142 THE NATURALIST IN BEEMUDA. 



entirely to wood, producing no fruit. The Strawberry bears 

 sparingly. Melons thrive weU, when the season is not too 

 dry. The common sorts are very inferior. Water Melons, 

 both round and oval, grow weU. Cucumbers produce 

 well, if sown early. The Bottle Gourd, introduced from 

 Malta, by the 42nd Highlanders, grows remarkably weU. 



Vegetables, of many kinds, viz. : — Onions, Potatoes,* 

 (common and sweet), Pumpkins, Cabbages, Carrots, Turnips, 

 Parsnips, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Eadishes, Leeks, ChaUots, &c., 

 do well, considering the climate, though the cabbage kinds 

 are sadly perforated by grubs and caterpillars. Indian 

 corn of several varieties is grown, chiefly for use as a vege- 

 table, and Guinea corn for green fodder. Barley begins to 

 ripen in April; and the small patches of this grain are 

 sometimes harvested by women, who cUp off the ears with 

 scissors, and carry them in their aprons. Oats are seldom, if 

 ever, known to produce seed. Wheat produces a large, 

 indifferent, ill-fiUed, husky grain, and is not sown for crop. 



Hemp, sown ia gardens, comes to perfection, and seeds 

 well, much to the satisfaction of the red birds. Flax grows 

 wild by the road side. 



The Yam [Dioscorea alata), is not cultivated in the Ber- 



* Large quantities of onions and potatoes are annually exported from the 

 Bermudas ; the former, principally to the West Indies ; the latter, to the 

 United States. Good prices are usually obtained for these vegetables ; and, 

 doubtless, if laboiu' were more abundant, and the landed proprietors could 

 only be persuaded to till the best portions of the land, now covered with 

 cedar and sage scrub, they would eventually become much richer men, for 

 they have a ready market for both these easily cultivated roots. 



"We forwarded a package of seeds of various kinds of English vegetables, 

 about a year ago, to a friend resident in the Islands, and he gives us a very 

 favourable account of their growth and yield ; so we presume that in spite 

 of drought, hurricanes, &c., most vegetables and fruits, whether boreal or 

 tropical, will do well in the Bermudas. 



