September, 1908.] 



231 



Miscellaneous Products. 



Fruits are produced from the time the 

 tree is 4 years old, and afterwards al- 

 most throughout the year, but the prin- 

 cipal crop is yielded during December 

 and January. The tree is naturally a 

 heavy cropper, the numerous fruits 

 sometimes almost weighing down the, 

 stiff branches. Some trees yield fruits 

 of less acidity than others, and this fact 

 encourages the hope that selection and 

 high cultivation may render the Cochin- 

 goraka a very useful fruit for the trop- 

 ics. The tree is known to the Sinhalese 

 as Rata-goraka, and to the Tamils as 

 Seemai-goraka. In Ooorg it is called 

 "Divarige," and in Bengal " VateMara." 



GORAKA. 



The ''Goraka" (Garcinia Cambogia), 

 known to the Tamils as Korakkaipuli, 

 is a moderate-sized handsome tree, with 

 a round head and thin drooping bran- 

 ches. In its natural distribution it is 

 confined to the moist low country of 

 Ceylon, being also indigenous to certain 

 moist districts in Western India. The 

 fruit is distinct from all other species 

 of Garcinia, being of the size of an 

 orange, with several (6 to 8) vertical 

 grooves forming as many blunt lobes. 

 It has a smooth skin, orange yellow 

 when ripe. The thick succulent shell is 

 acid though not unpalatable ; but its 

 chief use to the natives is for flavouring 

 curries. The fruit is in season in July, 

 when it is collected and the thick fleshy 

 shells (which are hard and woody in the 

 Mangosteen) are dried in the sun aud 

 preserved for use as required. In this 

 way they form an excellent substitute 

 for limes. In the Kalutara district, es- 

 pecially, it is a common feature during 

 June and July to see mats covered with 

 split gorakas for drying before the 

 native houses. 



The "Goraka" tree will thrive from 

 the sea-level up to about 2,000 feet in 

 Ceylon, provided the annual rainfall is 

 not much below 60 inches. Like all spe- 

 cies of Garcinia it is of rather slow 

 growth, but in time it attains a height 

 of about 60 feet, and is probably the 

 tallest species of the genus- It is a tree 

 which should be preserved from extinc- 

 tion, and is well worth a place in a 

 collection of tropical fruit trees. It is 

 propagated from seed, which should be 

 sown in rich porous soil in a moist shady 

 corner. The seedlings when quite young 

 should be transferred to bamboo pots or 

 plant-baskets, i.e. if the seeds have not 

 germinated in these. The "Goraka" 

 tree, like all species of Garcinia, is 

 characterised by a resinous juice which 

 coagulates on exposure, when it is called 

 gamboge; this is a valuable dye, and is 

 used in European medicine, 



PINEAPPLE CULTURE. III. 



Fertilizer Experiments. 



H. K. Miller and A. W. Blair. 



Introduction. 



It would perhaps be difficult to say 

 just when commercial fertilizers were 

 first used for pineapples, but it is safe 

 to say that they were not very exten- 

 sively used before about 1890 "or 1891 ; 

 and in this connection it is interesting 

 to note that the pineapple industry in 

 Florida has had its growth largely since 

 that time. 



There is little doubt that Captain 

 Richards, one of the pioneers of the pine- 

 apple industry on the East Coast, used 

 commercial fertilizers as early as some- 

 time in ihe '80's, though we have no 

 record of any comparative tests so early 

 as this. 



Dr. L. C. Washburn, reporting from 

 the Fort Myers sub-station in a bulletin* 

 issued July 1st, 1891, says: "I would 

 set the rows three feet apart, north and 

 south, opened out with two furrows. I 

 would put well rotted muck, marl, stable 

 manure or sea grass freely in the tren- 

 ches, and spade it up and mix well with 

 the soil, pulled in from each side." And 

 further along in the same report he 

 says : " If planted with suckers, hoe in 

 the fertilizers between the rows in six 

 months, but if planted with slips, hoe in 

 fertilizers between the rows in one year, 

 so the feeder roots can reach it." How- 

 ever he does not tell us what kind of 

 fertilizer he would use. 



Early Experimental Work. 

 In 1892 Dr. Washburn began some 

 comparative fertilizer tests at the Fort 

 Myers sub-station, report of which is 

 made in bulletin No. 27 Florida Experi- 

 ment Station. These were not very suc- 

 cessful, however, and appear to have 

 been discontinued after the summer of 

 1894. In discussing the subject of ferti- 

 lizers, Dr. Washburn says : " The pine- 

 apple is a voracious feeder. It requires 

 heavy fertilizing; nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash are all required in gener- 

 ous amounts. Perhaps the following 

 manures are the best sources from which 

 to obtaiu these requirements ; poultry 

 manure, stable manure, guano, blood and 

 bone, bone meal, cotton-seed meal, acid 

 phosphate, sulphate of potash, and well 

 rotted muck. If compost is used, it 

 should be well rotted and ready for 

 assimilation. Compost undergoing fer- 

 mentation will destroy the feeder roots." 



* Bulletin No. 14, Florida Experiment Station, 

 July 1st, 1891. 



