■^JuNE 2, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL ACxRICULTURIST. 
795 
and ships about 100,000 barrels a year. Great benefit 
has accrued to Jamaica by the naturalizUion of plants 
introduced hundreds of years ago. Thus Logwood 
and Orange? have spontaneously overran hundreds 
of mi'es of the Island and the former has long been 
established as one ' of the staple products. The 
spontaneous diffusion of a species of plant affords 
abundant proof of the eligibility of the environments 
in which it grows, innumerable orange trees are 
thus widely disemiuated in tlanohester. Intermingled 
with other forest trees they have been subjected to 
severe condition of existence Thus they present a 
dwarf stunted aspect. Practically the only attempt 
at cultivation has been to destroy the native trees by 
which they are surrounded with the result that sm-iU 
crops are obtainable. From these semi-wild trees 
thus reclaimed from tlie forest the average yield is 
less than half a-barrel each. A little attention is 
sometimes bestowad upon groups of trees. For ins- 
tance, trees occur on the settlers' coffee fields which 
have to be regularly weeded. Here they occasionally 
yield several barrels each and they present a distinctly 
improved appearance. Oae of the settlers pointed 
out a considerable gronp of trees he obtained on land 
he purchased. A few years ago his first crop was 
sold for 3s, the fo lowing year he had 6 barrels and 
in the two sui-sequent years 14 and 62 barrels res- 
pectively. The tree.- are very unequally distributed ; 
in many places from 20 to fiO may be counted ou an 
acre— occupying but a small portion thereof. Com- 
monly from 6 to 12 of these dwarf trees are crowded 
in a "space equal to that allotted to a single tree in 
Florida. The Manchester oranges are excellent in 
point in quality. Taey are sold at 2s. per barrel of 
about 41 0 fruits. If they were carefully handled, 
sized, etc., and packed in boxes the value would be 
greatly enhanced. It is interesting to note that 
several gentlemen in this parish are initiating the 
cultivation of budded trees with very promising re- 
sults. I strongly recommend medium sized wild trees 
as the best stock for budding purposes. This can be 
done ou a large scale. The cultivation of Coffee in 
Manchester is a large industry among the small settlers. 
The profit realizable can hardly exceed £i per acre. 
If the same cultural attention were paid to the culti- 
vation of oranges the returns would be surprising. 
Instead of an "acre, containing irregular groups of 
desolate orange trees aggregating =oine 80 to 60, from 
which 20 barrels may be obtained, 150 of these ^mall 
trees could be established per acre by the simple pro- 
cess of transplantation. By higher cultivation than 
that applied to Coffee 300 barrels of oranges would be 
assured per acre. Oa the lines I have propounded 
orauge cultivation is capable of becoming one of the 
great industries of the Island. There are numerous 
decayed or worn out trees that should be destroyed 
and replaced by healthy medium-sized trees. I'.etter 
to cut the transplanted trees well back to induce new 
and vigorous growth. In the delightful c'imate of the 
Port voyal Mountains this tree yields the very best 
possible fruit. Thousands of acres could be cultivated 
in lieu of thousands of trees as at present. The 
moderate application of fertilizers would ensure 
aplended returns when the soil is not suffi'^i nitly 
rich, this applies to all parts of the Island. All the 
conditions referred to emphasize our pre-eminent-, 
orange growing capabilities, capabilities such as 
throw into the shade all Florida that culminated 
with returns valued at 15 million doUn-s. Our 
illimitable resourcesawait enterprising Englishmen to 
embark in orange growiiig. Limes grow with perfect 
success, double the size of those that grow on the keys 
of Florida. On rocky land hundreds of thous mds 
of lime trees cou'd be" established a'; a trifling cost. 
CASSAVA CULTIVATION. 
It is an interesting fact that Orlando (in Florida) the 
home of the pineapple shed system of cultivation, is 
iniiebted to Jamaica for an important industry. About 
three years ago an American tourist in Jamaica. Mr. 
