Edible Products, 



436 



[November, 1908. 



Introductory. 



One of the most distinct species of 

 Citrus is C. Medica, which includes the 

 citron, lemon, and the limes. Of limes 

 there are sweet and sour kinds. The 

 sour lime (the one dealt with in this 

 pamphlet) although probably introduced 

 into tropical America from the East 

 Indies, has made its second home in 

 this part of the world, where it is 

 more generally cultivated. The tree 

 is described as probably indigenous to 

 the wild valleys of the outer Himalaya, 

 and probably also of the mountain 

 tracts of the Central Provinces and of 

 Central India. 



The sour lime of the West Indies 

 (Citrus Medica, var acida) seems to 

 foe confined to tropical and sub-tropical 

 zones. It does not appear to flourish 

 in Southern Europe nor in many other 

 localities where oranges and lemons 

 are capable of being grown. 



The date of the introduction of the 

 lime into the West Indies is not 

 recorded, but it is supposed that it 

 found its way to the English islands 

 from the French island of Martinique. 



Atwood, the historian of Dominica, 

 in 1791, states: — "The lemon and the 

 lime trees bear also very aromatic 

 scenting blossoms, and the fruit of 

 both is in great abundance, large and 

 of excellent quality. Of these, the 

 latter especially, great quantities are 

 often sent in barrels to England and 

 America. The neighbouring English 

 islands are likewise often supplied 

 with them from this island, especially 

 Antigua and Barbados." 



Up to the time of Dr. Imray, in the 

 middle of the nineteenth century, the 

 lime was cidtivated to but a slight 

 extent in Dominica, and then for the 

 fruit only. Experiments commenced 

 by this gentleman in about 1852 showed 

 that the cultivation of limes could be 

 undertaken upon a commercial scale. 

 About the same time, or a little later, 

 similar cultivation was commenced by 

 Messrs. Sturge in the island of 

 MontseiTat. 



Through the enterprising action of 

 Messrs. Sturge, Mortserrat soon be- 

 came the headquarters of the lime 

 industry in the West Indies, a position 

 which in later years has been attained 

 by Dominica. 



It would appear that the future 

 prospects of the lime industry in the 

 West Indies are of a promising nature 

 and considerable interest has, of late 

 been awakened in this cultivation 



The progress made in the industry in 

 Montserrat, Dominica, and Jamaica has 

 induced the planting of limes in 

 British Guiana, Trinidad, Grenada, 

 Carriacou, and St. Lucia. 



Records show that lime products 

 to the value of £280 were exported 

 from Dominica in 1848, but that their 

 value fell to £12 in 1857. In 1887, the 

 value is given by Dr. H. A. Alford 

 Nicholls ( Kew Bulletin, August, 1888) 

 as £8,561, whilst lime products from 

 Montserrat were valued at £10,625. 

 The total value of lime products 

 exported from the island of Dominica 

 during the year 1906 was £55,174. The 

 exports from Montserrat during the 

 same period amounted to £6,883. Those 

 from Jamaica were of the value of 

 £3,909, and from Trinidal of £982. 



The falling off in exports of lime 

 products from Montserrat in receut 

 years has been due to the destructive 

 hurricane that swept over that island 

 in 1889. The lime plantations are only 

 now recovering from this disaster. 



The rapid progress of the lime indus- 

 try in Dominica during the last ten 

 years is largely due to the assistance 

 rendered by the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture, which has distributed 

 at a small cost immense quantities of 

 lime plants from the Botanic Station. 

 During the five years 1902-6, over 

 150,000 ordinary lime plants have been 

 distributed from the station, in addi- 

 tion to nearly 12.000 plants of the spine- 

 less variety. For the year ended 

 March 31, 1907, about 70,000 lime plants 

 were sent out. Of these, 60,000 were of 

 the ordinate kind, and 10,000 of the 

 spineless variety. The Agricultural 

 School has also taken part in this work, 

 and the pupils are thoroughly trained 

 in the cultivation of limes. 



For the year 1906-7, over 5,500 lime 

 plants and eight gallons of lime seeds 

 were distributed from the Montserrat 

 Botanic Station, and 37,000 plants from 

 St. Lucia. The majority of the plants 

 at St. Lucia were raised in the nurseries 

 attached to the Agricultural School. 



As already shown, the lime industry 

 of Dominica has made rapid progress 

 in recent years. It received a serious 

 set-back from the attacks of scale 

 insects in 1902 and 1903, when the ex- 

 ports dropped from £45,357 to £23.420. 

 Valuable services were rendered by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 in successfully checking these scale 

 attacks, and the industry rapidly re- 

 covered. The exports of 1907 rose to a 

 value of £^7,407. 



