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Pomona College Journal of .Economic Botany 



nand of Cannes, and M. Viviand-Morcl, editor of the Lyon-Horticole, that this 

 fruit can ever be established on a commercial basis in France. 



My data in regard to the Feijoa in France and other European countries, and 

 some of the illustrations presented herewith, are the result of the investigations 

 of my brother, Paul B. Poj)enoe, who devoted a month to the study of the subject, 

 in the interests of the West India Gardens. 



The Riviera has proved to be well adapted to the culture of the Feijoa. Al- 

 though the winters are cold, the temperature sometimes getting as low as ten 

 degrees (Fahr.) above zero, unprotected plants are not injured, and produce 

 abundantly. The twenty-year-old plant at Villa Colombia, Golfe-Juan, brought 

 bv Dr. Andre from South America, is iu)w an immense busli, fifteen feet in height, 

 covering a space of ground eighteen feet in diameter, and with a trunk eight inches 

 thick at the base. The crop is estimated by M. Clement Nabonnand at two thou- 

 sand fruits. The winds coming from the Mediterranean frequently blow off part 

 of the fruit before it is mature, and although it can be ripened in the house, it is 

 not as good as though allowed to reach full maturity on the tree. 



One of the most successful cultivators of tlie Feijoa is Alfred Rivier, chef 

 du culture at Villa Valmer, near Marseilles. The plants grown by M. Rivier are 

 seedlings from Andre's bush, and are even better than the parent. Among other 

 successful growers may be mentioned Abel Ciorre at Mcnton, who grows both the 

 Andre and Besson types; Francois Mangan, also at Mcnton, and Dr. Robertson- 

 Proehowsky, the well known systematic botanist at Nice. Occasional bearing 

 plants are found in tlie gardens along the Riviera in Italy as well as in France. 

 There are also a few in Spain. 



M. Viviand-Morel believes that the Feijoa will in time take an important 

 place among the commercial fruits, not only on the Mediterranean coast, but also 

 in Provence, and the South and West of France. Certainly there is no reason why 

 it should not do so, other than tlie difficulty in establishing any new fruit upon a 

 commercial basis, and althougii progress toward such a state has been anything 

 but rapid, it is to be hoped that the horticulturists of southern France will devote 

 more attention to the Feijoa in the future than they have in the past. 



The Feijoa in England 



As a fruiting shrub, the Feijoa does not seem to be a success in England, but 

 its cultivation in a limited way as an ornamental is possible, and this alone speaks 

 volumes for the hardiness of the plant. The following extract is taken from an 

 article on the subject by A. C. Bartlett, published in the Gardeners' Chronicle 

 (Ser. 3, XLVIII, p. 242) : "The best plants I have seen were grown in yellow 

 loam, and were trained against a southern wall. Under these conditions the spe- 

 cies made fine, healthy branches. They require liberal waterings during hot, dry 

 weather, until the beginning of August, from which time attention should be paiu 

 toward ripening the growth already- made; otherwise the plant is almost certain to 

 be injured by the first heavy frosts. Although the natural habit of the Feijoa is 

 that of a shrub or small tree, there are few places in these islands where it could 

 be grown in this way with any likelihood of success, therefore the protection of a 



