244 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



"The passion- vine is found to thrive well on many classes of soil, 

 some so poor that one is led to wonder how anything could profit- 

 ably be grown on it. On the light sandstone and poorer coastal coun- 

 try there is no other fruit which will give the same return as this, and 

 with proper working and heavy manuring, it is wonderful the amount 

 of fruit that can be taken from an acre of such vines. The area planted 

 is comparatively small, and, in consequence, the fruit usually commands 

 very high prices. As an addition to a fruit salad there is no flavor that 

 can surpass it, and when eaten with cream it rivals the most delicious 

 of strawberries. If this fruit were known in Great Britain and America, 

 I venture to say that there would be an unlimited demand for it, if 

 once we were successful in landing it in those countries in large quan- 

 tities. 



"In selecting a site for the planting of a vineyard, one of the im- 

 portant points to keep in view is to avoid a district or situation where 

 frosts are at all severe or of frequent occurrence in the winter. There 

 is one thing which this vine will not stand, and that is severe frosts ; 

 and the Easter, winter, and spring crops are those which are in most 

 demand. During the summer time there is a superabundance of other 

 fruits, and hence the consumption of the passion-fruit is not so great ; 

 from Easter until Christmas time there is a splendid market for all 

 well grown fruit. It is during part of this time that we have our cold- 

 est weather, and a severe frost or two would destroy the whole crop, 

 and in all probability kill the vine back to the root. 



"The chief feature about the passion- vine, however, is its habit of 

 producing two crops per annum. The summer crop comes in about 

 February or March, and prices are necessarily low. The winter crop 

 is ready for pulling when other fruits are not so plentiful on the market. 

 The practice of the growers, has, therefore, been to secure a heavy 

 winter crop by pruning away the summer crop when about hah 7 grown ; 

 or generally speaking, about the month of November. This stimu- 

 lates the vines to throw out fresh fruiting laterals for the winter. 



"The next point of importance is to put the land in thorough 

 order before planting, and in places where it is very sour and deficient 

 in lime, which it mostly is on our coastal country where the passion- 

 fruit is grown, it would be advantageous to give the land at least half 

 a ton of good lime to the acre. 



"The vines should be planted out about August or September, 

 when the ground is in good condition. 



"The seed is sown in February. The rows should be 30 inches to 

 three feet apart, and the seed every inch or so in the row, afterwards 

 thinning out to three inches apart to make good stocky plants. 



"In erecting the trellis, the posts should be six feet and a half long, 

 firmly set in the ground to a depth of 18 inches, and placed at distances 

 of about 24 feet apart, or at farthest 32 feet in the row. On the tops 



