Daily Gleaner, June 4, 1896
Mr Palache at Home
LESSONS FROM WOODLAWN
The remark about a man having too many irons in the fire is usually made fun of in a depreciatory sense. But there are some persons who set at naught the warning, and prove the possibility of having them all in at the same time, tongs, poker, and shovel, and yet of doing splendid work with each, such individuals prefer to work themselves out rather than to rust out Mr. J. T. Palache is one of this sort. There are to all intents and purposes several Mr. Palaches. We know of the Hon. J. T. Palache the member for Manchester, Mr Advocate Palache, and "Mas't Jack" the owner of racing stock, without whom no meet in Jamaica would be considered complete. No one will be bold enough to assert that in legislative, legal, and turf matters, Mr. Palache has failed to secure a signal measure of success. His interests are diversified and his energies have found vent in several directions; but his cup of pleasure is never so fu!l as when engaged in agricultural pursuits. To see Mr. Palache at his best, to know the man truly, to learn the real secret of the happy contentment written large upon his plump round face, to form a correct estimate of his character you must do as I did — pay him a visit at his home at Woodlawn. Here, free from the disappointments of politics, the chicanery of law and the excitement of the turf he devotes himself, in the intervals of a busy life, to the cultivation of those products of nature that are so responsive in this country to the hand of any one who shows the slightest active interest in them.
THE GARDEN
Woodlawn picturesquely situated two miles from Mandeville has long been in the family of the present owner, but previous to his obtaining possession of it some 20 years ago the house had been allowed to fall into disrepair and the land [wa]s uncultivated. But the change [h]as been akin to a transformation. The place is now a veritable Garden of Eden. The house stands on a little imm[an]ence commanding a series of delightful views of the surrounding scenery. The terrace in front was formerly the barbecues upon which the coffee was dried in the sun. Mr. Palache ingeniously had certain portions of the cement dug up for flower beds leaving the remainder as walks; and such a show of flowering and ornamental foliage plants can scarcely be found elsewhere in the island.
Not only in the beds, but in boxes arranged on stands around, like a conservatory attached to some gentleman's mansion in England but without the glass, are splendid specimens of roses, begonias, asters, chrysanthemums, tulips, canias, dahlias, violets, coxcombs, geraniums, and a hundred and one others whose names I was doubtful about, all delighting the eye with their beautiful colours and filling the air with lovely perfumes that far eclipsed the productions of Rimel or Ricksecker.
For several years the exhibits of flowers from Mr Palache's garden have been one of the features of the Mandeville Show but this season he was prevented from sending any and great disappointment was expressed in consequence. Next year I hope to see him well represented again.
THE PLANTATION.
Having had an opportunity of admiring to the full the grand collection of floral beauties Mr. Palache kindly offered to show me round his cultivation. To the left of the house is a sort of plantation only 1¼ acres in extent. But to see the things that are growing in that small space of ground would astonish most people. It certainly did me. It is a [d]eclivity and on the slope have been planted a large number of coffee plants. The majority are 3 year old and are now bearing splendidly. They have been carefully pruned and the whole of the ground is strewn with stable sweepings which form a valuable manure. Mr. Palache superintends the pruning personally and if this important duty is only scientifically performed he sees no reason why the plantation should not produce a crop annually, which is more than some of our cultivators seem able to accomplish. The Arabica variety forms the chief proportion of the plantation and in one corner of the ground quite a nursery of young plants. There are also several fine trees of Liberian coffee but these have been there for some time. The plantation is effectively shaded by orange, lime, breadfruit, nutmeg and other trees which, together with bananas, cocoa, mangoes &c. make up as complete a collection of tropical products as it is possible to find room for in so limited a space.
One would almost imagine that all would find it difficult to live and thrive but a more healthy looking lot of trees I never wish to see. On leaving the plantation we had a look at the milch cows (for Mr. Palache makes his own butter) and their shed at the tanks and pond for supplying the place with water, in the meadow Mr. Palache pointed out some fine old orange trees over 80 years of age one of which last year gave 8½ barrels of prime fruit.
