112 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



established in the southern parts of the colony. This tree is a 

 very desirable one near houses and outbuildings, as it both gives 

 a grateful shade, and yields large quantities of pods, with a sweet 

 pulp, which are greedily eaten by cattle. 



For roadsides, cattle yards, and open spaces near sugar 

 works, where shade is desired, no tree is more suitable or more 

 profitable as a fodder plant than this. 



Among the fruit-trees already in the colony, the Mango 

 (Mangifera indica) is possibly the more widely distributed of any, 

 especially at Belize and the settlements. The quality of the 

 fruit is, however, not good; and many very valuable kinds 

 might be introduced from Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad. 

 In addition to supplying local demands, this luscious fruit might 

 be exported to New Orleans, where there exists a large demand 

 for it. It may be as well to mention, that grafted or layered 

 plants of Mango are far preferable to seedlings : indeed it is only 

 by grafting or layering that the choicest East Indian varieties 

 can be propagated with certainty and success. The stocks for 

 grafting may be seedlings from the ordinary mangoes of the 

 country, which, for convenience of working and transit, may be 

 established in bambu pots. Where mangoes do not bear, root- 

 pruning is the best treatment. 



The Bread-fruit, as in most West Indian colonies, is thoroughly 

 established in British Honduras, where it affords a valuable and 

 nutritious food. One very remarkable Bread-fruit-tree grows 

 above the bridge in the town of Belize, equal to, if not finer than, 

 anything seen in the West Indies. The best varieties of the 

 Bread-fruit are propagated by root-suckers, as the fruits them- 

 selves are seedless. As a shade-tree for plantations the Bread- 

 fruit is invaluable. 



The Star-apple (Ghrysophyllum cainito) does not appear to 

 have been established here. This is a very highly-esteemed West 



