THE TRQPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
LApril 1, 1902. 
argues well for the system now so mucli in vogue m 
Jamaica of budding sweet oranges on the shoots o 
Seville orange stumps or on young Seville seedlings. 
Oranges grown in districts subject to frequent fogs or 
mist carry worst of all ; and in any case should on 
no account be picked while wet. In the early part 
of the season it is recommended that the fruit he for 
several days in the shed before wrappmg so as to 
permit of its being somewhat softened, the better to 
adapt itself to the packing process. As the season 
advances however, this is unnecessary, and the fruit 
should be put up within, at most, three days of 
housing. • 
But I am convinced, from all I have seen and learn- 
ed of the fruit trade here, that with a few modifications 
and adaptations to local conditions, Spanish methods 
may with equal success be adopted in Jamaica. 
It may be objected that we have a much more 
difficult problem to solve than the Valencians, as the 
latter have but to provide for a seven or eight days 
voyage, as against twelve from Jamaica. This 
argument, however,, is ill-founded, as many of the 
packers employed in Palermo, Messina, and other 
parts of Sicily and Southern Italy, hail from Burn- 
■ anna, where they employ exactly the same methods 
they have been accustomed to in Spain, with the 
one exception that the boxes are somewhat smaller, 
and they have to provide for a voyage of from four- 
teen to sixteen days in a temperature very often in 
ex'jess of any thing we have to contend with m the 
West Indies. Such facts should be most encourag- 
ing to us in our prospective orange business with 
England ; and while in the streets of London I ob- 
served in several fruiterers' windows, Valencian and 
Sicilian oranges marked 2s. 6d. per dozen, along- 
side of which were Jamaicans at Is. With improved 
handling, sorting and packing, I am sanguine 
enough to expect to see the tables turned withm 
a couple of years, and the Jamaican oranges taking 
first rank amongst citrus fruits, entirely upon 
its own merits in the English market. 
Before I close, permit me to suggest that a 
committee be appointed at once for the drafting of a 
bill to be introduced at the next sitting ot the 
Legislative Council, dealing with the question of 
packers' license (hear, hear) and the inauguration of a 
system of registered trade marks or brands (applause) 
that shall not only make it possible to lay the res- 
ponsibility of badly-handled fruit on the proper 
shoulders, but will be the means of protecting the 
packer, who is ambitious enough to aim that his 
particular trade mark should represent a quality 
of orange second to none in the markets of G-reat 
Britain.— /owma^ of the Jamaica Agricultural 
Society. 
USE OP THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AND 
OF ETHER IN FORCING PLANTS. 
Practical gardeners have rarely the opportunity of 
making scientific experiments, and commercial men, 
in spite of the all-importance of the subject to them 
are even less inclined to step beyond the path marked 
out by routine, unless some immediate beneht is 
likely to be forthcoming. Experiment stations, then, 
become more and more necessary, and they should 
be supported by those who will ultimately beneht 
from them. Such a one we might have at Chiswick. 
We do not think there would bo any insurmount- 
able difficulty as to funds, or as to a scientific di- 
rector competent to devise, carry out, and publish 
the results of experiments likely to benefit practical 
horticulture. Eow is it, for instance, that no one 
in this country has taken up the question of the 
use of the electric light, or for the matter of that, 
of artificial light of any kind, for forcing purposes 
in our dull winters? The evidence obtained some 
twenty years ago by the late Sir William Siemenii 
was simply astounding (see Gard. Chron., 1880, April 
3, p. 432). Mr. Buchanan, the gardener, now in 
yueenslsnd, was allowed a free hand, and the re- 
sults in the case of forced Strawberries, Wheat, and 
other crops were almost beyond belief, more es- 
pecially as regards the hastening of the ripening 
process. 
Of course this was an experiment on a limited 
scale, and the question of expense did not enter imto 
consideration. The houses were there, the apparatni 
was installed, the extra cost of utilising the light 
was not material. The results were, however, bo 
extraordinary, that it is a matter for astonishment 
that no one in this country has continued the ex- 
periments, and shown what modifications are neces- 
sary to make the use of the electric light, or the 
incandescent gas light, in forcing a commercial suc- 
cess. The subject is not even mentioned in the re- 
cently published gardening manuals to which we have 
referreo. In France more has been done, and still 
more in America, where the use of the electric 
light has been proved under certain circnmstancee 
commercially advantageous in the case of Lettuce- 
growing. Prof. Bailey, in the Ci/clopcedia of Ame- 
rican Horticulture, sums up the results that have been 
obtanied in the United States by saying that "the 
application of the electric light to the growing of 
plants is a special matter to be used when the 
climate is abnormally cloudy, or when it is desired 
to hasten the maturity of crops for a particular 
date." Now these are just the very conditions which 
obtain in an ordinary British winter. Prof. Bailey 
goes on to say that, '' Only in the case of Lettuce 
has it been proved to be of general commercial im- 
portance, and even with Lettuce it is doubtful if it 
will pay for its cost in climates which are abun- 
dantly sunny. " 
Professor Bailey writes, under the sunny skie; ot 
the States, of the electric light only, and from a com- 
raercial standpoint alone. The conditions of British 
horticulture differ widely, and in many places gag 
would be cheaper and more efficient than the electrio 
light. 
Another means of facilitating forcing operations 
has lately been made known by one of the profes- 
sors at a Danish Agricultural School, and which con- 
sists in subjecting the plants to the fumes of ether. 
The plants so exposed shed their leaves, as though 
they had been subjected to frost. The best resnlts 
with Lilacs are obtained in late summer. The ether 
then stops vegetative growth, and a moderate tem- 
perature being supplied, the flower-buds quickly ex- 
pand, so that Lilacs may be had in bloom in the 
first half of September. M. Frans Ledien, of the 
Dresden Botanic Garden, has been experimenting in 
the same direction, and the results he has obtained 
are summarised in recent numbers of Le Jardin, from 
which we glean the following particulars: — 
For early forcing, says Herr Ledien, the action 
of ether is so important that none who practice 
forcing on a large scale can afiord to dispense with 
it. Flowers obtained by early forcing naturally com- 
mand a high price. It shoulJ further be considered 
that fuel is saved by this method (whether 'he fi>ro- 
ing be at a high or a low temperature,) and that 
this economy more than balances the cost of etheri- 
sation. The cost per plant works out at rather more 
than one penny (12 cents). 
1. The varieties of Lilac usually forced in Germany: 
Marie Legraye. Charles X., and Leon Simon, were 
ia full bloom twenty eight days after having been 
brought into the house; Marie Legraye was even 
earlier in flowering. 
