jvnt h tm4 ffffj fnQpicAi A6mttft'r\jmmK 



79'3 



of the Papaw. They were crisp to the taste, but 

 had no flavour besides that of the syrup. Papaw 

 jam and candied Papaw were amongst the other pre- 

 parations of this well known and appartutlj useful fruit. 

 COENACE^— iVvssa capitata, AValt. The fruits, which 

 are about an inch long and ovoid, of a green colour 

 and very agreeable flavour, are known in North America 

 as Ogeechee Limes, and are often preserved in syrup 

 and used as Limes. 



,Sapotace.«. — This order contains several genera 

 which furnish valuable edible fruits, such as the 

 Ohrysophylhim, Oaiuito or Star Apple, Lucuraa mam- 

 mosa, C4riseb., or Mammei Sapote, and the AchrasSapota, 

 L., or Sapodilla or Naseberry. Of this frut, Dr. Watt 

 says that it is not much appreciated in India, 'but it 

 is surreptitiously sold it> the streets as Mangosteen. 

 The fruits of ]\limusops Kauki, L., are perhaps less 

 known. They are a^-out the size of a small Plum, 

 and are known in yiam as Lamut. Those of M. 

 Elengi are also edible. 



EHENACK-Ti. — Besides the Persimmon (Diospyros vir- 

 giniana, L.), which is edible when fully ripe or bietted, 

 the fruit of the Chinese Date Plum (D. Kaki) is im- 

 portant in China. The fruits are about the size of 

 a large Apple, of an orange-red colour, and contain 

 a quantity of edible pulp. The Chinese and Japanese 

 use them both in the fresh and dried states and 

 also preserved in syrup. 



ApocTNACEJi'— In this order, containing as it does 

 many plants with elastic milky juices, yielding rubber, 

 and many of them poisonous, one would scarcely ex- 

 pect to find many ed;ble fruits ; several of them, 

 however, are valuable on this account, the following 

 of which may be mentioned: — 



Hancornui spcciosa, Gomez (the Mangaba or Man- 

 gabeira, of Pernambuco). — A small tree, the milky 

 juice of which furnishes the Ptrnambuco rubber. 

 The fruits are yellow when ripe, marked with red 

 streaks or spots, about the size of an Orleau's Plum ; 

 when perfectly ripe or somewhat bietted they are 

 said to be very delicious and are a favourite fruit 

 in Brazil. They have occasionally found their way 

 to this country, and IJhave seen them sold on costermon- 

 ger's barrows in the streets of London but very rarely. 

 The Amatuiigulv of Natal (Carissa [Arduina] griindi- 

 flora) is the fruit of a large spmy shrub which 

 makes an excellent preserve, and is much used in 

 Natal for that purpose ; the fruits are pulpy and 

 very similar to a Plum in app>^ar«ncp, about 2 inches 

 long and Ih inch broad. Another specie-; of Carissa, 

 namely, C. Carandas, L., known as the Karenja or 

 Karaunda fruit in India, is cultivated in many parts 

 of InHia for the sake of its fruits, which are used 

 in an unrip"^ state for pickiing, and when fully ripe 

 for tarts «uil je'ly. 



MYRIST1CK.E. — This order is included only for the 

 purpose of drawing attei tion to thp use to which 

 the < uter fle>-by pirt of th<- Nu'meg fruit is put in 

 the East. Cut iuto various fantastic shapes, as re- 

 pres' a atious o( birds, fl^ w. rs, &c , sometimes with 

 the Nutmeg still enclosed, they re preservevl in syrup, 

 and 'orm a vi rv attractive prestrve. It has a dis- 

 tinct; Nutmeg flavour, and, like preserved Giu^er, 

 would be a u--e ul arljnnrt at dessert. 



KvfnonBXA.CP.JE.— Pht/llanthus emhiica, L. — Known as 

 the Eoiblic M>rotialum- A tree of the dry forests 

 of India and Burma. The fruit i« about the size 

 of a small Damson. The natives ept it raw, preserved, 

 or made in'o a sweetmeat, while it is used by Eijropeans 

 for tarts and jellies. It is stated that a " half-ripe 

 fruit, if chewed, has the effect of making water taste 

 Bweet." The Otaheite Gooseberry (PhyllaTithus dis- 

 tichus, Muell., Arg., better known perhaps as Cicca 

 disticha, L.) is another valuable fruit, used in Java 

 for pickling. Antidesma Bunius, Spr., a native of 

 Java and the neighbouring islands, furnishes small 

 fleshy, berry-like fruits, of a bright red colour, ripen- 

 ing into bfack; they have a subacid taste, and are 

 used chiefly for preserving. Two or three species of 

 Eaccaurea (Pierardia) yield edible fruits ; those most 

 valued are B. edulis, Muell,, Arg., a Malayan species, 

 ksowQ as the Bambeb, the fruits oi which are about 

 100 



the size of a large Cherry, yellowish in colour when 

 ripe, and containing a sweet delicate flavoured pulp. 

