APRIL 1908.] 



312 



Edible Products. 



for food* is the calyx. Of rather low 

 nutritive value, thickened calyx 

 possesses excellent qualities for the 

 manufacture of jelly and alied products. 

 Preparations made from it closely 

 resemble in colour and flavour those made 

 from the cranberry. It is rathersingular 

 that its season of maturity also coincides 

 with that of the cranberry. 



In Queensland, where the culture of 

 the Roselle has in recent years assumed 

 considerable proportions, the fruit is 

 utilized largely in the manufacture of 

 jam. In the United States its principle 

 use would probably be as a substitute 

 for cranbei'ries in the household and in 

 the manufacture of jelly. 



HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHICAL 

 DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROSELLE. 



The almost total absence of literature 

 relative to the roselle ^^ntil the last two 

 decades and the lack of culture varieties 

 would seem to indicate that the culture 

 of this plant is of comparatively recent 

 origin. De Candolle. in his "Origin of 

 Cultivated Plants," 1885, does not 

 mention it. 



The writer has examined many of the 

 older works on Indian Agriculture with- 

 out finding more than one referring to 

 the roselle. This workt is devoted to 

 fibre-producing plants, which shows that 

 roselle was early cultivated for its fibre. 

 The author says, speaking of roselle, 

 okra, and Hibiscus abelmoschus : "The 

 dietical use cf these species has been 

 mentioned in order to show that if 

 cultivated on account of their fibre 

 they would also be useful for other 

 purposes " ; and it would seem from this 

 quotation that the various uses of the 

 roselle were not generally known at that 

 time. For more than thirty-five years 

 subsequent writers on Indian Agriculture 

 maintain absolute silence on the subject, 

 and Duthiet mentions the plant only 

 incidentally. Woodrow§ speaks of its 

 utility for jelly making. In India the 

 plant has been grown chiefly for its 

 fibre. It has apparently not attained 

 much importance for culinary purposes. 



The writer has been unable to obtain 

 any data relative to the introduction of 

 the roselle into the British Colonies in 

 Australia, where its cultivation evi- 

 dently is more extensive than anywhere 

 else in the world, as, according to 



* For analyses showing the food value of the 

 calyx and pod of the roselle see Farmers' Bulletin, 

 293, page 14. 



t-Royle, J. F.— Fibrous Plants of India, 1855, 

 p. 260. 



JDuthie, J, F.— Field and Garden Crops of 

 North- Western Provinces and Oudh, 1893. 

 § Woodrow.M,— Gardening in India, 1899, p. 183, 



Semler,* two large preserving factories 

 utilizing the roselle were in operation in 

 Queensland in 1892. Shinnt refers to 

 roselle jam as being shipped to Europe 

 in large quantities. 



The Queensland Agricultural Journal, 

 volume 6, page 371, published in l!)00, 

 contains the longest treatise on the 

 roselle that has come to the attention of 

 the writer. Its brevity,, it being less 

 than five pages in length and containing 

 no reference to any previous literature, 

 presupposes the recent development of 

 the industry there. In Queensland the 

 calyces are mainly utilized in the manu- 

 facture of jam, but are also, according 

 to the article cited, well adapted for 

 pickles, while the writer also calls 

 attention to the fact that the roselle 

 can be propagated from cuttings, and 

 that such plants bear fruit when earlier 

 and more vigorous seedlings bear little 

 or noue. The seed is sown in October 

 in Queensland. 



The roselle is hardly mentioned in the 

 horticultural literature of the West 

 Indies, indicating that it is an object of 

 indifference there. It was probably 

 introduced from India before 1855, as 

 Royle| in a work published that year 

 says that it is there called " red sorrel." 



In Hawaii the roselle, although intro- 

 duced long ago, has not received much 

 attention. 



Eleven or twelve years ago a Mr. 

 Naustadt, of San Francisco, imported 

 seed from Queensland, and the plant 

 was tested and seed subsequently distri- 

 buted in California by the Agricultural 

 Experimental Station of that State. 

 The plant received much favourable 

 comment there from those who tested it 

 at that time.§ Later literature is 

 silent on the subject. 



The name in florida, "Jamaica sorrel," 

 is evidently an indication that the plant 

 was introduced from Jamaica — at what 

 date the writer has been unable to 

 ascertain — but it was probably not 

 extensively grown in Florida before 1887, 

 as P. W- Reasoned does not refer to it. 

 ilarcout|| does not speak of it. 



In Florida, as in California, those who 

 have tried the roselle have nothing but 

 praise for the plant, and considerable 

 interest in it is manifest, but its culture 



*Semler, H. — Tropische Agriculture, 1892, 

 p. 391. 



t Report of the California Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, 1896-97, p. 382. 



JRoyle, J. F.— Fibrous Plants of India, 1855, 

 p. 260. 



§ Report of the California Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, 1897-98 p. 236, 



IT Bull. 1, Division of Pomology U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture, 1887. 



II Harcourt H.— Florida Fruits, 1896. 



