Edible Products. 



438 



[November, 1908. 



high elevations is the question of trans- 

 port of. the crop to the coast. It would 

 appear, however, that with good selec- 

 tion of land, sound methods of cultiva- 

 tion, and attention to the protection of 

 the property from the wind, there is 

 little doubt that lime cultivation may 

 be profitable in the hills. 



The lime can be successfully grown 

 under varying circumstances, provided 

 there is a sufficient rainfall and not too 

 prolonged a dry season. Experience in 

 Dominica shows that the best results 

 are obtained on the rich coastal and 

 valley lands possessing a light black 

 soil. Limes may also be successfully 

 grown on the red soils of the uplands. 



Laying out Plantations. 

 The greater part of lime cultivation in 

 Dominica was established on old sugar- 

 cane lands. The same may also be said, 

 to a certain degree, of the lime cultiva- 

 tion in Montserrat, When the canes 

 were cut, the fields were holed and 

 planted with lime seedlings. The canes 

 were allowed to remain and to ratoon. 

 They yielded fair crops, and, also, 

 afforded protection to the young lime 

 plants. 



The system is a good one when the 

 canes around the lime plants are suffi- 

 ciently removed to allow of f ree develop- 

 ment. Limes can, by this method, be 

 successfully established in the fields of 

 sugar-cane in the course of a few years, 

 but they must receive attention, for, if 

 the canes around the lime plants are not 

 removed, the latter will become weak 

 and dwarfed. 



Limes may also be grown on lands that 

 are cultivated in the usual garden 

 crops of cassava, pigeon peas, taunias, 

 dasheens, etc., while on some estates, 

 lands in grass aud guava bushes are 

 planted with this crop. Land in grass or 

 guava bush is cutlassed, lined and holed 

 before being planted. Circles around 

 the young plants are kept clean, while 

 the remainder of the field is occasionally 

 cutlassed. 



When forest land is felled for lime 

 cultivation, the usual methods of lop- 

 ping and burning the branches are fol- 

 lowed by lining and holing. After plant- 

 ing, a small space around each plant 

 is kept clean, while the bush and grass 

 that spring up are kept down by cut- 

 lassing. 



When the plantation is being estab- 

 lished, a good system of roads should 

 be outlined, for lime fruits are a bulky 

 crop, and have to be carted to the mill. 

 Good roads render the fields easily acces- 

 sible for the many estate operations, and 

 I ead to economy in working. 



In districts where the rainfall is heavy, 

 the question of drainage is very import- 

 ant. In many wet districts it is to be 

 recommended that an efficient drainage 

 system should be in existence before any 

 planting is done. Frequently, however, 

 the need for drainage does not become 

 apparent until the trees have begun to 

 come into bearing, when the constant 

 trampling of the soil by the labourers 

 renders it imperative. Limes that have 

 been planted in straight rows render 

 this after-operation of additional drain- 

 age possible with but slight injury to 

 the trees. Very great injury is often 

 done to trees in draining fields irregu- 

 larly planted. On coastal lands where 

 the rainfall is light, and the natural 

 drainage good, but little attention is 

 needed for the laying out of drains. 

 When it is necessary, it should be one 

 of the first operations undertaken. 



Protection from wind must also receive 

 attention at an early date. Many 

 estates are well protected by the con- 

 formation of the land, but on more 

 exposed lands, wiud-breaks of suitable 

 trees should be formed as eatly as pos- 

 sible. Galba has been found the most 

 suitable for main shelter belts, and Pois 

 doux is to be recommended for subsi- 

 diary hedges by reason of its beneficial 

 effect on surrounding cultivation. The 

 hedges for wind-breaks should be topped 

 to prevent them from becoming tall, 

 thin, and ineffective for shelter. The 

 primings make excellent mulch. 



Temporary wind-breaks of the wild 

 plantain (cokoi) or manila hemp, etc., 

 afford protection while the permanent 

 hedges are growing. When either of the 

 above are established in the land, how- 

 ever, it is exceedingly difficult to get out 

 their roots and to rid the land of them. 

 Ordinary bananas and plantains are not 

 recommended as they are liable to be 

 blown down. 



Full exposure to the wind has a dwarf- 

 ing effect on the trees. Also lime 

 flowers are very easily blown off the 

 trees, and, as the principal flushes of 

 flowers occur in February and March 

 when strong winds are blowing', care 

 should be taken to establish effective 

 windbreaks. Very often, this impor- 

 tant work of making wind-breaks is 

 neglected in the establishment of a lime 

 plantation. 



Much loss of time and money is pre- 

 vented by forming wind-breaks of suit- 

 able trees at the same time as the 

 earliest planting of lime is done, especi- 

 ally in any situations that are exposed 

 to the full force of the wind. 



