3S8 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEV.S. 



December 11, 1909, 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



THE RED SORREL. 



The (Jui'irnsldiitl Agrivalttt ml Jdnrnul, Septem- 

 ber, 1909, gives the following interesting information 

 concerning the cultivation of the red sorrel, roselle, or 

 rosella (Ilihmnis Sahclarilfa). A note on this plant 

 may also be found in the A</ricultiiral News, Vol. YII, 

 1>. 244. 



The rosella (J/iliifcHS S'tMnrifi'd) is one of our mo.st 

 ■valuable fruits, anrl, from the standpoint of the thrifty house- 

 keeper, few edibles in the range of domestic cookery lend 

 themselves more usefully to the stocking of a housewife's 

 cupb'jard. In growing the plants which produce this fruit, 

 the most important matter to attend to, in the first instance, 

 is to procure sound, fertile .seed. 



Any moderately good .soil will grow roscllas well. Land 

 with a clay subsoil, if the latter be neiir the surface, had 

 better be avoided if cukivating on a large scale; but for 

 a garden, where only a few trees are grown, the plant, w!tli 

 an average amount of attention, can be cultivateil well 

 enough to give returns sufficient to fill the cupboard for 

 ■family needs, though perhaps not on .so lavish a scle as if 

 gro^wn under more favourable conditions. 



The shrub being hardy and, as a rule, fairly ornamental, 

 •given fair treatment, is calculated to adorn, and prove useful 

 ■in, the kitchen garden no less than in tlip held. 



For the ordinary kitchen garden, it will sutiice to mark 

 out a plot a few feet scpiare and lightly cover the seeds, well 

 ■«'ateiing them and keeping the jilot free of weeds until the 

 plants are about 6 inches high, and th'-n to set them out in 

 rows about fi feet apart. If the grower i.« not disposed to 

 start his seed from beds, the latter can be sown where the 

 bushes are to remain, and thus the trouble of transjilanting 

 is saved; but the precaution niu'-t be taken to have a few 

 spare plants to meet the contingpncy of having some destroy- 

 ed by grubs or other causes, so ihat the vacant spaces can be 

 filled up. 



In the ordinary course of garden work, the transplant- 

 ing is usually performed by the sitnple removal of the plants 

 from the seed bed, without unduly tearing die tender root. 

 A small hand fork for loosening the .soil, so that the jilant 

 can be lifted in good order, is all that is needful. The plants 

 having been raised, set them out in regular rows, and in 

 good, fertile soil, giving due heed to the cfjual extension of 

 the root fibres: this not only helps to hold tlie plant firm 

 again.st strong wind.s, whi'-h often seriously affect the shrub 

 when it is in vigorous grf wth, as it acipiires a head consider- 

 ably out of proportion to its foothold, but it also enables 

 the roots to find more ]ilant food for the sustenance and curly 

 development of the bush — all of which, though apparently 



trivial precautions have a very important bearing on the 

 cultivation of this fruit. The propagation of the plant by 

 ruttmgs IS not commonly adopted, and indeed is not as 

 satisfactory as from seedling plants; still there are times 

 when the system will prove worthy of a trial. It may be 

 that from failure of the seed to germinate there are not 

 enough plants to fill the area or to supply the spaces in the 

 rows transplanted. As it is, however, imperative to replace 

 them, propagation from cutting.s, or, more properly, branche.s, 

 iviU be expedient. AVhen the shrubs are 1 foot or IS inches 

 high, sel vet from your most vigorous and bushy shrub a couple 

 of the .ower branches. Do not cut them, but, with a gentle 

 snat'rh, break off the wood close to the main stem of the 

 .shrub. It will break off' very easily, and on examination of 

 trie branch you will observe the edging of the break will 

 indicate a strong rim of bark which will, on transiilanting, 

 <,uickly callous and soon provide a good roothold for the 

 shrub. 



;\[ost housewives are familiar with the various uses of 

 the rosella. For jam-niiiking it is well adapted, forming 

 a palatable, easily kept product, if put up in earthenware or 

 gla.ss. I'nfoi-tunately, rosellas contain an acid principle 

 winch inecludcs putting uj) this class of fruit in ordinary 

 till ware, and hence some failures have been experienced in 

 this respect for pickles the fruit is well adapted, and it 

 ni;d<cs an excellent condiment. It is not commonly known 

 that in the utilization of the chocho, now fast becoming 

 a popular vegetable, that very pleasant tarts can be made by 

 using that fruit {Sechiinn ndiile) in conjunction with the 

 rosella. It is well known that many object to what they 

 term the excessive tartness of the rosella. I'sine it in 

 conjunction with the chocho, this tartne.ss is modified, and 

 tends to make both these fruits more appetising. In fact 

 rosellas arc specially adapted for blending witfi less .sour 

 fruit, as they give a flavour to many fruits and vegetables 

 which otherwise would not be so accei)table for table use. 



A New Manure.— H. C. Prinsen Geerligs, in the 

 Jiulixrln- .)/,n-i(ur, \ol. XX.\II, Xo. 14, gives an account of 

 a new manure which is made in Java, and whose production 

 gives a means of disposing of factory molasses and the ash 

 from the fuel. It consists of a mixture of molasses, furnace 

 ash, filti^r iirc.^s mud, and well dried pen manure. An analysis, 

 which is given, shows that this mixture contains: nitrogen 

 Olii percent., phosphoric acid 0-98 per cent., and i>otash 

 l-\-2 per cent. For purposes of comparison, similar figures 

 for a fair sample of pen manure may be given. They are: 

 nitrogen O'GS, jihosphoric '.icid 0-2-J, and potash 0'51 per cent. 



