In the past the planting and maintenance of pimento in Jamaica was given comparatively little care. The trees were often self-sown and cultivation later consisted of cutting out the undergrowth and some thinning, but the practical 10 : 1 female – male ratio was not then known. Where grass is able to grow in sufficient quantity, pimento was often combined with pasture for cattle rearing.

In approach-grafting, seedlings are taken to the selected female trees which have often been established in a nursery. The best age of seedlings appears to be 18-24 months. The female parents are selected for their form, yield, percentage oil content and oil composition of their berries. Opposing tongues, about 6 cm long, are cut in the seedling stem and a comparable branch of the selected scion tree.

A good well-drained friable potting mixture may contain two parts of rich garden soil, one part of coarse washed river sand and one part of well-rotted compost. A dilute solution of ammonium sulphate, with one tablespoon to 9 litres of water, may be applied to backward plants not more frequently than once in three weeks.

Pimento flowers are structurally hermaphrodite, but functionally dioecious, in which there are barren trees which do not produce normal fruits and are functionally male, and fruiting trees which are functionally female.

He has shown that the ‘male’ flowers on barren trees have a wider receptacle with a moat or trough’around the base of the style and the stamens are not so close to the base of the style. They have about 100 anthers per flower, which produce pollen which germinates readily, and the flowers normally drop after shedding the pollen. Fruit is formed only very rarely and if so it is usually one-seeded. The ‘female’ flowers from bearing trees have a narrower deeper receptacle, lacking the moat round the style and the stamens are borne closer to the style. They have about 50 anthers per flower, which produce infertile pollen which does not germinate.

Adams (1972) gives this as a distinct species P. jamaicensis (Britton & Harris) Proctor. Clonal trials were undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, Jamaica, in collaboration with the Tropical Products Institute (1968 -72) when some 200 clones were examined for tree berry yield and berry-oil content. The volatile-oil content was found to range from 2 to 7 per cent.

The fixed-oil content of the spice is between 5 and 10 per cent and it is comprised of the fatty oil and resins. Salzer (1975b) has reported that saturated acids account for about 94 per cent of the total constituent acids of the fatty oil with stearic acid predominating (89 per cent of the total).

A number of studies of the composition of clove bud oil were undertaken between the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century in which the identification of 18 components were reported. More recent work has added only a further 8 compounds to the list (see Table 5.4). About 99 per cent of clove bud oil consists of three components: eugenol (70 to 90 per cent), eugenol acetate (up to 17 per cent) and the caryophyllene sesquiterpenes (mainly beta-caryophyllene; 5 to 12 per cent).

According to Naves (1974), a yield of 18-22 per cent is obtained with benzene, and 23-32 per cent with alcohol; the latter has a high resin content and is unsuitable for perfumery purposes.

The Koi fish has been on the planet for hundreds of years. A descendent of the Japanese magoi carp they are prized for their beautiful shapes and brilliant colors, especially with the right Koi care. There are several varieties including the fancy fantail Koi which has draping fins and tails. The beautiful fish can be a combination of black, red, yellow, white and orange and it has been known to grow to three feet long and weigh more than forty pounds with the right Koi care.

The Koi is known to be a hardy fish that seldom sickens or dies without an underlying reason. The original magoi carp was known to survive harsh conditions and nasty parasites with little to no affects. However, man has weakened the strain as the Koi has been inbred to obtain the most prized shapes and colors. Even so, with proper care the Koi can still live for decades.

When Koi dies it is usually because the water is lacking oxygen, the water quality is poor; the fish has ulcer disease or parasites. Other factors in the death of the fish include toxic pesticides, virus, tumors, and medication overdose. So as you see, these are all things that could have been avoided with the proper diligence. Predators are also a problem as is the fish jumping out of the water.

Spring is here and it is time to fix up the patio furniture. Some needs replacing, some needs fixing. Now is the time to make those decisions before we invite family and friends for the long awaited barbecue. If you need to replace some furniture consider you choice of wood so you won’t have to replace it anytime soon.

Nothing will impress your guests more than providing them with comfortable and good looking patio furniture. The right selection will improve the look of you backyard or patio as well as provide the atmosphere you seek to impart.

Because patio furniture is used extensively summer in summer out, your selection should be based on its look of course, as it must fit the house and the owner’s sense of style. But good quality has to be the other important characteristic to withstand the extensive use for a long time.

Whether you choose wood, metal, wicker or plastic is a matter of personal preference as today’s materials are all durable and most as also very stable.

This article will examine the differences between two different woods, Cedar and Teak.