VARIED CROPS
Then we strolled towards a cultivation on the opposite side of the road, some three acres in extent that was formerly an open common but now bears one of the most varied crops it has ever been my privilege to view. First the attention is attracted by a magnificent crop of Jamaica corn with remarkably large ears. Between the corn I noticed growing orange, lime and lemon trees, cassava and three kinds of yams. "This said Mr. Palache "is the yampie the best of yam kind. I have 900 heads of it. A peculiar thing about it is that it will only twine round the stick to the left hand; tie and lash it as you like, it will never turn to the right" and true enough on looking at sticks the plants were all seen to be twining up left handed as it were. He has 1500 heads of yam altogether most of them being of the famous Lucea or Hanover kind.
In between the corn too, young coffee had been planted with the corn and cocoas, as shade until the bananas grew big enough to afford them more complete protection.
After going some little distance we came to an open space and the appearance of the place served almost to convince me that I was back again in some well cultivated garden in the old country. For what did I see? No fewer than 14 rows of lovely English green peas nearly all in pod and only waiting to be picked. One row Mr. Palache pointed out as the common English field pea the seed of which he had picked from a bag of oats in which they had in some way got mixed I opened some of the pods and the peas lying within were as fine and large as any to be purchased in Covent Garden market Then there were beds of carrots, beet, turnips, leek, radishes. lettuce, rows of celery, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbages together with cucumbers, marrows, in fact every description of English vegetable that I could think of was here growing to perfection. A fine crop of potatoes had just been taken up a few days before the yield being extraordinarily large and their place had been taken by cabbage plants; a rule Mr, Palache has found to work well in practice being to follow a root with a surface crop. As to the quality of those potatoes I can speak with some authority for at Mr. Palache's hospitable board I had the opportunity of eating the best flavored and best cooked potato that I have yet tasted in Jamaica. Previous to that, however, I had, after numerous painful experiences with the vegetable, given up all hope of ever meeting with a Jamaica cook who understood how to cook a potato properly; but apparently Mr. Palache has the felicity of commanding the services of such a variety.
But leaving the dinner table and returning again to the garden, I should be tempted to indulge in an ode or something of the kind were I to attempt to translate my feelings into words at finding a typical English garden away among the hills of Manchester. And in a bu[r]st of patriotic fervour it was hard to resist the inclination to carry off one of the Welsh national symbols that grew in such luxuriance. Of course there was some thing which tended to destroy the completeness of the analogy, for a clump of feathery bamboos in one corner and the coffee, oranges, garden eggs, and a few other plants tropical growth would have been as much out of place in an ordinary garden in the home country as the others, at first sight, appeared to be in Mandeville.
NOTHING FAILS.
Everything I saw growing in the garden, Mr. Palache assured me, had been sown or planted since February and in answer to another question he said that with no English vegetable, he had tried to cultivate had he failed: some, he added, might not have been a success in one part of the year but he had tried them in another and without exception, they had done well. He has three acres here and every inch of it is under th[o]rough cultivation.
PIGS
In the middle of the plantation are a couple of pig styes where members of the porcine family consume the garden refuse &c, making manure for use upon the land and in proportion as they put on fat hastening their own end. Herein is exemplified the prevention and utilization of waste wherein true economy lies.
AN OBJECT LESSON.
The cultivation, needless to say, is the centre of considerable attraction and is frequently visited by small settlers in the neighbourhood who are readily welcomed by Mr. Palache. He is always delighted to show them how things are planted and to give them the benefit of his wide reading and practical experience In the growth and cultivation of vegetables and fruit. Mainly as a result of what he has done may be traced the remarkable development of vegetable culture among the people in and around Mandeville. They have solved the question that English vegetables can be successfully grown and next point that they have to tackle is how profitably to dispose of their surplus crops.
ORANGES.
In my remarks above I have dealt only with the use Mr. Palache has made of some 4¼ acres but his pen extends to 499 acres most of it being in grass and pimento, 49 acres he has devoted to oranges and he has now 5,320 trees. Some of these have only been recently planted while others have been removed from isolated parts of the pen and transplanted. It is quite a treat to see the orderly and methodical way in which the trees have been set out and Mr. Palache's orange groves will soon be regarded as model ones. He has gone in extensively for budding, an operation in which he is rapidly becoming proficient, and I had pointed several grape fruit buds that were taking nicely on orange stocks. He has also introduced some Jaffa and Genoa lemons that apparently, find our soil and climate conditions congenial. In other respects his property is day by day being improved and the value of the lessons he is imparting to those of his neighbours with eyes to see and ears to hear, are simply incalculable. Would there were more Mas. Jacks in Jamaica says
VERAX.
