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THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL 5 



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hut are not dented at the edges, and on that account more 

 resemble Nutmeg leaves; the flowers are borne in loose heads, 

 they are large, and of a pale yellow white colour ; the fruit 

 is of the sire of. a man's head, and round or oblong, resem- 

 bling in some degree a rolled up hedge-hog, with a hard bark 

 or rind ; the seeds are yellowish brown, their tunics white, 

 of a soft, mucous, and very tender substance : these tunics 

 constitute the eatable part of the fruit, which is esteemed one 

 of the most delicious vegetable productions of India. Per- 

 sons, however.^not accustomed to eat it, are at first deterred 

 from tasting it, from its unpleasant heavy smell, something 

 resembling that of rotten onions ; and the smell of the 

 breath of those who eat it is infected also in a high degree ; 

 but when once a person has accustomed himself to eat this 

 fruit, he generally considers it preferable to all others. 

 Native of Sumatra, Malacca, Java, Borneo, &c. 



Duroia ; a genus of the class Hexandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calls . perianth one-leafed, 

 cylindric, truncate, contracted, very short, superior. Corolla.- 

 monopetalous ; tube cylindric ; border length of the tube, 

 six-parted ; divisions ovate, spreading. Stamina : filamenta 

 none ; antherse six, oblong, within the tube. Pistil : ger- 

 men inferior ; style filiform, the length of the tube ; stigmas 

 t.wo. Pericarp : pome globular, umbilicate, covered with 

 erect hairs. Seeds : very many, nestling, oval, flat, very 

 smooth, incumbent, in a double row. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

 RACTER. Callv ; cylindric, truncate. Corolla : six-parted. 

 Filamenta: none. Pome: hispid. The only known spe- 

 cies is, 



1. Duroia Eriopila. A tree, with thick unequal branches, 

 hirsute at the end ; leaves terminating, opposite, approxi- 

 mating, many, subpetioled, a span in length, obovate, quite 

 entire, rather obtuse, ribbed, pubescent above, netted under- 

 neath : petioles very short, hirsute ; flowers at the ends of 

 the branches, sessile, heaped, many, several of them abortive ; 

 corollas white. The flowers are frequently abortive, nay, 

 there are some genuine male flowers withoutanygermen; it 

 should therefore be rather referred to the class Polygamia. 

 Fruit somewhat largerthan a turkey's egg, spherical, covered 

 very thick with erect brown hairs, umbilicate with the hollow 

 ralix, and filled with numerous seeds lodged in the pulp, 

 which is eatable, and compared by some to that of the Eu- 

 ropean Medlar. It is well-flavoured, and much esteemed at 

 Surinam ; of which it is a native. 



Dioale. See Atropa. 



Dwarf Trees were formerly in much greater request than 

 they are at present, for though they have many advantages to 

 recommend them, yet the disadvantages attending them 

 greatly overbalance ; and since the introduction of espaliers 

 into the English gardens, dwarf-trees have been little in 

 esteem for the following reasons : 1. The figure of a dwarf- 

 tr<^- is very often so much studied, that in order to render 

 the shape beautiful, little care is taken to procure fruit, which 

 is the principal design in planting these trees. 2. The 

 branches being spread horizontally near the surface of the 

 ground, renders it very difficult to dig or clear the ground 

 under'them. 3. They take up tno much room in a garden, 

 especially when grown to a considerable size, so that nothing 

 can be sown or planted between them. 4. They spread their 

 branches close to the ground, and continually shade the sur- 

 face of the earth, so that neither the sun nor air can pass 

 1'nvly round their roots, to dissipate noxious vapours, with 

 which the circumambient air will become very replete, and 

 these crude rancid vapours being drawn in by the leaves and 

 fruit, will render the juices of the latter crude and unwhole- 

 ome, as well as ill-tasted. It is also very difficult to get to 



the middle of these dwarf-trees in the summer, when their 

 leaves and fruit are on the branches, without beating off some 

 of the fruit, and breaking the young shoots ; whereas the 

 trees on an espalier can at all times be approached on each 

 side to tie up the new shoots, or remove all that are luxu- 

 riant, which would soon rob the trees of their nourishment 

 if suffered to remain. Add to this, the fruit-buds of all sorts 

 of pears and apples, and most sorts of plums and cherries, are 

 first produced at the end of the former year's shoot, which 

 must be shortened to keep the dwarfs to their proper figure, 

 so that the fruit-buds are cut off, and a greater number of 

 branches are obtained than can be permitted to stand, so 

 that all those sorts of fruit-trees whose branches require to be 

 trained up at their full length, are very improper to train up 

 as dwarfs ; and the peaches and nectarines which will bear 

 amputation, are too tender to be trained so in this country. 

 These evils being entirely remedied by training the tree to 

 an espalier, has jointly gained them the preference; however, 

 if any one still feel disposed to have dwarf-trees, notwith- 

 standing what has here been said, we shall lay down a few 

 rules for their management : If you design to have dwarf 

 Pear-trees, bud orgraftthem on Quince stocks ; but as many 

 sorts of Pears will not thrive if they are immediately budded 

 or grafted on Quince stocks, so some of these sorts which will 

 take freely, should be first budded on the Quince stocks ; and 

 when these have shot, the sorts you intend to cultivate should 

 be budded into these, for free stocks are apt to make them 

 shoot so vigorously, as not to be kept within bounds ; these 

 grafts or buds should be put in four or six inches above the 

 surface of the ground, that the heads of the trees may not 

 be advanced too high ; and when the bud or graft has put 

 out four shoots, the ends of the shoots should be stopped, 

 in order to force out lateral branches. Two years after 

 budding, these trees will be fit to transplant where they are 

 to remain ; for though many people choose to plant trees of 

 a greater age, yet they seldom succeed so well as young ones. 

 The distance these trees should be planted is twenty-five or 

 thirty feet asunder, for less will not do if the trees thrive well. 

 The ground between them may be cultivated for kitchen- 

 garden herbs while the trees are young, but they ought not 

 to be sown or planted too near the roots of these trees. In 

 order to train the trees regularly, drive stakes into the ground 

 round each tree, to which the branches should be fastened 

 down with list in an horizontal position ; for if they are suf- 

 fered to grow perpendicularly, while young, the'y cannot 

 afterwards be reduced to any tolerable figure without great 

 violence; the necessary directions to be afterwards followed, 

 are, not to suffer any branches to cross each other, and 

 always in shortening any shoots, to take care and leave the 

 uppermost eye outwards, whereby the hollowness in the 

 middle of the tree will be better preserved ; and be careful 

 also to cut off every perpendicular shoot in the middle of the 

 tree as soon as it appears. The other necessary rules will be 

 found under the article Pruning. The sorts of Pears which 

 answer best as dwarfs, are summer and autumn fruits, tor 

 winter Pears are not worth planting in dwarfs ; they seldom 

 hc:ir well, and are always ill-tasted, and generally stony, be- 

 cause they are commonly grafted on Quince storks. Apples 

 are also planted in dwarfs, most of which are now budded or 

 grafted on paradise stocks ; but as these are for the most part 

 of a short duration, they are not profitable, andare fit only for 

 small gardens, as a matter of curiosity, producing fruit sooner 

 and in greater plenty, than when they are upon Crab or Apple 

 stocks. The distance these trees should be planted, if on 

 paradise stocks, should be six or eight feet ; and upon Dutch 

 stocks, eighteen or twenty; butifonCrab stocks, twenty-five 



