THE WEST INDIAN FBUIT INDUSTRY. 



625 



THE WEST INDIAN FKUIT INDUSTRY* 



By William G. Freeman, A.R.C.S., B.Sc, F.L.S., Superintendent of 

 the Colonial Economic Collections, Imperial Institute, London. 



In the following pages no attempt is made to give a comprehensive 

 account of the fruits of the West Indies, but rather to sketch the main 

 features of the West Indian fruit industry, and the efforts being made to 

 improve it by agricultural workers. Considerable attention has been 

 devoted to the commercial aspects of the question, but this will be 

 justified, I trust, by the fact that these Exhibitions of Colonial Fruits are 

 intended to make the products of the Colonies better known in the Home 

 Country, and to promote the commercial interests of both. 



Fruit forms at the present time the third export in value from the 

 West Indies. In making this estimate, the term "fruit" has been 

 restricted to its commercial significance, and only those fruits included 

 which are exported in the fresh or preserved condition for human consump- 

 tion. It should be remembered, however, that Cacao, Cocoanuts, Pimento, 

 Coffee, Nutmegs, and limejuice are essentially fruits or fruit products, 

 and should these ba included then fruit is the most important West 

 Indian industry. The following table shows the comparative positions 

 occupied in the list of exports by the chief West Indian products in 

 1902-3, 1894-5, and 1883-4 :— 



Principal Products exported from the West Indies. 



Product 



1902-3 



1894-5 



1883-4 





£ 



£ 



£ 



Sugar, molasses, and mm 



1,438,235 



2,302,546 



3,102,408 



Cacao or Cocoa .... 



1,302,761 



765,778 



565,552 



Fruit 



1,262,694 



490,222 



253,332 



Coffee 



130,775 



356,734 



98,869 





117,519 



93,539 



98,186 





84,931 



72,433 



66,396 





46,615 



44,574 



21,080 



Limejuice 



50,374 



16,074 



13,656 



Arrowroot ..... 



21,817 



38,278 



23,941 



1 



The study of this table brings out several interesting points. In the 

 first place, it will be noticed that, excepting the last three, the relative 

 positions of the principal products have remained unchanged during the 

 past twenty years. Sugar, with its by-products, Cacao, fruit, Coffee, 

 spices, and Cocoanuts, occur in exactly the same order in 1902 as in 1894 

 and 1883. Similarly, throughout the entire period sugar, Cacao, and 

 fruit form a class by themselves as the great industries of the West Indies. 



* The substance of this paper was given as a lecture at the Show of Colonial- 

 grown Fruit, held at the Society's Hall at Vincent Square, in December 1904. 

 The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides of statistical diagrams and by specimens, 

 reference to which is omitted in the paper as printed. The blocks (with the exception 

 of Figs. 185 and 186) inserted in the text have been kindly lent by Messrs. C. W. 

 Hancock & Co. from their interesting publication on West Indian Fruits. 



