CHAPTER VIII 

 THE LOQUAT AND ITS RELATIVES 



HEREIN are grouped the few fruits of the Rose family that 

 are cultivated to any extent in the tropics and sub tropics. 

 In temperate regions, this family supplies the leading tree- 

 fruits, as apple, pear, quince, stone-fruits, and also such small- 

 fruits as raspberry, dewberry, blackberry, and strawberry. 



THE LOQUAT (Plate XII) 

 (Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl.) 



The production of loquats in Japan is estimated at twenty 

 million pounds annually. From one small village in the Che- 

 kiang Province of China, twenty thousand dollars' worth have 

 been shipped in a single year. In the Occident this excellent 

 fruit has not attained the commercial prominence which it 

 deserves, nor has it been improved through cultivation and 

 selection to any such extent as have many other Asiatic fruits 

 now grown in Europe and America. 



To northern residents and travelers in tropical and sub- 

 tropical countries, the loquat should possess an especial attrac- 

 tion, inasmuch as it recalls in flavor and character the fruits 

 of the North. As a matter of fact, it is a close relative of the 

 apple and the pear, while its flavor distinctly suggests the 

 cherry. Those whose palates have been educated to demand the 

 subacid sprightly flavored fruits of the Temperate Zone often 

 criticize tropical fruits as being too sweet and rich. The loquat 

 is not open to this objection, and it can be grown throughout 



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