504> On the Cultivation of the White Guam. 



The White Guava (P. pyriferum L.) is a West Indian tree 

 which attains the height of 10 or 12 feet. The fruit is about 

 the size of a hen's egg, with a yellowish and whitish outer 

 covering, containing a reddish mealy pulp, in which are found 

 the seeds. They are small, and are eaten along with the pulp, 

 which is sweet, and of an aromatic and agreeable taste. The 

 natives of the West India Islands eat the guava raw, or pre- 

 served with sugar ; or prepare from it the well known guava 

 jelly, which is exported in large quantities from Havanna. 



The guava grows easily in a mixture of loam and peat earth, 

 but requires plenty of room, particularly if you wish to have 

 fruit. The temperature of a greenhouse is sufficient for it, but 

 it should not always have the same degree of heat; because, like 

 most tropical plants, as soon as it ceases to grow it requires a 

 lower temperature, and a diminution of water. This period, 

 with us, should be in winter ; not on account of sparing fuel at 

 this time of the year, but because the summer months are better 

 calculated for the developement of tropical vegetation, as there 

 is then a pretty equal proportion of light and heat, so necessary 

 for the prosperity of the plants. 



The guava, when growing, requires a great deal of water, 

 and it should be gradually increased as soon as the shoots begin 

 to expand themselves. A plentiful supply of manure, particu- 

 larly when the plants are young, is of the greatest use, as it 

 brings them quicker to a proper degree of strength. 



I found several species of Psidium generally growing together, 

 both on the Island of Cuba, and also in Venezuela. I found 

 them in most cases, when not planted by the hand of man, 

 growing in a rich, nourishing, and moist soil, in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of a river or piece of water. Several species 

 there are distinguished from each other principally by the fruit : 

 such as the Yellow Guava (P. pyriferum L., Guajava pyrifor- 

 mis Gcert?i., Guajavus domesticus Rumph.), and the Red Guava 

 (P. pomiferum L*., Guajavus agrestis Rumph.). Both species 

 have the same properties. The fruit of the former is yellow, and 

 pear-shaped ; that of the latter reddish, and of a round form. 



The leaves are sometimes laid on wounds, and on eruptions of 

 the skin. The wood is much sought after by the cabinet-maker, 

 and is also used as an article of fuel. The Guajava de Cochino, 

 or Macho, probably P. montanum Swz., a native of the Antilles, 

 differs from P. aromaticum Aublet, a native of Guiana, the fruit 

 of which is not eaten, as it is generally soft and tasteless. In 

 the Bay of Matanzas, in the Island of Cuba, I saw the latter 

 in great numbers not far from the sea, also in the neighbourhood 

 of the Caraccas and other places, growing either in a wild state, 

 or planted by the hand of man. 



Berlin, Dec. 1841. 



