24 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[July  x,  1892 . 
The  mangosteen  is  a fruit  about  the  size  of  a man- 
darin orange,  of  a sweet  flavour,  accompanied  with 
a slight  acidity,  and  an  odour  resembling  the  rasp- 
berry. It  is  the  produce  of  Garcinia  mangostana, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  delicious  and  famous  of  the 
fruits  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  ranking  with  the 
pineapple.  Presents  of  baskets  of  it  are  sent  from 
Singapore  to  India  and  China.  It  is  a pleasant  fruit, 
with  a delicate  but  characteristic  flavour,  partaking 
of  the  strawberry,  grape,  pine-apple,  and  peach. 
The  happy  mixture  of  tart  and  sweet  in  the  pulp'renders 
it  no  less  salutary  than  pleasant ; and  it  is  the  only  fruit 
which  sick  people  are  allowed  to  eat  without  scruple. 
In  Cochin  Ohina  they  sell  at  4s.  to  5s.  the  100. 
The  jiomalo  (Citrus  decmnana)  is  a large  fruit  of 
the  orange  family,  with  an  acid  flavour,  frequently 
bitter.  The  pulp  and  thick  rind,  crystallised  with 
sugar,  are  eatable,  but  lose  much  of  their  natural 
flavour.  It  is  better  known  as  the  shaddock  ; and  the 
fruit  will  exceptionally  attain  a weight  of  20  pounds. 
The  Mammea  Apple  (. Mammea  Americana)  is  abun- 
dant in  the  West  Indies.  The  pulp  is  of  a sweet, 
aromatic  smell,  aud  of  a peculiar,  yet  delicious  fla- 
vour. It  is  sometimes  sliced  and  eaten  with  sugar 
or  wine,  and  also  makes  a very  good  jam,  by  being 
preserved  in  sugar.  Another  tropical  fruit,  the  Mam- 
mea sapota.  is  known  as  American  marmalade,  from 
the  similarity  of  the  flavour  of  the  pulp  to  the  mar- 
malade made  from  quinces. 
The  succulent  fruits  of  Cicca  disticha  have  an  acid 
sweet  flavour,  and  are  eaten  cooked,  or  made  into 
preserve. 
The  green,  fleshy,  gratefully  acid  fruits  of  Averrhoa 
Bilimbe  and  A.  Carambola  are  preserved,  and  used 
for  tarts,  and  for  flavouring  various  dishes. 
The  Comquat,  or  Kumquat  (Citrus  japonica).  An 
excellent  preserve  is  made  from  the  sweet  peel  and 
acid  pulp  of  this  curious,  small  nutmeg-shaped  orange 
in  China  and  Japan. 
The  red  berries  of  Carissa  carandas  furnish  a well- 
known  substitute  for  red  currant  jelly,  in  India  and 
China. 
The  Peruvian  cherimoyer  (Anona  cherimolia)  is  a 
highly  esteemed  succulent  fruit,  of  a most  luscious 
flavour,  containing  a soft  sweet  mucilage,  resemb- 
ling strawberries  and  cream.  It  is  often  called  the 
“Queen  of  Fruits.” 
The  mango,  the  mangosteen,  the  custard-apple,  and 
the  durian,  are  known  by  repute  only  to  the  people 
of  this  country ; but  while  they  might  easily  be 
frozen  and  brought  here  in  admirable  condition — 
dishes  fit  for  the  gods— no  attempt  is  made  to  utilise 
these  luscious  fruits  of  India  in  their  fresh  state, 
nor  is  very  much  done  in  preserving  them. 
The  durian  (Duris  zibethinus),  although  it  has  a 
strong  offensive  smell,  is  eaten  greedily  by  the  Bur- 
mese, and  as  many  as  40,000  are  annually  sent  to 
Upper  Burma. 
The  mango  ( Mangifera  indica)  is  the  best  fruit 
in  India,  as  highly-valued  as  the  peach  with  us,  and 
forms  a considerable  portion  of  the  food  of  large 
classes  of  the  native  inhabitants.  The  varieties  cul- 
tivated are  about  as  numerous  as  are  those  of  the 
apple.  An  Indian  gentleman  has  made  coloured 
illustrations  of  more  than  200  varieties  of  this  fruit. 
The  quality  is  difficult  to  judge  of  from  external 
appearance.  There  are  large  and  small,  elongated 
and  abbreviated,  bright  orange-coloured  and  green. 
They  vary  much  in  taste,  some  being  of  the  flavour 
of  honey,  some  of  pineapple,  some  of  orange,  while 
others  have  distinct  flavours  of  their  own.  A good 
mango  should  be  as  little  stringy,  as  possible,  and  should 
not  have  too  much  of  the  turpentine  flavour  towards 
where  it  is  attached  to  the  foot-stalk ; a moderately 
aromatic  savour  there  is  by  no  means  objectionable. 
The  young  unripe  fruit  are  largely  consumed  in  India 
in  tarts,  &c.,  and  mango-fool  there  takes  the  place  of 
gooseberry-fool.  The  half-ripe  fruits  are  also  made  into 
a marmalade  which  resembles  much  that  of  apples. 
So  large  is  the  consumption  of  this  fruit  in  India 
that  waggon  loads,  bringing  collectively  twenty  tons 
of  the  fruit,  have  entered  the  Island  of  Bombay  in 
a single  day.  The  fruit  of  the  finest  mangoes  have 
a rich,  sweet-perfumed  flavour,  accompanied  by  a 
grateful  acidity. 
