THE BREADFRUIT AND ITS RELATIVES 413 



Cloth and a kind of glue or calking material are obtained from 

 it, while the leaves are excellent fodder for live-stock. 



In climatic requirements the tree is strictly tropical. Mac- 

 Caughey sums up the necessary factors as : "A warm, humid 

 climate throughout the year; copious precipitation; moist, 

 fertile soil ; and thorough drainage. The absence of any one 

 of these conditions is a serious detriment to the normal growth 

 of the plant, or may wholly prevent its fruiting. It is scarcely 

 tolerant of shade, and in Hawaii large trees are almost invari- 

 ably found growing in the open." It may be observed that 

 in those parts of Central America where the breadfruit is culti- 

 vated' it is found only in the lowlands, disappearing at eleva- 

 tions of about 2,000 feet. It is evident, therefore, that it is only 

 successful in regions of uniformly warm climate. 



Propagation of the seedless breadfruit is effected in the 

 Pacific islands by means of sprouts from the roots. Mac- 

 Caughey writes : " When growing in the soft moist soil which 

 it prefers, the breadfruit roots shallowly and widely. Often 

 a network of exserted roots is visible above the ground. This 

 habit is of the greatest value in propagation. The wounding 

 or bruising of the root at any given point stimulates the pro- 

 duction of an offshoot, and young plants for transplanting 

 are produced solely in this way. This mode of propagation is 

 naturally very slow and laborious, as the young shoots grow 

 slowly, and are very sensitive to injury." 



P. J. Wester has developed in the Philippines a method 

 which is more expeditious and satisfactory. Root-cuttings 

 are used. The method is described by him as follows : 



" A plant bed or frame should be filled with medium coarse river 

 sand to a depth of 7 or 8 inches, beach sand will do provided the 

 salt has been thoroughly washed out. If sand is not procurable, 

 sandy loam may be used. 



" Larger cuttings may be made, but for the sake of convenience in 

 handling and in order not to impose too severe a strain upon the tree 

 that supplies the material, it is inadvisable to dig up roots for cuttings 



