218 



The trees are grown all over tropical Mexico. I saw them in gardens 

 at Guaymas, Mazatlan, Kosario, Acaponeta, and elsewhere, and the 

 fruit in the markets of these towns, as also in those of Guadalajara 

 and the City of Mexico. It is said that the fruit can be profitably 

 raised in all the States of Mexico. 



The ciruela tree is 3 to 7.5 meters (10 to 25 feet) high and has a short 

 trunk, usually 8 to 10 inches, but sometimes in old trees 37 to 45 cm. 

 (15 to 18 inches) in diameter, with smooth grayish or even white bark, 

 a very large spreading top, and pinnate leaves. The fruit matures at 

 the very close of the dry season. The brandies are then entirely bare 

 of foliage, and have a peculiar aspect, lined as they are with yellow 

 knobs. 



These plums are used in a great many ways. In their season they 

 are seen everywhere; in the larger towns they are hawked about the 

 streets, and in the markets every stall or countryman has a tray or box 

 of them for sale, and retails them for a cent. Both immature (green 

 in color) and well-ripened fruit is sold. The mature fruit is plump, 

 spherical or somewhat ovate in outline, with a rather tough yellow or 

 red skin. The pulp has the consistency and somewhat the taste of the 

 May apple of the North. The fruit is usually eaten raw and is very 

 popular. Tt is also cooked and used in a number of ways. Sometimes 

 it is served in hotels for dessert or made into "dulce." Dr. Palmer 

 reports that it is made into sweetmeats and the juice is put into " attole," 

 The ripened fruit does not keep well, but when scalded or boiled for a 

 short time it may be dried and then kept for a long time. The dried 

 fruit is thus found in the markets long after the fruiting season is over. 

 A cooling drink is sometimes made out of the dried fruit, or it may 

 be ground into £i alote." 



While the ciruela is a popular fruit in the Tropics and is especially 

 suited to a dry country, yet the very large stone or nut which it con- 

 tains is much against it. Doubtless little effort has been made to select 

 the best varieties. The trees grow with so little care that the tendency 

 seems to be to let them develop as they please. Orchards are planted 

 by simply breaking off limbs and putting them into the ground, then 

 allowing them to shift for themselves. If an experienced horticulturist 

 should take hold of this fruit he would probably be able not only to 

 reduce the size of the stone, but to increase the pulp, and thus add 

 much to its value. 



It is usually considered that there are but two varieties of the cir- 

 uela cultivated in Mexico. These are the yellow and the red, called, 

 respectively, ciruela amarilla and ciruela rqja (PI. XXIX). In the part 

 of the country visited I found four very distinct varieties, or rather 

 species, in cultivation and one wild species, making five in all. 



Mr. Hemsley, in the Piologia Oentrali- Americana, lists five species, 

 all of them coming, however, from south Mexico and only one named 

 specifically, viz, Spondias lutea. The yellow and red forms mentioned 



