■i'jcj 



*t> 



I'HE TROPiCAL AGKlCULTOmSI^. 



[Sept, (, im 



the editor's inspection, and that -of visitors, but 

 when the inmates of that office "felt the smell" 

 of the Durian, it was ordered out, and the attenu- 

 ated odour of it was endured at a distance ! 



The name of the tree which produces this fruit 

 is Durio zibethinus, Lin. The generic name Durio 

 is derived from Duryon, the name of the fruit in 

 the Malay language, which comes from Dury, a 

 thorn, in the same language, in allusion to the 

 prickly fruit. The fruit is used as a bait to entrap 

 the civet-cat, which is very fond of it : hence 

 the sjiecific name. 



The odour from the fruit is so sirong and dis- 

 agreeable that the Dutch ladies in Java decline 

 to see visitors when eating this fruit and the 

 message that they are eating Durians is suffici- 

 ent explanation for their non-appearance. 



It belongs to the section Sterculacea', or Bom- 

 bacea' of the natural order Malvaceic, and in the 

 first volume of the Flora of British India, p. 3.51, 

 published in 1H75, other two species are given 

 besides this one, viz*, Durio sibethinus, D. C, 

 D. Malacceu-is, Planch (perhaps the wild form of 

 the Durian), and D. oxleyanus. Griff. A tall tree 

 of Ceylon and Malacca is so like the Durian in 

 many respects, that the late Dr. Gardner called it 

 Durio Zeylanicus ; but the late Dr. Wight had already 

 figured and described it as Cullenia excelsa 

 in honor of the late General CuUeu, resident 

 at the Court of Mysore ? This is the Katu-hodu 

 of the Sinhalese, and the Wild Durian of Ceylon. 



Nearly every author from Eumphius and Dam- 

 pier, have given full and particular accounts of 

 this fruit, but the extracts.appended will suffice. 



W. i\ 



{From the " Treasury of Botamj.") 



The fruit varies iu shape, being either globular or 

 oval, aud measures as much as ten inches in length ; 

 it has a thick hard rind, entirely covered with very 

 strong sharp prickles, and is divided into five cells, each 

 of which contains from one to four seeds, larger than 

 pigeons' eggs, and completely enveloped in a firm 

 luscious- looking cream-coloured pulp, wfiich is the eat- 

 able portion of the fruit. This tree is very commonly 

 cultivated throughout the Malayan Peuirusula and 

 Islands, where its fruit, during the period it is in 

 season, forms the greatest part of the food of the nat- 

 ives. Considerable diversity of opinion exists among 

 epicures as to the relative merits of several well-known 

 tropica] fruits, including the Durian, the maugosteeu, 

 the cherimoyer, and the pineapple, any one of which is 

 made to occupy the foremost place, according to in- 

 dividual taste. The flavour of the Durian, however, 

 is said to be perfectly unique , and it is also quite cer- 

 tain that no other fruit, either of tropical or temperate 

 climes, combines m itself such a delicious riavour with 

 such an abominably offensive odour — an odour com- 

 monly compared either with putrid animnl matter, or 

 with rotten onions. It might be supposed that a fruit 

 possessing such an odour could never become a fa- 

 vourite ; but is is said that when once the repugnance 

 has bf'en overcome, the J)uiian is sure to find favour, 

 find that Europeans invariably become extremely fond 

 of it, Mt, a, Vt'aliace obsprve" that ' a rich custard 

 liighly flavoured with almonds gives the best general 

 idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that 

 call to miiid cream-cheese, onion-sauce, cherry wine, 

 and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich 

 glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else 

 possesses, but which adds to its dehcacy, It is neither 

 acid, nor sweet, nor juicy; yet it wants none of these 

 qualities for it is in itself perfect. It produces no 

 nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it 

 the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians 

 is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to ex- 

 p<^rience.' The unripe Dmians are cooked as a veget- 

 alle, and the pulp of the ripe fruit is salted and pre- 

 served iu jars ; while the eteds art) rossttid aud eati^u 

 ike cbestuutj, [A, 8.^ 



{From " Cameroii's Ilalfiyan\Peiiinsula'^) 



