their produce, and 

 even if prices drop somewhat before the 

 whole of the crop has been gathered in, 

 the increased output as compared with 

 last year should go far to make ample 

 compensation to producers. 



During 1907, a total of 251,755 bags of 

 cacao Avere shipped from Trinidad, of 

 which 134.011 went to Europe, 114,749 to 

 New York, and 2,388 bags to Canada. 

 Iu January, 1SJ07, the amount of cacao 

 shipped was 16,308* bags, while during 

 the corresponding month of 1908, the 

 export reached 46,139 bags, or very 

 nearly treble the output for January of 

 the previous year. — Agricultural News, 

 Vol. VII., No. 153, March, 1908, 



THE DURIAN. 



Durian cultivation, according to an 

 Official Season and Crop Report for 

 Burma, has very slightly exceeded 10,000 

 acres in the pasc two years, andis almost 

 confined to the Tenasserim division, 

 Tavoy and Mergui districts growing more 

 than three-fourths of the whole area. 

 Europeans seldom appreciate this fruit 

 on first acquaintance, but after a few 

 years' residence many become admirers 

 of it. The old traveller Linschott, writ- 

 ing in 1599, says: "It is of such an 

 excellent taste that it surpasses in flavour 

 all the other fruits of the world, accord- 

 ing to those who have tasted it." Dr. 

 Paludanus adds :— " This fruit is of a hot 

 and humid nature. To thosenot used to it 

 it seems atfirst to smell like rotten onions, 

 but immediately they have tasted it they 

 prefer it to all other food. The natives 

 give it honourable titles, exalt it, and 

 make verses on it." Dr. A. R. Wallace, 

 the naturalist, who spent many years in 

 the Malay Archipelago, says that when 

 brought into a house che smell is often 

 so offensive that some persons can never 

 bear to taste it. He first tried it in 

 Malacca in a house and could not stand it. 

 But afterwards finding a ripe fruit on the 

 ground in Borneo, and eating it out of 

 doors, he at once became a confirmed 

 durian eater. The durian grows on a 

 large and lofty forest tree, somewhat 

 resembling an elm in its general charac- 

 ter, but with a more smooth and scaly 

 bark. The fruit is round or slightly oval, 

 about the size of a large coconut, of a 

 green colour, and covered all over with 

 short stout spines, the bases of which 

 touch each other and are consequently 

 somewhat hexagonal, while the points 

 are very strong and sharp. It is so 

 completely armed, that if the stalk is 

 broken off it is a difficult matter to lift 



