335 



FRUITS IN PORTO RICO. 



The following notes are taken from the Report of the Porto Rico 

 Agricultural Station for 1907. 



"Barbados Cherry (Malpighict glabra). This fruit is proving of 

 considerable merit for making jellies and has the advantage that it 

 bears several crops each year. On the station grounds the trees thus 

 far have borne one heavy and two light crops during the year." 



The Barbados Cherry, is a small but rather pretty tree with pink 

 flowers and a fruit resembling a small whiteheart cherry. It grow T s 

 well here but never fruits heavily- Perhaps it might do better in dryer 

 parts of the peninsula. 



° Otaheite goose-berry. (Phyllanthus disticha). This fruit has 

 also been shown to produce a very excellent deep wine colored jelly 

 and like the Barbados cherry produces abundant crops several times 

 during the year thus making a very valuable household tree." 



Phyllanthus disticha is the tree known here has Poko Malakka 

 and the town of Malacca takes its name from this tree. It is a fairly 

 large and handsome tree with fine feathery foliage, and a red stem. 

 The fruits are globular about half an inch through with a large stone 

 inside. The flesh is acid and green. It is occasionally used in curries 

 here but is not very commonly so used. A native tree here it fruits 

 very heavily and the ground is often strewed w 7 ith its fruits. It is one of 

 the fruits that it is quite neglected here and certainly might be used in 

 making preserves. 



" Anona cherimolia has fruited during the year, while the fruits 

 were small they were of excellent quality." The cherimoyer a native 

 of Peru has frequently been introduced to the Straits Settlements, 

 but has never grown a single fruit, indeed it is said never to have fruited 

 in Java or elsewhere in the east, which is regrettable as it is perhaps 

 the best of all Anonas. 



" Rose-Apple. Eugenia jambos. A new use has been found for 

 this fruit. When mixed with other fruits in making jellies or preserves 

 it is found that it gives to the product a delicate rose flavour that is 

 very agreeable." 



This jambu is the white one with narrow leaves and white flowers. 

 It grows very well in the Straits Settlements and flow T ers well, but 

 seldom fruits, so much so that fruits imported from Rhio are quite ex- 

 pensive. The commonly grown Jambus here viz. Eugenia Malaccense, 

 Jambu Bol, and Eugenia aquar, Jambu Ayer Mawer, possess too little 

 of the rose water flavour to be used in this way. The Jambu bol is 

 however preserved in syrup and colored red with Hibiscus flowers makes 

 a popular, but rather flavourless preserve. 



H. N. R. 



SIZE OF RUBBER-SEED. 



The Ceylon circular on the effect of tapping on seeds by Messrs 

 Macmillan and Petch is very interesting, especially as it does not seem 

 to be borne out at all by the phenomena here. It is stated that it is 

 obvious that the seeds of the tapped trees were smaller than those of 

 untapped trees. Now the seeds from the trees in the Singapore Botanic 