Pungency, initial colour and colour-retention properties of the fruits are closely related to maturity at harvest. Pods left to ripen and to partially wither on the plant are superior in these three quality aspects than those picked when fully coloured but succulent.

The use of partially withered ripe pods is considered by these workers the most important single condition required for high quality, secondary only to the intrinsic properties of the cultivar grown, and has a greater influence on the final product than the drying or storage methods.

However, it should be noted that care must be taken over the extent of withering permitted prior to harvesting since, if prolonged, it can sometimes result in a product with a grey colour on the range of 65-80 per cent, dependent on whether partially dried on the plant or harvested while still succulent, and this must be reduced to the order of 10 per cent to prepare the dried spice.

The fruit is an indehiscent many-seeded berry, pendulous or erect, and is usually borne singly at the nodes. It is extremely variable in size, shape and colour, and in the degree of pungency. It is generally over 8 mm wide and 0.8-30.0 cm long and may be linear, conical or globose. The unripe fruit may be green, yellowish or purplish, ripening to red, orange, yellow, brown or purplish. The flattened seeds are pale yellow and are 3-5 mm at their largest diameter. Some fruits, like the sweet peppers, are lacking in pungency and the degree of pungency varies from this to very pungent.

The var. baccatum, which gives fertile hybrids with the cultivated var. pendulum, is probably the wild progenitor and is reported by Hunziken (1950), quoted by Smith and Heiser (1957), as occurring in Paraguay, northern Argentina, southern Brazil and south-eastern Bolivia. The cultivated variety, var. pendulum (Willcl.) Eshbaugh (syn. pendulum Willd.) is rather widely distributed in South America. According to Heiser and Smith (1953) it has been collected in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and seems to have been a recent introduction into Hawaii and Costa Rica.

Hey there my name is Brad Kooper and in this article I am going to be talking about Koi pond filters. All Koi ponds need good Koi pond filters.

It is important to know that there are many valid reasons that your Koi need Koi pond filters, so that is why I am going to list the most important points.

Firstly it helps to clear the waste and droppings from the pond, this is very important because when Koi swim around they often cause the waste to rise from the pond floor which can cause health problems.

The reason that this is bad is because if the water gets dirty they have nowhere else to go unlike in the wild where they can simply swim to another section of the pond.

The next important reason is that having good Koi pond filters will help to make your pond look nice, clean and fresh.

It may interest you to know that the reason your Koi pond will look more beautiful with a filter in is because without all the dirt in the pond the water will be crystal clear so you will be able to enjoy the colour and beauty of your Koi more.

C. annuum var. annuum has a large number of cultivars and is the most important pepper economically. Nearly all the large-fruited peppers, both sweet and hot, grown in the north temperate zone belong to this variety.

According to Heiser (1969a), the greatest diversity in the cultivated forms occurs in Central Mexico, where many villages have their own distinctive cultivars. There is a secondary centre of diversity in Guatemala. Heiser says that ‘in early times, it was not grown north of Mexico.

Although this species is cultivated today in many parts of South America, its scant use there by the Indian population suggests a recent introduction. It would appear, therefore, that in pre-Columbian times, the cultivated Capsicum annuum grew oalrAn Mexico and, Central America.’ The short growing season, required, as well as the existence of both sweet and pungent forms;-helps to explain its present wide distribution.

According to Heiser (1969b), there are some twenty wild species of Capsicum, most of which are South American, with two of them, C. annuum var. glabriusculum and C. frutescens, extending through Middle America to the southern United States.

Cutworms, Feltia subterranea (F.) and .Peridroma saucia (Htibn.) are often severe on newly set plants, cutting them off near the surface of the soil. The smooth, stout, soft-bodied larvae are usually dull- coloured and up to 4 cm long. They can be controlled by poisoned bait. Aphids, particularly the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), are the most common and widely distributed of the pests of capsicums. Infection can occur in the nursery or hotbed. They are the vectors of virus diseases. It is important to control aphids by dusting or spraying as soon as the first infestation is evident and as often as necessary thereafter.

Roussenova-Kondareva (1968) states that C. baccatum var. pendulum (syn. C. pendulum) crosses with C. annuum in cases where the former is the female parent, in which the F, hybrids are similar and usually occupy an intermediary position, but resembling more the female parent in certain characters. F, hybrids differed in a number of morphological and physiological features and could be divided into four groups; plants of female parent type; plants of male parent type; plants of an intermediary type; and plants representing a new form which were fully sterile. Male sterile forms were also obtained which are useful for breeding.