December 26, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



511 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



DEC. 26-^AN. 1, 1866. 



St. STrPHKN. 



St. John the Evangei.ikt. 



Innockntm. 



niivid n<.ii dipd.lR41. 



Yi'lvot Dufk nrriv«;s. 



1 SUNPAY AFTEU CHUISTMAS. 

 ClKCUUCISION. 



Snn 



RittUB. 



Son 



tiots. 



Moon 

 Blaoa. 



Moon 

 8ota. 



8afH S4ii(8 



h. in. h. 



9 8 5S 



9 8 I 57 



9 8 59 



9 8 59 



4.1 

 

 10 

 3(1 

 41 

 44 

 87 



Moon'. 

 Ako. 



Day.. 

 H 

 9 



10 . 

 11 

 I'i 

 18 

 14 



Clock 



before 



Hun, 



68 



1 27 



2 55 

 8 24 



Day 



of 



Year. 



861) 

 •Jfil 

 802 

 86S 

 tt64 

 866 

 1 



From observations taken near London (lnrin;(tIiolnHt tliirtv-ei^tlit years, the nvoniffo 'lay temperature of the week is 44.7"; and its nif^tit 

 temperature Sl.O . Tlie (jreatost ho.-it was 5K", on the 2:ttli, 18j.j ; and the lowost cold, 1= below zero, on the 2Kth, lb(jU. The greatest 

 fail of rain wa.s 0.70 inch. 



FAILURES TX TUOPICAL FRUIT CULTURE. 



.VILURES 1 an oniiiious woi-tl 



/5R'5^/ ! P'flVjLiHft^SVI ''^ l)egiu 11 paper withl" I 



lav^l \^3hNW'('.!Wv '"'•^■'- "0 (lonl)t most of your 



l9j^^^~^^^^S3sL^a^6^ ^'^'^'''■''^ "'" exclaim ; and 



Vt(!lfSVM^mM^^ gla^^^J cortainly I must (■onfi-.ss that 



' it is not pleasant liaviiif; to 



write about one's own want of success, but thinking that, 



perhaps, even failures if recorded may h<dp others to keep 



clear of them, or at all events to profit in some way from 



my experience, I have devoted this paper to the subject. 



I have, I believe, at ditferent times tried my hand at 

 most well-known tropical fruits, but with the exception 

 of the Mango, Mangosteen, and a few others, I have been 

 unable to coax them into a fruiting state, or if I have 

 obtained fruit it has been uneatable. I propose, therefore, 

 to mention one or two of these failures, and, first of all, I 

 will begin with the Bread Fruit (.Vrto<-arpus iiu:isa). 



This tree I was always most anxious to succeed in 

 fruiting, and having had three healthy trees sent me, with 

 full instructions as to climate and soil, I thought it a good 

 opportunit\' to attempt their culture. I had them placed 

 in a house where they could have the exact treatment 

 they reipiired, and where no other plants would interfere 

 with them. They were planted in a sandy loam in very 

 well drained tubs (drainage is most essential for this tree, 

 ns in stagnant soil it will not live many months) ; tliey 

 j^ew uncommonly well, and in a year or two became very 

 jjracefiil objects, as the branches grow out in I'egiilar order 

 from the main stem, becoming smaller as tliey reach the 

 top, which gives the tree a cone-shaped appearance, and 

 the leaves are nearly -2 feet long, of a beautiful green 

 colour, and divided into lobes. 



For some time, although one of the plants constantly 

 produced (lowers, nothing would induce it to fruit. I tried 

 everything I could think of, but all to no purpose, and I 

 was just on the point of giving it up as a bad job, when my 

 etlbrts were at bust rewarded by two fruit setting. These, 

 it is needless to say, I watched with the most intense 

 anxiety. Visions of a fruit filled with the most delicious 

 breadcrumb, or, perhaps, even su]ierior to bread, tloated 

 before my minds eye. It is true that as time passed on 

 my \'isioii was sonuiwhat disturlied by the appearance of 

 the fruit itself, which wlieu about as large as a small 

 Turnip stopped growing, although it by no means becami' 

 softer, but rather the reverse. However. I did what I 

 could to ripen the two fruit, raised the temperature, and 

 gave plenty of au- well warmed, and was rcw'arded at last 

 by one falling off " dead ripe." as a friend informed me. 

