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THE TROPICAL FRUIT STOVE. 



COCOA-NUT TREE (Cocos nuciferd). 



This magnificent East Indian palm grows to a great height in its native 

 country. It is by no means rare in botanical collections in Europe, nor 

 are its uses and history unfamiliar. The follo^Ying is the mode of culture 

 recommended in the Encij. of Gard., as the most Ukely to induce it to 

 produce its fruit in this country : — " The nuts are to be planted where 

 they are designed to remain, as the tree will not bear transplanting unless 

 very young. In a moist heat they will push in six weeks or two months. 

 To cultivate for fruit, plant in the centre of the area of a house, twenty- 

 five feet wide, and either lofty or with a moveable roof, which will admit 

 of being raised as the tree advances in height. In this way, with a strong 

 heat, there can be no doubt this tree would produce fruit in England ; 

 but even if it did not, or did not for a great many years, the magni- 

 ficence of its appearance, under such a mode of treatment, would com- 

 pensate a curious horticulturist for the labour and expense. Though 

 the cocoa-nuts to be obtained in shops are supposed to be gathered before 

 they are ripe, yet they have been found to grow with no other care than 

 planting in a large pot or box in rich earth, and plunging in a bark bed. 



It may be observ ed here that this is almost the only palm that could be 

 cultivated in this country for perfecting its fruit : for the others being 

 dioecious plants, unless a great number were grown together, there would 

 be no legitimate means of impregnating the female blossom." — {See Palm 

 Stove.) 



THE JAMROSADE, OR ROSE APPLE (Eugenia jambos). 



This is a well-known inhabitant of our stoves, and was cultivated so 

 early as 1768 by the celebrated Phillip Miller. It is a native of the East 

 Indies, and attains the height of from twenty to thirty feet. The fruit 

 is about as large as a hen's egg, and rose-scented, in flavour much re- 

 sembling a ripe apricot. It appears that there are several varieties of this 

 fruit, differing in size and colour — a circumstance easily imagined, as we 

 find it to be the case in most fruits that are esteemed or have been long 

 cultivated, particularly from seeds, as by that means new varieties are 

 perpetually originating, as may be instanced in the case of the apple, 

 pear, and our other domestic fruits. The late Professor Thouin, of the 

 Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, cultivated a white variety very successfully 

 for several years. By his experiments it would appear that the plants 

 require a high temperature and moist atmosphere, for all his endeavours 

 to harden them by exposure, even diuing summer, failed. 



