, 1891-04-01

many ways. They can be shipped raw, in
barrels to Boston or other towns where
they are used in that condition. The raw
Juice can also be shipped to England or the
Stat es. The raw juice is concentrated; he
ing boiled down in large quantities until it
is reduced to one twelfth of the original
volume. 1t then turns of a black color and
is called concentrated lime juice. It is sent
home for the preparation of citr;c acid,
which is in much demand by the large fac
tories of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In
the centres of the lime industry, women sit
in the plantations with brass basins in their
hands, in which by a simple process they
bruise the rind of the lime, from which a
fine deli cate acid exudes. At the end OF
the day the woman or girl gets paid Sd, Sd
or Cd, for the quantity she has obtained
during the day. It is then filtered into a
large bottle, carefully stOppered, and sent
home. This is the essence of oil Of lines
for which there is a large demand. I can
assure you that there is a wide and prOfta-
BILE field for anyone starting the cultivation
Of lines in this island.
The Fibre Industry.
For many years efforts have been made
TO introduce the fibre industry into the is
land. A lecture l delivered, in 1883, I think
drew particular attention to the pOssibili-
ties of cultivating fibre in the Liguanea
Plain and other s pots where the soil was
fit for nothing else. The opportunity pre-
scented then passed away, and my IN
on that is that recently-about or 8 years
after-the price of fbres went up to some
thing ike ESQ per ton. If any one had
taken up the cultivation at hat time it
would thus have proved a most successful
venture. There is a further attempt being
made at the wish of the Governor to start
the cultivation of the Sisal hemp, or Pita as
it is called. It came originally from Yucca
tan, was introduced to Florida by an Anne
Tican Botanist and spread to Key West and
the Bahamas. This is the plant-grOwni in
jamaica (ShOwn) the fibre of which is very
valuable indeed. The expenses of the cul:
tivatiOn is very small and any one at;presenf
will see in the Hope Gardens, these plants
planted a short time ago growing most luxu-
riantly-yOu cannot imagine anything drieT
or less promising than the soil where they
grow. These plants would grow in the lii
puanra Plains, and the Introduction of the
industry would be one of the wiSeSt and
best steps hat could be taken at this time.
The Liguanea Plain ought to supply
&5O,000 or $4,000 worth of this fibre. A
man cannot make a mistake, for the fibre is
always in demand. This (ShOwn) is the
China grass, which produces n valuable fibre;
the Manila, one of the banana tribe which
yields "A very valuable fibre, but machinery
is wanted to extract it; the bOw-striing
hemp, a native of West Africa, which gives
a most valuable fibre useful for cordage
purposes and weaving, anyone who will in
vent machine to extract this fibre will con.
for a benefit upon mankind in gene
raj. For immediate use / cannot recon-
mend anything better than this sisal hemp.
The Governor has imported 10000 plants
from Turks Islands and within q very short
time these will throw out their suckers.
So that you ave in the island the nucleus
OF this most important industry. I now
come to the
Cocoa or Chocolate industry. Some
years ago we thought the chocolate indus
try had almost died out in Jamaica. It
had been so neglected that except in some
few places no cocoa trees were left.
Then the endeavOUr was made to revive
the industry. There is not the slightest
difficulty in establishing a cocoa estate,
you have already got your banana shad-
ing, all that is left to do is to raise the
plants and put them under the shade of
the bananas. The cocoa trees only re-
Quire to be carefully planted and pruned
young plants like the one here should
be very careful pruned indeed-all the
shoots should be removed and the tree
encouraged TO send out their female
branches SO that the pods borne on the
$500, 80 kh0 - n GnwN- IoNNk nG