Mr Palache at Home
LESSONS FROM WOODLAWN
The remark about a man having too many irons in the fire is usually made fun of in a depreciatory sense. But there are some persons who set at naught the warning, and prove the possibility of having them all in at the same time, tongs, poker, and shovel, and yet of doing splendid work with each, such individuals prefer to work themselves out rather than to rust out Mr. J. T. Palache is one of this sort. There are to all intents and purposes several Mr. Palaches. We know of the Hon. J. T. Palache the member for Manchester, Mr Advocate Palache, and "Mas't Jack" the owner of racing stock, without whom no meet in Jamaica would be considered complete. No one will be bold enough to assert that in legislative, legal, and turf matters, Mr. Palache has failed to secure a signal measure of success. His interests are diversified and his energies have found vent in several directions; but his cup of pleasure is never so fu!l as when engaged in agricultural pursuits. To see Mr. Palache at his best, to know the man truly, to learn the real secret of the happy contentment written large upon his plump round face, to form a correct estimate of his character you must do as I did — pay him a visit at his home at Woodlawn. Here, free from the disappointments of politics, the chicanery of law and the excitement of the turf he devotes himself, in the intervals of a busy life, to the cultivation of those products of nature that are so responsive in this country to the hand of any one who shows the slightest active interest in them.
THE GARDEN
Woodlawn picturesquely situated two miles from Mandeville has long been in the family of the present owner, but previous to his obtaining possession of it some 20 years ago the house had been allowed to fall into disrepair and the land [wa]s uncultivated. But the change [h]as been akin to a transformation. The place is now a veritable Garden of Eden. The house stands on a little imm[an]ence commanding a series of delightful views of the surrounding scenery. The terrace in front was formerly the barbecues upon which the coffee was dried in the sun. Mr. Palache ingeniously had certain portions of the cement dug up for flower beds leaving the remainder as walks; and such a show of flowering and ornamental foliage plants can scarcely be found elsewhere in the island.
Not only in the beds, but in boxes arranged on stands around, like a conservatory attached to some gentleman's mansion in England but without the glass, are splendid specimens of roses, begonias, asters, chrysanthemums, tulips, canias, dahlias, violets, coxcombs, geraniums, and a hundred and one others whose names I was doubtful about, all delighting the eye with their beautiful colours and filling the air with lovely perfumes that far eclipsed the productions of Rimel or Ricksecker.
For several years the exhibits of flowers from Mr Palache's garden have been one of the features of the Mandeville Show but this season he was prevented from sending any and great disappointment was expressed in consequence. Next year I hope to see him well represented again.
THE PLANTATION.
Having had an opportunity of admiring to the full the grand collection of floral beauties Mr. Palache kindly offered to show me round his cultivation. To the left of the house is a sort of plantation only 1¼ acres in extent. But to see the things that are growing in that small space of ground would astonish most people. It certainly did me. It is a [d]eclivity and on the slope have been planted a large number of coffee plants. The majority are 3 year old and are now bearing splendidly. They have been carefully pruned and the whole of the ground is strewn with stable sweepings which form a valuable manure. Mr. Palache superintends the pruning personally and if this important duty is only scientifically performed he sees no reason why the plantation should not produce a crop annually, which is more than some of our cultivators seem able to accomplish. The Arabica variety forms the chief proportion of the plantation and in one corner of the ground quite a nursery of young plants. There are also several fine trees of Liberian coffee but these have been there for some time. The plantation is effectively shaded by orange, lime, breadfruit, nutmeg and other trees which, together with bananas, cocoa, mangoes &c. make up as complete a collection of tropical products as it is possible to find room for in so limited a space.
One would almost imagine that all would find it difficult to live and thrive but a more healthy looking lot of trees I never wish to see. On leaving the plantation we had a look at the milch cows (for Mr. Palache makes his own butter) and their shed at the tanks and pond for supplying the place with water, in the meadow Mr. Palache pointed out some fine old orange trees over 80 years of age one of which last year gave 8½ barrels of prime fruit.