 In Sumatra it is called Choopah, and in Siam, Mafai; 

 B. racemosa, Muell., Arg., is also a Cherry-like acid 

 fruit of Java, as is also B. sapida, known in India 

 as the Lutco. 



The foregoing enumeration of fruits is not by any 

 means aa exhaustive one. I have brought those for- 

 ward which are the lea.st generally known, but of 

 which the Museum contains good specimens. — John 

 R. Jackson, Curator, Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew. 

 — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



THE OLIVE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



BY SIR SAMUEL DAVENPORT. 



"So similar is the climate of the settled portion of 

 South Australia to that of countries in Europe and Asia 

 where the olive thrives, that some Colonists were early 

 induced to procure stocks from France, Portugal, and 

 Spain, and these were planted in and about Adelaide. 

 Their healthy growth and abundant fruitfulness after a 

 few years proved the soundness of these opinions. 



" It was under,the stimulus to inquire into new pro- 

 ductions given by the announcement of the London 

 International Exhibition, 1851, that the first attempt 

 was made to extract the oil from the ©live. Then 

 the late Mr. William Giles, manager of the South 

 Australian Company, who, in 1S44, received from Mar- 

 seilles 51 plants, comprising five choice varieties of 

 olives, and planted them, and could now gather their 

 berries, employed .Mr. George Francis to express the 

 oil, and, at the London Exhibition of 1851, this pro- 

 duce gained ' Honorable mention, ' on the ground of 

 ' its clearness, color, and flavor.' 



" Since that event a gradual advance in the cultiva- 

 tion of the olive has been made by some individual 

 believers in its special adaptation for South Australia, 

 and now the Conservator of Forests favors its dis- 

 tribution in public reserves. 



"Meanwhile the high prizes uniformly acquired at 

 International and Inter-Colonial Exhibitions in different 

 quarters of the globe, even in an old and eminent olive 

 country like France, have confirmed the highest views 

 held of the olive and its oil as a local production. In a 

 little brochure on " Olive Culture," published in 1877, at 

 the printing ofiice of the Soi'.th A ustralian Advertiser news- 

 paper, is the assertion that ' No oil that has ever been 

 sent into the market surpasses in quality, lucidity 

 and creimy delicateness of moist, delicious flavor the 

 oil that is now produced on the Adelaide plains.' 



"There being mauy varieties of cultivated olives whose 

 merits fo"- quantity or quality of oil differ, or whose 

 rank is held in degrees of estimation relatively to na- 

 tional tastes. South Australia has now become rich in 

 the possession of olive stocks of reputation secured 

 to or from Mal'-i^a, Gibraltar and Lisbon : from Can- 

 nes 'Nice aud South of France, via IMarseilles ; and 

 from F.'o-p- ce and Bari via Brindisi. Some skiilec' 

 French pruners of the olive have also been iutroducf^d. 

 who-e l^bor-i. and the instruction they must imp >• 

 to others, cannot but prove of great advantage to tb 

 future cul; ivation and production of the olive, 



"Had South Australia been colonized by Greeks. 

 Italians, or French olive growers, it most prob»b. 

 would, long ere this, have produced large quantiti"- 

 of oil and preserved olives for the various markets of 

 the Old World. Nevertheless, in many gardens, and 

 in sonae special plantations of the tree in and about 

 Adelaide, the silvery hue of the under surface of the 

 foliage, as inverted by the winds calls strikingly to 

 mind the scenery of wellknown localities of its 

 cultivation, as of Cannes or Jlentone on the 

 Mediterranean, or of the Upper Tagus. 



•'The calcareous nature of the soil around Adelaide, 

 and the warm and dry climate, assist in bringing the 

 fruit of the olive, as to the vine to remarkable 

 perfection : whilst, for the benefit of the laborers as 

 well as of the farmers, the olive harvest conveniently 

 follows on the vintage, as the vintage folIow8 on the 

 harvest times of wheat 

 Druj/gist. 



and other grains,"— 0'o^Cfn?«^ 



