November, 1911.] 



ill 



Edible Products- 



when well-grown are all that could be 

 desired in a perfect banana. 



Papaws, or Tree Melons. 

 These large fleshy fruits, which are 

 oblong or round in shape, with a hollow 

 centre, are much relished by most 

 people. The soft fleshy pulp is entirely 

 devoid of fibre, and is considered to have 

 valuable peptic properties. It is especi- 

 ally useful as a constituent of fruit 

 salads. 



Mangoes. 

 The cultivation of the best varieties 

 of these— the Fruit of the East — should 

 be encouraged, whilst all inferior varie- 

 ties should, if practicable, be destroyed. 

 The best manaroes can hardly be sur- 

 passed as a fruit, but the common sorts 

 which are so much consumed by the 

 poorer classes in a half- ripened condition 

 are considered to be the cause of a good 

 deal of sickness and blood impurities. 

 Thete are many first-rate varieties that 

 are well worth growing, which are too 

 numerous to mention. Only grafted 

 plants obtained from a reliable source 

 should be planted. The " Rupee Mango " 

 is a distinct local variety which thrives 

 in the moist low-country. It bears large 

 roundish luscious fruits which are free of 

 fibre, and is remarkable for its power of 

 propagating true from seed. 



Oranges. 



Excellent oranges are sometimes met 

 with in the low-country, and also up- 

 country, but the best reach the markets 

 only in rare instances. Though we do 

 not appear to have the ideal climate for 

 rare oranges, yet there are some excellent 

 acclimatized varieties which may be 

 growD in the low-country to great 

 perfection. 



Mangosteen. 



This delicate and general favourite 

 may be considered rather as a fancy 

 fruit, first because of the price usually 

 demanded for it, and secondly, because 

 it contains so little that is edible. The 

 tree thrives best in deep well-drained, 

 but moist soil. It is a slow-grower, and 

 takes seven to eight years to bear fruit. 



Sapodilla, Naseebery, or Chiku. 



A round or oblong fruit, of the size of 

 a small apple or a hen's egg, produced by 

 a small and slow-growing tree of the 

 guttah family. It is a delicious fruit 

 when perfectly ripe, of the consistency 

 of a pear, and is well-worth growing in 

 the low-couutry. The tree is grown 

 more or less commonly in Bengal, and 

 the fruits are frequently palmed off in 

 the Calcutta markets as mangosteens, 

 to which, however, they have no re- 

 semblance. 

 53 



Avocadc Pear. 

 This is rather a salad than a desert 

 fruit, but is nevertheless much relished 

 by many people. It i« not grown nearly 

 so much as it deserves to be. In recent 

 years it has become a very popular 

 fruit in America, where its cultivation 

 has been much taken up in the south to 

 supply the northern markets. There 

 are many varieties recognised, but we 

 have already excellent ones in Ceylon, 

 bearing fruits weighing over 2 or 3 lb9. 

 The tree is of easy cultivation, prefer- 

 ing well-drained loamy soil on sloping 

 ground, and comes into bearing in four 

 to five years from the time of planting. 



Rambutan. 

 My selection would be incomplete 

 without this distinct fruit. But it is 

 not a tree suited to a small area, being 

 of a large spreading habit. Its burr-like 

 orange-yellow fruits are, however, orna- 

 mental as well as of a pleasant acid taste. 

 Some varieties are quite superior to 

 others, both in the quality of the fruit 

 and prolificness. 



LlTCHI, OR LlTCHEE. 



It is rather remarkable that so strik- 

 ing a fruit as this, which is a native of 

 China, has scarcely become known in 

 Ceylon yet, while it is commonly cultiv- 

 ated and appreciated in Mauritius and 

 in India. It is a much esteemed fruit in 

 its native country, whence it is exported 

 in a dried state to London and else- 

 where. 



FRUITS FOR UP-COUNTRY. 



Unfortunately English fruits, with 

 perhaps the exception of indifferent 

 strawberries, cooking pears and peaches, 

 have after repeated trials failed to 

 succeed up-country. There are, how- 

 ever, some sub-tropical kinds of quite 

 good quality which are well-worth ex- 

 tended cultivation. The following are 

 deserving of a place around every up- 

 country bungalow. The order in which 

 they are given is not, of course, intend- 

 ed to be exactly according to merit. 



Cherimoyer. 

 A delicious fruit, borne by a small 

 spreading tree of the Custard-apple 

 family. The tree grows to perfection 

 in sheltered valleys up to about 5,000 

 feet elevation. Excellent specimens may 

 be seen on Albioa Estate, near Nuwara 

 Eliya, where fruits up to 3 or 4 pounds 

 in weight are produced in profusion, 

 usually in the months of October to 

 January. 



Oranges. 



Imported grafted varieties thrive and 

 give good crops up to about 5,000 feet, 



