1869.] THE POMEGRANATE. 43 



fruit in the open air. I can testify to the Pomegranate's fruiting on a Sued wall 

 in the open air in the valley of the Thames, and that it is but one shade less 

 hardy than the peach. [See p. 23.] There can be no good reason given for 

 neglecting the culture of this truly classic fruit, excepting that very potent one, 

 that to the great mass of the people, rich and poor, the plant, the flower, and 

 the fruit are all alike unknown. 



You drink the juice of the Pomegranate, for it is not a fruit calculated to be 

 eaten ; and if ever in the world there has been a cup that cheers, surely the 

 ruddy juice or wine of the Pomegranate has, without inebriating, done the duty of 

 hospitality to perfection. Its juice is not quite so sharp as that of the Pine-apple, 

 and it flows clear from the fruit. To the invalid, the fever patient, the sick, 

 and the dying, this cheap fruit will always be welcome. A splendid fruit 

 recently before me, nearly a pound in weight, was purchased for 3d., and small 

 fruit imported from Valencia were offered at Is. per dozen in the open market 

 in Manchester last November. Some thirty years ago I purchased my first Pome- 

 granate in Covent Garden, London, not for luxury, but business ; and with the 

 living plant and ripe fruit before me, I began to read up its history, fearing that 

 some day I might have to cultivate this notable fruit-tree. Its free growth rather 

 alamied me, and seemed by no means a recommendation, for I found it would 

 attain a height of 20ft. ; and in order to get practically acquainted with the 

 working department, — soil, situation, pruning, training, and the like, — I had to 

 travel many miles to see a tree trained to a flued wall, and I recollect right well 

 with what intense delight I got the first sight of a Pomegranate-tree in bloom. 

 Thirty years have gone by, and yet we do not see this fruit exhibited in dishes 

 at our fruit and flower shows, done up and neatly garnished secundum naturam, 

 with twigs and leaves of the parent tree. 



We have glass in various forms and devices, and artificial heat at our 

 disposal, from the cheap lean-to orchard house, up to the costly bark stove, 

 with top and bottom heat, if necessary, all the year round. We see the Pear- 

 tree rising to the height of 30ft. or 40ft. in an English orchard, and we see 

 the same kind of tree in an orchard-house bearing fruit freely with only about 

 4ft. of headway, and less than a cubic foot of earth to grow in, cleverly fed 

 and watered in a clay flower-pot by the skill of the experienced fruit-grower. 

 Therefore, instead of warring with the elements out of doors, this is the direction 

 to take with the Pomegranate. The splendid bright scarlet flowers of the plant 

 will help to encourage the cultivator. Seeds to any extent can be got from 

 the ripe fruit to begin with. The skin of the fruit is hard and leathery, 

 enabling it to travel freely with little packing. In shape it is like an immense 

 poppy head, or like a carboy in miniature, with a bottle-neck, the diameter of a 

 fine one being about 4in., and of an average specimen about 3in. in diameter, 

 and the same in height. The colour is variable, from a deep crimson on a warm 

 yellow ground on one side only, up to a deep crimson all over ; indeed, the red 



