PLANTING ON ASCENSION. 137 



Pine apples have been propagated successfully of late years, and are 

 well flavoured. 



" All the ground available for planting is in detached patches, and I 

 find, on searching the records, that detailed descriptions of that under 

 cultivation, up to the end of 1859, have been forwarded to the Secretary 

 of the Admiralty. Since I took charge in July 1861, I have turned 

 my attention to the possibility of breaking up new ground and culti- 

 vating English potatoes, cabbages, and the vegetables usually issued 

 with fresh meat. The difficulty of finding any sufficiently level and 

 sheltered is great, and I have had recourse to excavating on the side 

 of the mountain. One piece now in progress, on the same level with 

 the home gardens, will have a back of 44 feet. I have also converted 

 what was formerly a stock yard into a garden, and have a very 

 promising crop of Jersey potatoes well up. As we can find labour, I 

 purpose terracing a very promising piece of ground under the weather 

 gardens, above a patch on which cabbages have been successfully 

 raised. My predecessor enclosed a space on a rather steep slope, 

 containing about an acre, which will be broken up, if the dry weather 

 lasts ; it will be fit only for the sweet potato, which is the staple 

 produce of the island, and flourishes even in the driest seasons, but it 



is not prized by the men There is no limit to 



the broken ground available for the planting of shrubs, and during 

 the dry season a party is constantly employed digging holes four feet 

 wide, thi'ee deep ; there are upwards of 1,000 now open for the 

 reception of the Australian wattle, to be planted between Michaelmas 

 and Lady-day. This shrub has been most successful at Ascension, 

 and in a few years will change the aspect, and probably the climate, 

 of the island, from its rapid growth and facility of propagation. I 

 lately measured one that was planted last November twelvemonths, 

 in the shape of a small layer, and it is now from six to seven feet 

 high, covering a circle with a circumference of 36 feet; about 1,000 

 of these have been planted within the last three years. 



'■' Mr Bell fortunately hit upon the simple plan of laying the small 

 branches into preserved meat tins, butter firkins, and boxes, in which 

 they can be carried to any distance ; they already flourish much lower 

 than any other tree or shrub, and had we not lost our last season 

 from an unusual drought, many more would have been planted lower 

 still ; there are upwards of 1,000 now ready. I have entered into 

 the above details to show that the wattle has greatly reduced our 

 requirements, and I constantly receive, from private sources, 

 loquats, guava, orange, lime, and wild fruit trees, from the Cape of 



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