204 FRUIT CULTURE 



P Malus. Apple. The cultivation of the Apple in Ceylon, 

 even at the highest elevations, has not so far met with success. 

 On the hills in India, however, according to CAMERON, "apples 

 can be cultivated to perfection." At Bangalore a number of 

 varieties are generally grown, including such as Ribston Pippin, 

 Worcester Per main, Peasgood's Nonsuch, Kentish Fill basket, Cox's 

 Orange Pippin, etc. Of the varieties tried at Hakgala Gardens 

 and Nuwara Eliya, Kentish Fillbaskct was found the most 

 approaching to success. The climate, however, seems entirely 

 unsuited to the tree. In India, apple trees are propagated by 

 cuttings, layering, or grafting, and a rich sandy soil is considered 

 to suit them best. They flower in February and March, and 

 the fruit ripens in April and May. In January the roots are 

 laid bare, and, after an interval of a fortnight, are again covered 

 up with a mixture of cow-manure and good soil. Copious 

 watering is given when the fruit is swelling. 



Rhodomyrtus tomentosus (Myrtaceae). "Hill-gooseberry;" 

 *' Hill-guava." A handsome shrub with small thick oval leaves, 

 indigenous to the mountain region of Ceylon, South India, and 

 Malaya. It produces a profusion of pale pink flowers, followed 

 by small round berries of pale yellow colour ; from these a jelly 

 is made, which in flavour somewhat resembles apple- jelly. 

 Propagated from seed. Not suited to low elevations, but an 

 acclimatised variety thrives at Peradeniya (1,500 ft.), where as 

 an ornamental shrub it is much admired ; this does not, however, 

 bear fruit here. 



Ribes grossularia (Saxifrageae). Gooseberry. Plants of 

 this have been imported both from England and Australia, and 

 planted under the most favourable conditions in the Experiment 

 Garden at Nuwara Eliya, as well as at Hakgala Gardens. They 

 .grew for a time, but failed in each case to become properly 

 established. The climate in India has apparently been found 

 equally unsuitable for the plant. 



R. nigrum. Black Currant. The same remarks as above, 

 under Gooseberry, may be applied. 



Rubus lasiocarpa (Rocaceae). Ceylon, or Wild-Raspberry. 

 A large, straggling bramble, remarkable for the white down 

 with which the stems are entirely covered, indigenous to the 

 hills of Ceylon, India and Java. The fruit much resembles 

 the English Blackberry, and is, when well-grown, equal to it 

 in flavour : its hoary wooly appearance is, however, against it. 



