376 



THE TROPICAL FRUIT STOVE. 



from whence, after much trouble and expense, it was introduced into the 

 \Yest Indian islands, where it was expected to turn out of good account 

 as a nutritious food for the black population. The latter tree is plentiful 

 in the West Indies, and produces abundance of fi'uit, and is altogether 

 much more patient of cultivation. The fruit of the true bread-fruit tree 

 is about the size and shape of a child's head, and curiously reticulated on 

 the exterior, somewhat like a truffle. The skin is thin, between which 

 and the core, (which latter is about the size of one's finger) lies the pulp 

 or edible part, which is pure white, and of much the appearance and con- 

 sistency of new bread. It requires to be baked or roasted before it is 

 eaten, and its taste resembles that of new bread mixed with Jerusalem 

 artichokes. 



We are surprised that these extraordinary trees should remain so rare 

 in Britain, when it is well known that both sorts might be imported, with 

 little trouble or expense, from St. Vincent's or Jamaica. We wish some 

 spirited amateur cultivator would introduce some of both kinds, and 

 give them a fair trial in a house dedicated to the production of Tropical 

 Fruits. 



We are informed that the largest specimen of Atrocarpus incisa in 

 Britain is in the Chatsworth collection. In such estabhshments only are 

 we to expect to see this extraordinary fruit brought to perfection. 



It is probable that neither of these will ever produce their fruit in this 

 country, as they attain a large size and considerable age before they fruit 

 even in the tropics. They would, however, be highly ornamental, on 

 account of their fine foliage, and, in a collection of Tropical Fruit trees, 

 quite indispensable. 



THE EARTH NUT {AracMs Jiypogoso). 



This plant is cultivated extensively in South CaroHna, where the seeds 

 are used as chocolate. In the neighbourhood of Paris it is raised on 

 hotbeds, and afterwards transplanted into the open garden, where it ripens 

 its seeds, which are used as other legumes. It has been cultivated in the 

 gardens of the Hon. Kobert Fulke Greville, by sowing the seeds singly in 

 pots about the month of February in a pine stove ; when the plants have 

 attained the height of half a foot they are turned out of the pots and 

 planted in the tan bedj in a row, close to the kerb, w^here they form a 

 ixretty edging, and do not attain a height to shade or interfere with the 

 jrines. The pods ripen in autumn, when they are taken out of the tan 

 and diied, and are found to be as good as those grown in the tropics. 