VARIED CROPS
Then we strolled towards a cultivation on the opposite side of the road, some three acres in extent that was formerly an open common but now bears one of the most varied crops it has ever been my privilege to view. First the attention is attracted by a magnificent crop of Jamaica corn with remarkably large ears. Between the corn I noticed growing orange, lime and lemon trees, cassava and three kinds of yams. "This said Mr. Palache "is the yampie the best of yam kind. I have 900 heads of it. A peculiar thing about it is that it will only twine round the stick to the left hand; tie and lash it as you like, it will never turn to the right" and true enough on looking at sticks the plants were all seen to be twining up left handed as it were. He has 1500 heads of yam altogether most of them being of the famous Lucea or Hanover kind.
In between the corn too, young coffee had been planted with the corn and cocoas, as shade until the bananas grew big enough to afford them more complete protection.
After going some little distance we came to an open space and the appearance of the place served almost to convince me that I was back again in some well cultivated garden in the old country. For what did I see? No fewer than 14 rows of lovely English green peas nearly all in pod and only waiting to be picked. One row Mr. Palache pointed out as the common English field pea the seed of which he had picked from a bag of oats in which they had in some way got mixed I opened some of the pods and the peas lying within were as fine and large as any to be purchased in Covent Garden market Then there were beds of carrots, beet, turnips, leek, radishes. lettuce, rows of celery, tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, cabbages together with cucumbers, marrows, in fact every description of English vegetable that I could think of was here growing to perfection. A fine crop of potatoes had just been taken up a few days before the yield being extraordinarily large and their place had been taken by cabbage plants; a rule Mr, Palache has found to work well in practice being to follow a root with a surface crop. As to the quality of those potatoes I can speak with some authority for at Mr. Palache's hospitable board I had the opportunity of eating the best flavored and best cooked potato that I have yet tasted in Jamaica. Previous to that, however, I had, after numerous painful experiences with the vegetable, given up all hope of ever meeting with a Jamaica cook who understood how to cook a potato properly; but apparently Mr. Palache has the felicity of commanding the services of such a variety.
But leaving the dinner table and returning again to the garden, I should be tempted to indulge in an ode or something of the kind were I to attempt to translate my feelings into words at finding a typical English garden away among the hills of Manchester. And in a bu[r]st of patriotic fervour it was hard to resist the inclination to carry off one of the Welsh national symbols that grew in such luxuriance. Of course there was some thing which tended to destroy the completeness of the analogy, for a clump of feathery bamboos in one corner and the coffee, oranges, garden eggs, and a few other plants tropical growth would have been as much out of place in an ordinary garden in the home country as the others, at first sight, appeared to be in Mandeville.
NOTHING FAILS.
Everything I saw growing in the garden, Mr. Palache assured me, had been sown or planted since February and in answer to another question he said that with no English vegetable, he had tried to cultivate had he failed: some, he added, might not have been a success in one part of the year but he had tried them in another and without exception, they had done well. He has three acres here and every inch of it is under th[o]rough cultivation.
PIGS
In the middle of the plantation are a couple of pig styes where members of the porcine family consume the garden refuse &c, making manure for use upon the land and in proportion as they put on fat hastening their own end. Herein is exemplified the prevention and utilization of waste wherein true economy lies.
AN OBJECT LESSON.
The cultivation, needless to say, is the centre of considerable attraction and is frequently visited by small settlers in the neighbourhood who are readily welcomed by Mr. Palache. He is always delighted to show them how things are planted and to give them the benefit of his wide reading and practical experience In the growth and cultivation of vegetables and fruit. Mainly as a result of what he has done may be traced the remarkable development of vegetable culture among the people in and around Mandeville. They have solved the question that English vegetables can be successfully grown and next point that they have to tackle is how profitably to dispose of their surplus crops.
ORANGES.
In my remarks above I have dealt only with the use Mr. Palache has made of some 4¼ acres but his pen extends to 499 acres most of it being in grass and pimento, 49 acres he has devoted to oranges and he has now 5,320 trees. Some of these have only been recently planted while others have been removed from isolated parts of the pen and transplanted. It is quite a treat to see the orderly and methodical way in which the trees have been set out and Mr. Palache's orange groves will soon be regarded as model ones. He has gone in extensively for budding, an operation in which he is rapidly becoming proficient, and I had pointed several grape fruit buds that were taking nicely on orange stocks. He has also introduced some Jaffa and Genoa lemons that apparently, find our soil and climate conditions congenial. In other respects his property is day by day being improved and the value of the lessons he is imparting to those of his neighbours with eyes to see and ears to hear, are simply incalculable. Would there were more Mas. Jacks in Jamaica says
VERAX.