ORCHARDS 81 



up in two or three weeks' time and looking like a brilliant 

 emerald carpet. 



There are usually a few heavy showers about the end of 

 September or the early part of October, which are called 

 rdnondrana mdmpisdra-taona i.e. " rain dividing the year " ; 

 but occasionally no rain falls until the rainy season regularly 

 commences, so it is dry and dusty everywhere, the ground 

 cracks, and everything seems thirsting for moisture. The heat 

 increases as the sun gets more vertical, although the nights are 

 pleasantly cool. Yet notwithstanding the dry soil the trees 

 begin to blossom. Most conspicuous among them is the Cape 

 lilac (Melia azederach), a tree introduced from South Africa 

 about eighty or ninety years ago by the first L.M.S. mission- 

 aries, and now thoroughly naturalised in the interior of Mada- 

 gascar. It grows to be a good-sized tree, and many hundreds 

 of them are to be seen in and around Antananarivo, making 

 the place gay with their profusion of pale greyish-lilac flowers, 

 and fragrant with their strong perfume. 



There are many large orchards in Imerina, planted chiefly 

 with mango-trees and presenting a refreshing mass of evergreen 

 all the year round. But at this time, when looking from a 

 little distance, the green of the leaves is largely mingled with 

 a tinting of reddish-brown, caused by masses of flowers, in 

 spikes, chiefly in the upper part of the trees. Later on the 

 purplish tint of the new leaves gives another shade of colour. 

 The produce of these trees is an excellent fruit ; and there are 

 three or four varieties of it, one kind, " the stone mango," being 

 more globular in shape ; another, " the satin-mango," being 

 smaller, like a large plum, with a delicate flavour and scent. 

 Another most widely grown fruit is the peach, which is more 

 used cooked than eaten raw ; and others are the Ubasy or 

 loquat, the quince, the rose-apple, the orange, and the rdtra, a 

 good-sized tree with a profusion of small black pear-shaped 

 fruits, somewhat astringent when eaten raw, but excellent for 

 cooking and for preserves. The vine also is largely cultivated, 

 chiefly a black variety ; while bananas and plantains and pine- 

 apples are to be had all the year through. 



The low banks of earth which form the boundary walls of 

 plantations are largely planted with a species of Euphorbia, of 

 which there are two varieties, one with brilliant scarlet bracts 



