99 

 oTslong or egg-shaped, a foot or so long, orange-yellow when 

 rJLpe, thick-skinned, with many small black seeds. The ripe 

 fruit is much relished for its cooling affect. The young 

 unripe fruit is also cooked and eaten as a vegeteible. 



The soil most suited for Caricas is a rich loam, having 

 perfect drainage. As the stem is succulent and tender, great 

 care is necessary to avoid iDruising ; hence pot-grown plants 

 are lauch to he preferred to seedlings from the open ground. 

 Seeds shoxild "be selected from the "best and largest fruits and 

 should be dried in the sun and after being kept a week, sown 

 in a box or under cover in a rich but light soil. The soil 

 should consist of sand and two-year old manure. If weeds are 

 quite dry or old they should be soaked in warm water before 

 sowing. The seedling plants are delicate, and require close 

 watching at first to avoid damping off. When the plants are 

 a few inches high they should be transplanted to a nursery, 

 and when 2 or 3 feet hi^i they should be planted out in the 

 fields 10 ft, apart in holes in which plenty of manure and a 

 few pieces of bones should be put. The trees should be plant- 

 ed in the open and not in shade. 



When six feet high the central bud should be nipped off 

 and growth of side branches encouraged. The size and quality 

 of fruits are both enhanced by this operation. Carieas sel- 

 dom branch, but usually grow upright like a palm, hence cuttings 

 are not often available. Sometimes small branches form, and 

 these may be cut off and as readily rooted as most tropical 

 decorative plants provided the cutting is not too young and 



