-1. 



approach grafting. When the plants had been grafted a month we began to sever them from the 

 parent tree ; this was done very gradually, the cut being deepened a little each week, and at the end of 

 three months the plants were laken from the tree and it was found that union had perfectly taken 

 place. It may be interesting to those who have not seen the tree to have a short description of it. 

 The following is taken from the " Treasury of Botany :" — " The Mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostana) 

 so well known for its luscious fruit, is found in the Malay Islands, where it grows to a tree of 

 middling stature with a conical head, the branches furnished with glossy leathery elliptical oblong 

 pointed leaves, and the flowers single and nearly sessile at the ends of the twigs, of a dull red colour, 

 and as larg« as dog-roses. Dr. Abel, writing of the fruits of Batavia, says : ' First in beauty and 

 flavour was the celebrated Mangosteen. This, so often eulogised by travellers, certainly deserves much 

 of the praise bestowed upon it. It is of a spherical form, of the size of a small orange, when ripe 

 reddish brown, and when old of a chestnut-brown colour. Its succulent rind is nearly the fourth of 

 an inch in thickness. It contains a very powerful astringent juice, and in wet weather exudes a yellow 

 gum which is a variety of Gamboge. On removing the rind, its esculent substance appears in the 

 form of a juicy pulp having the whiteness and solubility of snow, and of a refreshing, delicate, deli- 

 cious flavour. We were all anxious to carry away with us some precise expression of its qualities ; 

 but after satisfying ourselves that it partook of the compound taste of pine-apple and peach, we were 

 obliged to confess it had many other equally good but utterly inexpressible qualities.' Any amount of 

 the fruit may be eaten without injury, and it is said to be given to those afflicted with fever along with 

 the sweet Orange." 



The tree hus not proved fruitful at Castleton, but I think that is due mainly to the poorness of 

 the soil, and when a little manure can be scraped together there are so many things in need of it that 

 the larger pla its like the Mangosteen, &c, are generally overlooked. The Mangosteen undoubtedly 

 requires good treatment. The tree which fruited in 1885 received a heavy dressing of manure about 

 nine months previously, and it had several applications of liquid manure. The tree which is now fruit- 

 ing had also a heavy dressing of rich manure mixed with fresh soil about seven or eight months ago. 



The " Jew Plum" (Spondias dulcis, Forst.) is called Mangosteen in some parts of Jamaica, but 

 this is an entirely different tree from Garcinia Mangostana. W. Harris. 



SILKY OAK. (Grevillea robusta.) 



The natural order Proteaceae includes a number of genera of very handsome plants, presenting 

 great diversity of appearance Grevillea is considered the handsomest genus of the order and it con- 

 tains a large number of species, but the only one grown in Jamaica is Grevillea robusta, Cunn. It is a 

 native of Australia, where it attains a height of 100 feet, with a girth of 8 feet, and is called the (i Silky 

 Oak" by the colonists. It is well known in Jamaica as an ornamental foliage plant, and as such is 

 highly prized. Its finely cut foliage resembles some of our ferns and, indeed, it is an excellent sub- 

 stitute for ferns for decorating churches, &c. The trees of Grevillea which we are accustomed to see 

 seldom exceed 15 or 20 feet in height, and until quite recently, as far as I am aware, it had not pro- 

 duced its light clusters of handsome flowers in Jamaica, so that we have not been able to form an ade- 

 quate idea of the beauty of the tree. Now, however, thanks to the care of the Revd. H. H. Isaacs, 

 M.A., a tree 40 feet in height, with a girth of 3 feet 1 inch at 6 inches from the ground, has 

 flowered at St, Andrew's Rectory. Mr. Isaacs informs me that he obtained the plant from the Castleton 

 Botanic Gardens seven years ago. It was then, of course, little more than a seedling in a bamboo pot, 

 and if we take into consideration the fact that the Rectory is an exposed situation, at an elevation of 

 only 380 feet above the sea. with an annual mean temperature of 78 c .7 Fah. it must be admitted that 

 the plant has made good progress. The soil at the Rectory is of a poor gravelly nature, and to enable 

 plants to thrive in it thorough and deep cultivation is necessary, with frequent additions of rotten sta- 

 ble manure and a liberal supply of water. That this treatment has agreed with the Grevillea is proved 

 by the splendid specimen in Mr. Isaacs' garden. W. Harris. 



OCCASIONAL NOTES. 



On a late visit to the Parish of St. Elizabeth there were two subjects that especially interested me — 

 the question of hay-making and the attention now devoted to the care of young logwood. 



Very little hay is made in Jamaica. Freshly cut Guinea grass (Panicum jumentorum) is given to 

 horses and stock, or the cattle are put out into pastures. The remark was made to me that dry grass in 

 the field was just as good as hay in the stable. But the very object of hay-making is not so much to get 

 rid of the water which the grass contains (about two-thirds of its weight), but, more important still, 

 to preserve as far as possible all the nutritious qualities of the grass, and that in the largest possible 

 quantity. If grass dries up, while growing in the fields, almost the whole of the nutritious materials 

 have been allowed to disappear. While a plant is growing, it is at the same time collecting a store of 

 materials to be used eventually in the formation of seed, and when the store has accumulated, the plant 

 flowers, the young seed-germs are formed, and the stored material begins to pass from the plant, both 

 for the purpose of completing the seed, and also into the seed as a new store-house for the future growth 

 of the young seedling. This is the reason why so many seeds, such as peas and corn, are so highly 

 nutritious. In hay-making it is extremely important to cut the grass just when it has taken up from 

 soil and air all the nutritious material it can, and just before any of this has passed away to form seed. 

 After flowering, the old leaves of grass lose their power of assimilation, and it is, generally speaking, just at 

 the period of flowering, before the seed is formed, that we get the maximum quantity of nutritious mate- 

 rial, and it follows that it is at that time that grass should be cut for hay. Wuen the grass has boon cut, 

 it ought not to be allowed to scorch, but should be kept constantly turned during the day. At night it 