 On trying to open it we found it harder than we expected, 

 but, as my friend .said, " that was the shell :" so, as a knife 

 was of no use, we procured a saw, anvd succeeded, after some 



K«. 34S.-V»«- rX-, Xew Seeues 



labour, in opening it ; but, alas ! where was the bvea*? 



The inside whs certainly rather softer than the outside, 

 but still dreadfully tough, and tasted as much like a mix- 

 ture of cocoa-nut fibre and frosted Parsnips as anytlnnjf 

 could taste. Here was disappointment ; but we were not 

 to be done, and as I Inid read somewhere of its being need 

 ful to bake the fruit, I suggested the other one should bf 

 cooked. My friend liked the idea, and in order to insure 

 success, recommended its being roasted " a I'Otaheite — 

 viz., by digging a hole in the ground, and iilling it witji 

 hot ashes, putting tlie fruit upon them, and covering tliy 

 whole 111) ^^i"' *^"ii- ^'" f^i^ener said than done. 'J'lie, K«i< 

 remaining " fruit " was picked, and, after we had dug «i 

 hole, and, with great dilficulty, liglited a lire therein, tlit 

 Bread Fruit was deposited in the hot ashes, and cavefullj 

 covered with turves. In about an hour it was dug up 

 looking more like a chai-red stump than a fruit, and havinp 

 been ojieiuid with the aid of a trowel wc; procet'ded to ta.st'; 

 the bread ; but enough ! I will not describe our disap- 

 pointment on finding that it had the consistency of a very 

 lianl dumpling, and thi^ taste of a V(^ry bad Potato. Merely 

 permit me to express a hiimble but most decided hope that 

 it may never be my lot to feed on the Bread Fruit, for 1 

 should most assuredly starve ere I brought myself to eat 



I it again ; in fact, I never tasted anything worse, artii, 

 although I have had many since tlu^n, they all ]i;id the 

 same flavour. 



I should add that the trees were p-own in an ordinary 

 stove temperature, with plenty of air and moisture wheu 

 not at rest. Then' is not much dittieulty in growing the 

 tree ; but I much fear that in England the fruit, will never 

 be fit to eat. 



>Vnothcr tree I was desirous of fruiting was the Cocoa- 

 nut Palm (Cocos nuciferai, and as it is easily raised from tKe 

 nut. and, unlike many Palms, bears male and ft'inale flowers 

 on the same tree, it is in these respects well adapted for 

 culture. I found no dilhculty in making ordinary Cocon- 



1 nuts push in alunit seven or eight weeks in a strong bottom 

 heat : at least, out of twenty, on an average six would groiv. 



i but the young plants invariably failed aft«r attaining tli«- 

 height of a few feet. This, however, I afterwards remedied 

 by sowing the nuts where they were to remain in a rioj:, 

 but very rough, vegetable mould, mixed with a little sand. 

 and by constantly syringing the trees with weak- salt wafer. . 

 I!y these means, and b}* growing the ])hints in a high temr 

 perature, they soon formed magnificent objects with their 



, great, yet elegant leaves, often more than 10 feet in lengtii- 

 I .soon found, to my gi-eat mortification, that no house 1 

 had would be half tall enough to grow them in, and I was 

 at last obliged, though much against my will, to destroy 

 them, after they had seriously injured the roof by pushiBg- 

 against tin,' glass. 



This tree could. I should imagine, be easily fruited, pro- 

 vided it had sufficient head-room, and was never moveil 

 after beginning to grow ; this last is an impia-tant point. 



' for if transplanted, no matter how carefully, it never seems 

 to thrive again. As the trees grow they should have pleii<y 

 of light and heat, and be eonstantl.y syringed well })otlt 



' with weak salt water and with fresh; they .should alsL 



Ko. 003.— Vol- XXXIY., Olw S£IU£S. 



