SUB-TROPICAL OR TEMPERATE FRUITS 203 



as little below the surface of the soil as possible. This is. 

 sometimes effected by placing tiles underneath where the trees^ 

 are planted." The tree may be propagated by sowing the stones 

 (kernels) of the fruit, but preferably by cuttings, budding, or 

 grafting. Seedling plants take three or four years to come into 

 bearing. A good plan is to sow the seed, and bud or graft 

 the best sorts on the seedlings when about a year old. 



Psidium Cattleyanum (Myrtacea;). China-guava ; Purple - 

 guava ; Calcutta-guava. A small shrubby ornamental tree, 20 to 

 25 feet high, with smooth, grey bark and small leathery, shining, 

 obovate leaves, native of Tropical America. The date of its 

 introduction into Ceylon is not recorded, but that of its first discovery 

 is given as 1818. It has been grown at Peradeniya and Hakgala 

 Gardens for upwards of thirty or forty years, and is now 

 sometimes met with in up-country gardens. CAMEROX does not 

 mention it for South India, which is remarkable considering 

 its excellent qualities as a fruit-tree. The fruit is undoubtedly 

 the most palatable of all Guavas, and deserves to be more widely 

 known. It is of the size of a large Greengage, deep claret-coloured 

 when ripe, with soft juicy, purplish red pulp, which has an 

 agreeable flavour and has some resemblance to that of a 

 strawberry. It is excellent for making tarts, jam and jelly, and 

 may also be eaten as dessert. The tree thrives and bears fruit 

 freely at elevations of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, producing two 

 crops a year. With good cultivation, the size and quality of 

 the fruit is considerably improved. Usually propagated by 

 seed, but the best trees should be increased by layering or 

 budding. 



Pyrus communis (Rosaceae). Pear. Certain varieties of 

 Pear grow and bear well in many parts of the tropics, at moderate 

 elevations and on the hills, but the fruit produced is usually 

 very hard and unlit to be eaten uncooked. In some hill gardens 

 in Ceylon, a variety of cooking Pear has become well established, 

 thriving with but scanty attention, and producing fairly heavy 

 crops of large, coarse fruits, which can only be eaten when 

 stewed. CAMERON states that : "In Simla and other hill 

 stations in India, the Pear can be brought to great perfection 

 under cultivation," and advises pruning the trees in February, 

 just before they burst into leaf. In Ceylon, the trees are 

 practically ever-green. Easily propagated by cuttings, layering, 

 or grafting. 