Entitled, however, to some prominence as being fruits 

 which are indigenous, and in a great measure peculiar 

 to the island, are the mangosteen and durian. The 

 first is the seductive apple of the East, far more de- 

 licious and delicate iu flavour than its English proto- 

 type ; by many it is declared, par excellence, the finest 

 fruit in the east, if not in the world. The durian differs 

 essentially in nature as in appearance from the man- 

 gosteen ; it grows on a very tall, wide-spreading tree, 

 and does not ripen on the extremity of the branches, 

 but like the jack and some other fruits, drops bj' a short 

 stalk from the trunk, and the thickest of the hranches. 

 It is somewhat less than a man's head in size ; out- 

 side is a thick, prickly husk, in the inside chambers of 

 which lie the sections of the fruit, consisting of a 

 number of seeds of about the size of a walnut, sur- 

 rounded by a soft, pulpy substance, like custard in 

 appearance, which is the edible part. The taste 

 of the fruit it is impossible to describe, but the 

 smell of it, from which the flavour may be judged, is 

 such that no gentleman in England would care about 

 having one iu his bouse ; even iu the Straits it is never 

 set upon the table. Tlie Malays and natives generally 

 are passionately fond of it, and will go through any 

 amount of hardship to procure it. A former King of 

 Ava is said to have spent enormous sums to obtain 

 constant supplies ; and the present king keeps a steamer 

 in Kangoon awaiting the arrival of supplies there. The 

 fruit as soon as received is sent up the river as speedily 

 as possible, to the capital 500 miles distant. With 

 Europeans the liking for it is, I think, in all cases 

 acquired ; the first venture is generally made in bravado, 

 and so singular is the fascination it possesses, that if 

 the new arrival can overcome his repugnance sufficiently 

 to swj<llow the coating of one or two seeds, he will 

 in probability become strongly attached to it. 



I do not think, however, that the most p«SRionate 

 lovers of durian are disposed to acknowledge tli^^ir 

 taste There is something decidedlj- unclean about 

 the fruit ; a tacit acknowledgment of this is, I think, 

 to be gathered from the fact that it never appears 

 on any gentleman's table, but is devoured in silence 

 and solitude in an out-of-the-way part of the house, and 

 a good bath indulged iu a^'terwards. I cannot forget 

 the exclamation of an old Scotch lady in Batavia, well- 

 known there, when she saw a newly-arrived country- 

 man of her own being sorely tempted to try the strength 

 of his stomach on a full-grown durian. 



" Maister Thampsoii ! Mai.-ter Thompson ! ye ma'na 

 eat that; it'll no' agree \vi' ye ; and, besides, it's a 

 maist unchaste fruit." The old ladj was right aud 

 hit the proper expression. 



{Appeiidir. ) 



Doorian — Durio zibethinus. — This fruit is well-known 

 from the descriptions of travellers. Those who have 

 overcome the prejudice excited by the disagreeable ftetid 

 odour of the external shell, reckon it delicious. From 

 experience, I can pronounce it the most luscious and 

 the most fascinating fruit in the unive se. The pulp 

 covcriiig the seeds, the only part eaten, excel* the finest 

 custards which could be prepared either by I*de or Kit- 

 chener. Bontius says it proves laxative, diuretic, and 

 carminative; but when eateu in too great quantiiie.*, 

 that it predisposes to inflaminatory complaints. The 

 natives consider it to posses.s aphrodisiac quahties, It 

 s certainly in some measure exciting. 



, I , , ,, .. 1 I I -. .I . 1. . I r ■ - I -. , ... . . ,. - .. ■ .J 



LNMUEY TO TEA FKOM IRON ;' 



^nd August lyc»(], 

 De.vu Siijs,— Much writing and controversy has 

 for some time been going on in the local press 

 about an inferior quality of tea now and for 

 some months past being placed on the Colombo 

 and London markets, and various reasons given 

 as to its cause. An idea has struck nie as to 

 whether the much increased quantity of iron used 

 iu making machines sold recently by manufacturers 

 aud importers of rollers, driers, cVc, in which iron 

 comes iu direct contact with the greeo aud 



