CHAPTER XIX 



ON FRUITS 



Bright colours of fruits— Unripe fruits and their effects— An intemperate 

 Fungus— Oranges— Prickly pear and the monkey— Strong seeds— 

 Bill-of-fare of certain birds— A wood-pigeon and beans— Ants and 

 seeds— Bats, rats, bears, and baboons— The rise in weight of a Big 

 Gooseberry— Mr. Gideon and the Wealthy Apple— Crossing fruits- 

 Breadfruit and banana— Dates— Figs— Olives — Pineapples by the 

 acre— Apples and pears — Home and Canadian orchards. 



AT Christmas time and during late autumn, there is 



l\ but little colour in the country. Most green grasses 



have become a dull greyish-green, and the leafless 



brown and grey branches of the trees are not, at first sight, 



particularly interesting. 



But amongst this monotony of sober colouring, points of 

 bright red or flaming scarlet may be noticed here and there. 

 Sometimes it is a spray of Hips (the fruit of the Rose), or it 

 may be a cluster of Hawthorn berries. At Christmas the Holly 

 is positively gaudy with its bright scarlet fruit set off* by the 

 shining dark green leaves. 



Most fruits are some shade of red, but every fruit is con- 

 spicuous and easily seen. 



There is the most extraordinary range in colour. The 

 Snowberry and Dwarf Cornel are pure white. The Mistletoe 

 is a yellowish green. Pure yellow fruits are not common, but 

 some of the Cucumber orders and Lemons are lemon or 



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