EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



Macadamia Ternifo/ia, F. M., or " Queensland Nut." 



A NUT TREE SUITED TO CEYLON. 



By H. F. Macmillan. 

 The Queensland Nut is well worthy of cultivation in Ceylon, not only as an 

 ornamental or windbelt-tree, but also for its dainty product. That it is suited to our 

 climate may be judged from the growth of the tree at Peradeniya, where, having 

 been introduced in 1868, it is now 40 to 50 feet high, with a spreading habit. It is indi- 

 genous to the north-eastern parts of Australia, and is commonly known there as the 

 " Queensland Nut." It has also been referred to as the " Australian Hazel-nut," 

 whilst the late Baron von Mueller described it as "The nut tree of sub-tropical 

 Eastern Australia." The tree is at first of a rather slow growing habit, but begins 

 to bear fruit when six or seven years old, increasing in fertility till it reaches 

 an age of 15 years. 



A writer in the " Sydney Mail " some time ago stated that the tree fruited 

 freely from the time it was eight years old, bearing at the age of thirteen 1,200 nuts, 

 with which every branch was laden. Mr. W. J. Allen, in the Agricultural Gazette 

 of N. S. Wales for October of last year, draws attention to the importance of grow- 

 ing the Queensland Nut for the market. One farmer, he states, " has over an acre of 

 these nuts, which are doing well with him, and which prove themselves very profit- 

 able, finding ready sale for them at from 6c£. to Id. per lb. The nuts are retailed in the 

 Sydney fruit shops at Is. per lb., and are very well liked when they become known. At 

 present the supply in our own State cannot be anything like equal to the demand, 

 and it seems to me that if these nuts were produced in quantities, we should be able 

 to find a ready sale for large supplies in Great Britain and America." Mr. Allen 

 describes the nut as "one of the best flavoured on the market," and he would 

 recommend all those who have not tasted them to buy a few and try them. 



The nuts are borne on spikes 4 to 7 inches long, each being of the size and 

 shape of large marbles, about f of an inch in diameter. These have an agreeable 

 flavour, which according to some tastes is richer than that of the Hazel-nut. Their 

 chief objection is, perhaps, their very hard shell, which requires extra strong nut 

 crackers to break. A wag has suggested that this explains the derivation of the name 

 " Macadam," having reference to the inventor of the system of road-making of that 

 name. The tree, however, has been named in honour of Dr. Macadam, a scientist 

 of Victoria. 



The tree belongs to the order of Protosceae, to which belongs also the well- 

 known Grevillea or "Silky Oak." It is evergreen, with a low branching habit; 

 thrives best in good deep soil, and is propagated by seed. The leaves are in whorls 

 of 3 (ternate) or 4, as the name indicates, and the flowers are creamy white, in 

 racemes 4 to 6 inches in length, and sweet-scented. 



It is not generally known how largely nuts of different kinds figure in the 

 list of commercial fruits and food products of the world. Some nuts afford a very 

 wholesome diet, as for example Chestnuts, which, being made into flour, are a 

 standard article of food in some districts of Southern France and Italy, whence, it is 

 said, 30,000,000 bushels are exported to England and America every year. In Spain 

 and elsewhere the cultivation and export of Hazel nuts form a considerable 

 industry, whilst the Pecan, Hickory, and Walnuts are all largely cultivated and of 