Perkins, was struck with the value of cassava as .•» 
starch-yielding plant. On his return to Florida he 
organized a company and erected a great factory at 
Lake Mary, 18 miles from Orlando, for the manufacture 
of cassava starch. I visited the factory at the end of 
June and was kindly permitted to see through it, the 
managers taking a great interest in Jamaica. Otie 
thousand acres of cassava are cnltivitol in the vicinity 
hundreds of acres of which by gentlemen connected 
with the factory. There are fi.-lJs of oue hundred 
acres each which I had the pleasure of inspecting-. 
Within 60 miles of the factory the managers purchase 
the tubers delivered at railway stations at §5 per ton, 
and the culture is extending rapidly. This factory 
crushes 40 to 50 tons of tubers daily during the crop- 
ping season of 4 months. The average crop per acre 
is 9 tons. This plant grows remarkably well ou the 
all present sandy soil. On the day of my visit to a 
100 acres field fertl zers were applied to the field, to 
the value of ijfSOO. I pointed out that larger returns 
would be obtained from a better soil, in fact double 
the crop. The yield of starch from the tuber is from 
17 to 20 per cent. It is also notsworthy that the 
manufacture of tapiooa and dextrine from cassava 
are fobs taken up with the least possible delay. The 
coloured labourers employed in this cultiva- 
tion are pndfl a day. From the planting to harvest 
seven months are requisite. On account of the winter 
frosts the seed (stem cuttings^ has to be buried in 
the sand for several months. Great piles of them 
are thus covered daring the winter. The cost of 
preparing the land for this cultivation is fSiiOper acre. 
This for digging up the Palmetto roDts which cover 
the land. I qajto the following from a Savannah 
Newspaper of June, 29th, 1901, relative to this cassava 
factory : " Brunswick's Board of Trade held an inter- 
esting meeting to day to hear an informal address from 
Presitieut Perkins of the Florida Starch Factory, and 
for a lengthy session fresident Perkins entertained a 
large attendance. President Perkins is en route to the 
North, where he will study the needs of various cotton 
fa:;tories in their use of starch, and will still further 
adapt his factory to the manufacture of products 
suited to them. At present his firm has about f 100,000 
invested in the development of the cassava industry 
and the enlargement of their plant is one of the "near 
by plans." During my sojourn in Florida, I collected 
other valuible information regarding cassava as an 
article of food for cattle, etc. Indeed Florida is deter- 
mined to make cassava a leading staple product. The 
matter is discussed everywhere. From the report of 
the professor at the Florida Agricultural Experimental 
Station I make the following extracts " With all the 
facts procurable, and with the experience not only of 
myself, but many practical farmers to support the 
opinion, I have reached the csnclnsion that, all things 
considered, cassava comes nearer furnishing the 
Florida farmsr with a more universally profitable 
crop than any other which he can grow on equally 
large areas. It can be utilized in more ways, can be 
sold in more different forms, can be more chiefly 
converted into staple and finished products and can be 
produced for a smxiler p^rt of its selling price than 
any other crop. It is unquestionably true that cassava, 
all things cou-sidered, comes nearer supplying a per- 
feet ration for farm stock than any other concentrated 
f lod produced upon Florida farms. Every baef 
animal in Florida can be put in the condition of 
western stall-fed cattle by the simple use of cassava 
at a mere fr.iction of the cost to the corn feeders of 
the west. An acre yielding 40 bushels of corn would 
at this rate produce 1,187 pounds of starch, while lui 
acre of cassava producing 6 tons would yiell 2 400 
pounds of starch. It thus appears that cassava is 
to-day the cheapest known source of starch, costing 
at present market values of raw material onlv -ibont 
one fourth as much as its nearest competitor. Not only 
therefore does the high yield of starch in cassava 
place it prominently before manufacturers as a 
probable new material for the great glucose industry, 
at present practically dependent upon corn, but more. 
