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about six inches long, shortening back the leaves, and inserting them 

 about two inches deep. Grafting may be done just as growth is beginning 

 to get active. Budding should be done after mid-summer, when the 

 current season's growth has matured to some extent, and while the bark 

 will rise freely from the wood. Both budding and grafting may be 

 practised with advantage in the case of seedling trees, so as to insure the 

 right proportion of male and female plants. 



CASHEW NUT, 

 HISTORY AND USES. 



The Cashew Nut is known botanically as Anacardium occidental, and 

 it is the type of the natural order Anacardiaceae. It is a handsome 

 evergreen tree, growing to the height of from fifteen to twenty feet, and a 

 native of the West Indies. The leaves are somewhat like those of the 

 Walnut, and have a similar smell. The sweet-scented reddish-green 

 flowers are produced in corymbs, and the so-called fruit is formed by the 

 enlargement of the foot stalks, or peduncles. This fleshy substance is as 

 large as a moderately -sized orange, and possesses an agreeable sub-acid 

 flavour, but is somewhat astringent. It is largely used iu the East and 

 West Indies, as also in tropical America. The true fruit is a heart-shaped 

 nut that is formed at the end of the fleshy peduncle. This nut is an 

 inch or more in length, and contains two shells, the outer one being 

 smooth and ash-coloured. There is a space between the two shells that is 

 filled with a thick, black, 

 caustic juice, which is 

 utilized in dying and for 

 marking linen. Within the 

 inner shell is the kernel, 

 which contains a sweet 

 milky juice, and is very 

 palatable when eaten fresh. 

 The kernels are eaten like 

 Chestnuts, either raw or 

 when roasted. They are 

 said to be used to some 

 extent to improve the flavour 

 of chocolate. By pressure 

 an oil equal to olive may 

 be obtained, and the trunk 

 and branches of the tree 

 when wounded yield a 

 material similar to gum 

 arabic. Cashew Nut. 



