THE GUAVA. 



Psidium Guajava Lin. MYRTACEAE. 



Maltese ~ guava. Italian guana. French goyavier. 



This fruit-tree is grown more often as curiosity, but 

 in suitable situations it is very productive, and the fruit 

 makes an excellent jam of delicate flavour. The tree is 

 best grown from seed saved from large fruits of the 

 golden yellow egg-shaped variety, which is preferable. 

 The seed is sown in March, and the seedlings when one 

 year old are potted off singly in small pots in April, 

 shifting them into larger pots every year until they are 

 four or five years old, when they are generally strong 

 enough to be planted out where they are to remain. The 

 Guava likes a deep soil and a dry and sunny situation, 

 sheltered from cold winds, and should be frequently 

 watered in summer and occasionally manured to insure a 

 free growth. A stiff retentive soil is unsuitable for this 

 tree. 



The Guava sheds its leaves late in winter, and starts 

 growing late in spring. The tips of the twigs are liable 

 to die off in severe winters, but with proper care the tree 

 becomes as large as an orange- tree, and fruits abun- 

 dantly. The tree flowers throughout the summer, and 

 the fruit ripens in October and November, but the fruit 

 which sets late in the season, remains small, and often 

 fails to mature. The first Guava planted at San Antonio 

 towards 1818, died in 1916, so that the tree lives to a 

 fair age in our climate. The Guava is not liable to any 

 important disease; even the fruit-fly does not often attack 

 the fruit. 



