Edible Products. 



518 



[June, 1912. 



passed off the outer skin or husk can be 

 readily broken away, disclosing the 

 kernel still covered by a skin similar to 

 that of an almond, but usually a 

 greenish-grey in colour. In this form 

 the nuts are marketed, but are often 

 reroasted, and the final skin removed 

 before appearing on the dessert table, 

 and when so prepared are not only free 

 from any disagreeable acridity, but are 

 undoubtedly of a very fine flavour. 



The Cashew Apple oil or Cardole, as 

 opposed to a bland oil obtained from 

 the cured or cooked kernels, is used 

 medicinally in India, and sometimes as a 

 poison. In a nearly allied species Seme- 

 carpus anacardium— the Indian mark- 

 ing Nut— the same acrid oil is found to 

 an even greater extent. The fruit is 

 similar, but smaller and the kernel of 

 the nut very small and never used. 

 These nuts are collected and stored by 

 the Indian " dhobie " (washerman), and 

 used by him for marking clothes. The 

 top of the nut is cut off, and a pen, or 

 sharpened piece of wood, dipped into 

 the thick black semi-liquid contents, with 

 which marks made on cloth will never 

 wash out. Of the same genus are the 

 "Tar" trees of North Queensland 

 {Semecarpus australis), specimens of 

 which are to be seen on the Cairns 

 esplanade. These trees exude a similar 

 black aciid matter (hence the colloquial 

 name) not only from the nuts, but also 

 from the bark, roots, and leaves, but 

 which apparently is rather less oily in 

 nature than that of the edible Cashew 

 Nut. 



The fruit of these Tar trees is similar in 

 shape and form to the true Cashew Nut, 

 though smaller, but the " tar " is exactly 

 similar in effect to the oil of the nut, 

 and many instances are on record where 

 children have been more or less seriously 

 affected by inadvertent contact with it 

 on some part of the body. Blindness is 

 said to be the inevitable result of a 

 particle of this sap getting into the eye, 

 and at the Yarrabah Aboriginal Mission 

 Station, where the aboriginal boys on 

 hot nights sometimes prefer to sleep in 

 the openi it is stated that they have been 



affected with an irritation of the skin 

 by merely sleeping on the ground under 

 these trees. 



The trees are evergreen, rough barked, 

 and often crooked and knotted. They 

 prefer sandy soil, and hence are often 

 found on or near the seashore. The 

 fruit of this species is sufficiently un- 

 usual to generally attract attention, and 

 a word of warning against allowing 

 children to bite or play with the green 

 or raw nuts under the fruit of the edible 

 species, and against even touching any 

 part whatever of the indigenous Aus- 

 tralian species, may not come amiss, and 

 may save a great deal of inconvenience 

 and pain. 



THE CUSTARD APPLE (ANONA 

 SQUAMOSA) IN MAURITIUS. 



(Prom the Journal d' Agriculture tropi- 

 cale, lie annee, No. 121, pp. 197-195 

 Paris, 1911.) 



By M. De Sornay. 



(Bulletin oj the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Intelligence and of Plant- Diseases, 



2nd Year— Numbers 8, 9, 10. 

 August-September-October 1911.) 



The custard apple (Anona squamosa) 

 is a fruit very much sought after for its 

 exquisite flavour. It has an agreeble 

 aroma and is classified among the best in 

 Mauritius, 



These fruits may attain a diameter of 

 5 to 12 cm. (2 to 5 inches) according to the 

 conditions under which they grow. The 

 fruit is spherical, areolar and covered 

 with round, sometimes bulky, tubercles. 



They present different appearances, 

 and it may be observed that sometimes 

 the contour of the areoles is pink, some- 

 times white, while the general tint is 

 yellowish green. 



This tint varies with the climatic con- 

 ditions of the locality. The black spots 

 which often colour these tubercles are 

 most probably due to insect stings. The 

 mesocarp or pulp is white and its pro- 

 portion varies. 



The plants are sown in beds and after- 

 wards transplanted in well manured 



