438 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



types, red clay, sandy loam, and light sand. It is somewhat 

 drought-resistant. 



The carissa is particularly valued as a hedge plant. It 

 withstands shearing admirably and its growth is compact and 

 low. "To make an amatungula hedge," writes Fairchild, "is 

 a very simple matter. The seeds are sown in a seed-bed, and 

 when the young plants are six inches high they are trans- 

 planted to the place chosen for the hedge and set a foot apart, 

 alternately in parallel rows, distant from one another a foot 

 or more. As the plants grow they are trimmed into the desired 

 hedge form, and the oftener they are trimmed the thicker they 

 interweave their tough, thorny branches, making an impene- 

 trable barrier for stock of all kinds. When in flower the white 

 jasmine-like blossoms show off strikingly against the dark back- 

 ground of foliage; and the red fruit which follows is quite as 

 pretty." 



Cuttings, when planted directly after removal from the 

 parent bush, do not form roots readily unless grown over 

 bottom heat; but a method has been devised by Edward 

 Simmonds at Miami, Florida, whereby nearly every one will 

 grow. This consists in notching young branchlets while still 

 attached to the plant, making a cut halfway through the stem 

 3 or 4 inches from the tip. The branchlet is then bent down- 

 ward and allowed to hang limply until the end of the second 

 month, when a callus will have formed on the cut portion, and 

 the cutting may be removed and placed in sand under a lath 

 shade, requiring another month to strike roots. 



The carissa is also propagated by layering, and it is not 

 difficult to bud, using the common method of shield-budding, 

 essentially the same as practiced with the avocado. Late 

 spring is the best time to do the work. 



It has been noted in Florida and more particularly in Cali- 

 fornia that many carissa plants are unproductive. This matter 

 has never been fully investigated, but the preliminary studies 



