Chap. XX. IN WARDIAN CASES. 337 



the formation of mildew and damp ; but the principal object 

 of the false bottom is to allow any excess of water to drain off 

 into a place where it cannot sour the soil, and yet will not be 

 lost. Then, as the soil becomes dry above, the water will be 

 attracted to it. 



With the exception of the false bottom, all the above sug- 

 gestions were carefully attended to by the gardeners who 

 were in charge of the chinchona-plants during the voyage to 

 India ; the partial failures which attended some of the relays 

 from South America could not, under the circumstances, have 

 been avoided by any human foresight ; and, as the general 

 result of my arrangements has been to introduce all the 

 valuable kinds of C£uinine-ylelding plants into India, we 

 have every reason to congratulate ourselves on the success 

 of om- labours. 



With the chinchona-plants I brought from Peru a supply 

 of seeds of the chirimoya, of aji-pepper, and of the ScMnua 

 molle, all of which are coming up well on the Neilgherry 

 hills.^ They have most of the other kinds of Anonas in India, 

 but the chirimoya frait, the most exquisite of all, has yet to 

 be raised. He who has not tasted the cliii-imoya has yet to 

 learn what fruit is. " The pine-apple, the mangosteen, and 

 the chirimoya," says Dr. Seemann, " are considered the iiuest 

 fruits in the world. I have tasted them in those localities in 

 wbicli they are supposed to attain their highest perfection — 

 the pine-apple in Guayaquil, the mangosteen in the Indian 

 archipelago, and the chirimoya on the slopes of the Andes ; 

 and, if I were called upon to act the part of a Paris, I would 

 wdthout hesitation assign the apple to the chiiimoya. Its 

 taste indeed sm-passes that of every other fruit, and Haenke 

 was quite right when he called it the masterpiece of nature."® 



* In October, 1861, ihcSchinus molle 

 plants -were 3 feet higli ; and the chiri- 

 mojas 15 inches. Plants of both have 



been sent to the gardens at Bangalore. 

 •> Seemann's Voyage of the Herald, 

 i. p. 171. 