The  thick  juice  is  by  the  natives  of  India  squeezed 
out,  spread  on  plates,  and  allowed  to  dry,  in  order 
to  form  the  thin  cakes  known  as  amsatta.  The  green 
fruit  is  sliced  aud  cooked  in  curry ; is  made  into 
pickle  with  salt,  mustard,  oil,  and  chillies;  and  also 
into  preserves  and  jams  by  being  boiled  and  cooked 
in  syrup.  Some  varieties  of  mango  have  fruits  as 
big  as  an  infant’s  head,  ovate,  with  a golden  skin, 
speckled  with  a carmine,  and  a greengage  flavour. 
The  finest  varieties  of  this  almost  unequalled  fruit 
seem  to  thrive  in  Jamaica  (where  it  was  introduced 
about  a century  ago),  as  well  as  in  Bombay.  It  is 
the  popular  fruit  there  with  the  negroes. 
The  Siam  mango  is  a tolerable  kind,  which  some- 
times grows  to  one  pound  weight.  The  egg-mango 
is  a small,  yellow  kind,  with  too  much  of  the  tur- 
pentine flavour,  and  too  acidulous  to  be  much  prized. 
The  horse-mango  is  a very  coarse  fruit  of  unpleasant 
odour,  much  eaten  by  the  lower  classes,  and  produ- 
cing cholera,  diarrhoea,  and  dysentery.  The  Bombay 
mango,  termed  ‘‘Parsee,"  is  known  for  its  luscious- 
ness and  delicacy  of  flavour,  the  absence  of  fibre, 
firmness  of  flesh,  thinness  of  skin,  and  small  size 
of  the  stone.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that 
on  tasting  this  delicious  fruit  for  the  first  time, 
a slight  turpentine  flavour  is  experienced. 
A raw  guava,  or  even  a raw  mango,  may  not  be, 
to  every  Englishman's  palate,  a satisfactory  exchange 
for  a mellow  pear  or  a juicy  peach,  but  preserved 
mango  and  guava  jelly  are  things  by  no  means  to 
be  despised.  Some  of  these  preserved  foreign  fruits 
are  delicacies  only  to  be  obtained  at  some  of  the 
best  West-end  houses,  at  prices  too  high  for  ordinary 
consumers ; but  if  large  quantities  were  sent  into  the 
market,  and  the  prices  consequently  lowered,  the 
demand  would  become  greater,  aud  the  sale  more 
profitable,  and  would  probably  lead  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  articles,  to  the  mutual  benefit  both  of 
ourselves  and  the  growers  and  preserves  of  the  fruits. 
Mango  jam  is  prepared  by  boiling  the  mango  in 
syrup,  after  removing  the  skins  and  stones,  and  the 
sour  juice  squeezed  out  by  the  free  use  of  forks,  and 
soaking  in  fresh  water.  Two  pounds  of  mango  to 
one  pound  of  sugar,  is  the  proportion  in  which  it  is 
prepared. 
Bilimbi  jam  is  made  by  removing  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  the  juice  of  the  fruits  of  Averrhoa  bilimbi, 
and  soaking  in  water,  squeezing  the  fruit  and  boiling 
them  in  syrup.  Nelli  jam,  from  the  fruit  oiPhyllan- 
tlius  embelica,  is  made  in  the  same  manner ; propor- 
tion of  fruit  and  sugar  same  as  mango. 
From  Natal,  there  have  been  shown  at  the  vari- 
ous exhibitions,  Amatungula  jam,  the  produce  of  the 
fruit  of  Arduina  grandiflora,  sometimes  called  the 
Natal  plum.  This  jam  is  firm,  nearly  like  that  of 
the  quince,  and  has  a rough  acid  flavour ; but  is  a 
curious  and  agreeable  preserve. 
The  gooseberry  jelly  from  there  is  the  produce  of 
Physalis  pubescens.  It  is  pleasantly  sharp,  without 
having  the  rough,  metal  like  acid  of  the  amatungula. 
The  guava  jelly  has  the  full  taste  of  the  West  In- 
dian preserve.  The  pineapple  jam  has  the  rich, 
almost  too-luscious,  taste  for  which  the  Natal  pines 
are  famed.  The  loquat  is  a very  sweet  and  fine  pre- 
serve, slightly  resembling  quince  marmalade,  but 
with  less  pronounced  individual  flavour.  The  fruit 
is  very  delicious  in  its  unpreserved  ripe  state,  having 
the  flavour  of  an  apple  grafted  upon  the  flesh  of 
the  melting  peach,  with  large  apple  pips  taking  the 
place  of  the  stone,  and  ripening  in  massive  bunches. 
Like  the  peach,  the  fruit  is  almost  too  delicate  for 
a preserve.  Its  most  refined  and  exqusite  qualities 
do  not  survive  the  bath  of  boiling  sugar.  The  rosella 
is  the  preserved  fruits  or  calyces  of  the  Hibiscus 
sabdariffa,  which  makes  a most  estimable  substitute  for 
red  currant  jelly,  particularly  relished  in  hot  climates. 
The  grenadilla,  the  purple  fruit  of  a passion-flower 
(Passifiora  edulis),  is  almost  without  a rival  for  de- 
licate fragrance  and  perfume,  has  a sweetish  acid 
taste,  an  makes  excellent  preserve.  The  St.  Helena 
peach  resembles,  in  the  preserved  state,  a very  ex- 
cellent yellow  plum.  The  shaddock  marmalade  might 
also  be  spoken  of  as  a worthy  substitute  for  the  Se- 
ville orange  marmalade. — Journal  of  the  Society 
of  Arts, 
