L839.] VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 237 



country, indeed, since the leaves and fruit of its trees were 

 of wood, and the wood itself like stone. 



Among the natural productions are flax, tares, indigo, 

 chicory, trefoil, and burnet, — the last a first-rate substitute 

 for tea ; and nearly all the useful fruits and vegetables of 

 other lands have now been acclimatized. Of the foreign 

 fruits, the orange, lemon, citron, date, pomegranate, almond, 

 filbert, nectarine, apricot, peach, plum, English cherry, fig, 

 mulberry, olive, quince, granadilla, banana, guava, pine- 

 apple, water and musk-melon, strawberry, grape, and chiri- 

 moya, are quite plentiful in the older and more thickly popu- 

 lated districts. Except in tropical Australia, the oranges, 

 citrons, and lemons, are not so large or luscious as in their 

 native climates ; the trees present a scraggy appearance, and 

 the velvety green of the foliage is changed into a pale sickly 

 yellow by the dry cutting winds. The stone fruits thrive 

 well, but they are not very rich in flavor. Peaches and apri- 

 cots are so abundant in New South Wales that hogs are fat- 

 tened on them ; and a quart of green gages, or a pound of 

 delicious grapes, is often sold, in the season, for an English 

 penny. 



All the most valuable vegetables, — such as potatoes, car- 

 rots, turnips, beets, parsneps, pumpkins, squashes, cabbages, 

 broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, capsicum, 

 (Guinea pepper), asparagus, spinach, egg-plant, capers, arti- 

 chokes, radishes, and pulse, — are likewise very common in the 

 settlements. 



Tobacco is a native production, but it is extremely liable 

 to be nipped by the frequent frosts. In other respects it suc- 

 ceeds admirably, and with good culture yields a profitable 

 crop. 



Great attention, of late years, has been paid to the culti- 

 vation of the grape, for which the climate is decidedly favor- 

 able. Numerous varieties of foreign grapes have been intro- 

 duced, and liberal premiums have been offered by the Agri- 

 cultural Society of New South Wales, for the best specimens 

 of native wines. 



