Book I. 



EXOTIC FRUITS LITTLE KNOWN. 



779 



part of sea-sand ; and the other part, one half rotten tan, and half lime rubbish. These are to be mixed 

 and laid in a heap, three or four months before using, turning it over once a month ; then pass it through 

 a rough screen, but do not sift it fine ; reserving some of the small stones and rubbish to lay at the bottom 

 of the pots, in order to keep an open passage for the moisture to drain off. The Barbadoes gooseberry 

 requires less lime-rubbish and more of vegetable earth. 



5971. Temperature. All the sorts, excepting the prickly pear, require the temperature of a dry-stove 

 in winter, and an increased degree of heat, say 80° or 90° in summer, when it is intended they should 

 produce fruit. They may either be planted in large boxes, filled with the soil above described, with a 

 portion of vegetable mould added ; or in borders, to be trained on a wall or trellis near the light. In 

 either case, by supplying them liberally in summer, whilst in a growing state, with heat at bottom and 

 top, air, light, and some moisture, they will thrive abundantly, and produce fruit certainly not of exquisite 

 flavor, but agreeable and singular, and worthy of being added to the British dessert. 



5972. Culture of the prickly pear in the open air. Braddick having eaten, with pleasure, of this fruit 

 in Virginia, was desirous of cultivating it here. He recollected that the plant in its wild state delighted 

 in a dry soil, amongst rocks, near the skirts of the sunny sides of the forests; and having heard thaf it 

 would stand the open air in this country, he planted it in the compost described below, placed in a shel- 

 tered situation open to the sun. " The first plant that I turned out has lived in the open ground of 

 this country for six or seven years, during which period it has endured one exceeding hard winter, and 

 several trying springs ; and in all, except the two first years, it has never failed to ripen its fruit and 

 seeds, so that it may be now considered decidedly acclimated. The compost used by me for growing 

 the Cactus opuntia is the following : one half is carbonate of lime, for which lime-rubbish from old 

 buildings will answer ; the remaining half consists of equal portions of London clay and peat-earth, hav- 

 ing the acid neutralised by barilla : these arc intimately blended and sifted. One square yard of this 

 compost I conceive to be sufficient for one plant, which must be placed in the middle of a small artificial 

 hillock, raised eighteen inches above the surface of the ground, which ground should be rendered per- 

 fectly dry, if not naturally so, by under-draining. Neither the leaves, flowers, nor fruit should ever be 

 suffered to touch the ground, but they should, as constantly as they are produced, be kept from the 

 earth by placing stones, pebbles, flints, or bricks under them, in imitation of artificial rock-work." {Hort. 

 Trans. 238.) 



5973. The torch-thistle, or ujmght cereus, of which there are four species which bear 

 edible fruit, and the slrawberry-jiear [C. triangularis), the poire de chardon of the French, 

 may also be cultivated as fruit-bearing stove plants, in the same way as recommended 

 for the Indian fig. 



Sect. III. Exotic Fruits little known, some of which merit Cultivation for their Excellence 



or Rarity. 



5974. The introduction and cultivation of new exotic fruits may be considered as a very 

 rational and entertaining object, for such as have the means, the time, and a taste 

 for gardening. It seems to deserve the particular attention of retired persons of solitary 

 habits, aged or inactive, by presenting an end to be attained ; it may serve as a gentle 

 stimulus to such as, from indolence or bilious complaints, are apt to sink into a state 

 of torpid unenjoyed existence. A few of the plants, which we shall here enumerate, 

 have been cultivated so as to produce fruit in this country, as the granadilla, lee-chee, 

 loquat, banana, &c. ; most of the others have hitherto served only to increase the variety 

 of our stove or green-house plants. 



5975. The alcee-tree is the Blighia Sapida, H. K. {Ann. 

 Bot. 2. t. 16, 17.) Oct. Monog. L. and Sapin'di, J. {fig- 523.) 

 It is a tree rising from twenty to twenty-five feet in height, 

 with numerous branches, and alternate pinnate leaves, 

 like those of the common ash. The flowers are small, 

 white, on axillary racemes. The fruit is a pome, reddish 

 or yellow ; about the size of a goose's egg, with a pulp of 

 a grateful subacid flavor ; and in the West Indies esteemed 

 very wholesome and nourishing. It is a native of Guinea, 

 and was introduced in Jamaica in 1778, and from thence 

 brought to this country in 1793. 



5976. Propagation and culture. It may be propagated 

 from seeds, cuttings, or layers ; but as the former mode 

 would prolong the period of culture for fruit, and the two 

 latter produce but weak plants, the better plan would be to 

 order a few trees to be inoculated in Jamaica, and then sent 

 over in tubs ; these might be treated as directed for orange- 

 trees (5939.), and then planted in a border of rich earth, 

 submitted to a Jamaica climate, and flat-trained near the 

 glass. By such treatment, there can be no doubt the akee- 

 tree would in a few years produce fruit as readily as the 

 orange. 



5977. The alligator, or avocado pear, is the Laurus Per. 

 sea, L. {Pluk. Aim. t. 267. f. 1.) Ennean. Monog. L. and 

 I.aurince, B. P. It is a stove tree which, in the West In. 

 dies, grows to the height of thirty feet or upwards, with 

 a trunk as large as that of our common apple-tree. The leaves are like those of laurel, of a deep-green- 

 The flowers are produced towards the extremities of the branches. The fruit is the size of one of our 

 biggest pears, and is held in great esteem in the West Indies ; the pulp is of a pretty firm consistence, 

 and has a delicate rich flavor ; it gains upon the palate of most persons, and becomes soon agreeable even 

 to those who cannot like it at first ; but it is so rich and mild, that most people make use of some 

 spice or pungent substance, to give it a poignancy ; and for this purpose some make use of wine, some of 

 lime-juice, but most of pepper and salt. Miller, from whom the above account is extracted, cultivated 

 il in 1739. 



5978. Propagation and culture. Miller gives directions for raising the tree from seeds, which, he says, 

 may be brought over in dry sand from the countries where it is cultivated. There is nothing uncommon 

 in the process of raising, which is conducted in a hot-bed or pit; and when the plants have made their 

 summer shoots, they are removed to the stove during winter. But where it is intended to cultivate 

 this tree for its fruit, a better way would be to send to the Botanic Garden of St. Vincent's, and request 



