Abstract

Steady and continued success in the important work of trans porting tropical fruits to overseas markets calls for information on very diverse subjects, beginning with biological aspects in the plantation and not censing until the exotic commodity is finally gratifying the palate of the consumer. I shall indicate those aspects of the problem which appear to be of greatest impor tance to the worker at the tropical end of, what is, in fact, a very considerable chain of operations. Of the large number of attractive fruits native to tropical and sub tropical regions, only a few have yet attained to commercial importance as export crops. Relative to citrus and bananas, all other tropical fruits though their production could be greatly extended, occupy a very minor place on temperate markets and for the most part are only retailed in small quantities and at high prices for the delectation of connoisseurs. In addition to the tropical fruits occasionally offered on temperate markets there still remains a very considerable number of exotic fruits whose overseas transport has not yet been attempted, or been taken beyond the preliminary experimental stages. For this seeming neglect many reasons can be advanced, including demand (which must first be created by an extensive advertising cam- paign), competition with other fruits, chiefly temperate, difficulties of consistent production shipping and cold storage facilities and the need for special picking. the high degree of wastage at present inseparable from the handling of these delicate commodities. With a few notable exceptions, in fact, the trans- port of tropical fruits is still in its infancy. With the improvement of transport facilities it may he anticipated that this situation will to some extent be modified and that an increased variety of properly ripened exotic fruits will regularly be offered on temperate markets. Accordingly, a wide and interesting field of scientific inquiry still awaits appropriate investigation.

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