5STATr n O R T V S . J A M A I C E N S T 9. 115 



been planted in the dryer pasture lan'la of the Soutlj side. I iiave oWcrvo'd that every 

 t>id feace in such places is a nursery for liiese and <ither valuable irces ; L;ch obscva- 

 iion may furnish a good, hint for the successful planting them, the shade of the fence 

 generally keeping the ground bcneuih much more cool and moist than it is in the open _ 

 pasture:" the soil is also richer, from the mould" of decayed leaves and vegetaties.^- 

 Ilogs are extremely foni^W of this fruit, which makes, them fat. What is called ii;e 

 bread nut in Sc. Ann is a tree of large diameter, and very proper for cabinet worlc. It 

 is excellent timber. Long, p. 768. 



These trees grow to a very considerable size, haring been found five feet in diame- 

 ter and sixty feet in' height before they branched. Tne trunk is very scraigbt and the 

 foliage boautiful. 7-he wood is finely veined, very hard, close-grained, and ponder- 

 ous ; the heart is not.unhke m-ahogiuiy in colour,, and the sap like box. It blossonis-in, 

 April and May. It has lately been found to make good puncheon sfaves, which answer 

 nearly as weh as the w^hite oak, and will be a very great ach^mtage to those districts in 

 tliis island, where they grow in abu.iulance. Were proper care taken to eukivate them 

 generally, which might easily be accomplished, they would furnish a source of future 

 supply, ami eoatribute to render this island still less dependent on. the woods of Ame- 

 rica for so necessary an article to our commerce as puncheon staves. But this is not 

 the only advantage that would arise from the propagation of this valuable tree, as it 

 would also furmsh a rich resource in times of scarcity, or famine^ as food for the ne- 

 groes; and tiiey are .said to bear fruit in four years from the time the seed is planted. 

 Mr. Robinson, in his manuscripts, mentions a gentlewoman in St. Elizabeth's who, 

 }iaving plenty of these trees on her property, during the months of July, August, and 

 September, when provisions were not to be had for her negroes, fed them with bread - 

 nuts. Two negroes and nine mules, he says^ supplied two hundred and thirty negroes 

 with them. Possessing plaats of sudi inestimable value^ indigenous to our awn soil, 

 if proper care was taken to cultivate tlrem generally, we .should have no occasion to call 

 in the aid of exotics from the South Sea,, or elsewhere, to guard us against want. In 

 Kurope they plant oaks, but in Janraica nothing is worthy of attention, it would seem, 

 that does not produce immediate profit. To induce a better system, it is a pity the le- 

 .rislature does not offer a premium for the encouragement of those who may propagatej 

 to a sufficient extent, the useful plants of certain parts of this island, in such districts- 

 aa are not naturally enriched by them. 



See MiLKVvooD. 



Ereynia See Bottle-Cod-Koot . 



BROAD LEAF. TERMINALTA. 



Cl. 23, OR. l.-r-Poli/gamia vionoecia. Nat. or. Elceagni. 

 Gen. char. Hermaphrodite flowers, at the lower part of the raceiTie flowering first. 

 Calyx a one-leafed superior perianth, five-cleft, coloured within ; segments ovate, 

 acute, equal ; no corolla ; nectary pitcher-shaped, in the bottom of the calyx, 

 consisiin"^ of five small hisped corpuscles ; the stamina arc ten filaments, awl- 

 ehapod, firom erect spreading, longer than the calyx, and inserted into-tlie bottom 



0,8 of 



