April  i,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIS  I‘. 
667 
Portion  may  in  time  become  valuable.  Most  of 
the  Samoan  woods  are  very  soft  and  light,  which 
aftes  becoming  well  dried,  lose  not  only  a great 
proportion  of  weight,  but  become  brittle,  and  of 
no  practical  worth  to  sustain  lateral  strain.  In 
addition  to  the.se,  there  are  several  varieties  of 
hardwoods,  such  as  the  iMtle,  talia,  pau,  ioi,  nida, 
tau,  and  the  ifi  ( Iiiocarpus  cdulis),  which  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  be  abundant.  Several  of  these 
are  beautiful,  very  hard,  and  susceptible  of  a high 
polish.  One  or  two  vaiieties  grow  to  a fine  size, 
and  are  in  request  among  the  natives  for  making 
kava  bowls — wide  shallow  vessels,  hoi  owed  out  from 
cross  sections  of  the  butt  of  the  tree,  generally 
from  18  inches  to  2 feet  in  diameter,  and  some 
times  reaching  3 ft.  6 in.  in  width.  Woods  em- 
ployed for  this  purpose  would  doubtless  cut  into 
veneers,  were  there  a demand  for  their  peculiar 
colour  and  grain  by  the  fancies  of  fashion. 
8uch,  however,  docs  not  at  present  exist,  and 
there  is  no  probability  that  the  mere  eccentricty 
of  taste  will  take  a direction  to  create  a demand. 
A large  amount  of  hard  wood  is  used  in  making 
the  common  canoe  of  the  natives.  These  are 
mere  logs,  hollowed  out,  and  the  largest  with 
rare  exceptions,  would  not  require  a log  of  more 
than  two  or  three  feet  in  diameter.  These  canoes 
are  hollow'ed  laboriously  out  of  the  log,  on  the 
ground  where  the  tree  is  felled,  being  hewn  away 
until  the  boat  is  a mere  shell  of  from  1 to 
inches  in  thicknees,  except  at  the  bow  and  stern. 
When  thus  lightened  to  a minimum,  they  are  drag- 
ged and  carried  to  the  water.  AVhile  large  trees 
are  numerous,  they  are  not  in  proportion  to  the 
extent  covered  by  the  forest,  or  to  that  common 
in  a country  of  merchantable  timber,  plentiful,  or 
found  close  together.  The  dense  character  of  the 
tropic,  forest,  the  deep  shade,  moisture,  and  heat, 
has  naturally,  in  such  a climate,  the  influence  of 
so  thickly  crowding  the  surface  with  shoots  and 
young  trees,  that  the  forest  is  a mass  of  slender 
saplings,  overcrowded  and  dense,  all  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  need  of  light  and  air,  towering 
to  reach  the  open  space  above.  In  such  a 
bush,  the  large  trees  having  attained  size  on  some 
principles  of  survival  of  the  fittest,  abound  in  ne- 
cessarily limited  abundance.  These  large  trees, 
of  nearly  all  varieties,  flare  out  at  the  butt  in 
ribs  or  inverted  brackets  until  they  cover  a spice 
at  the  surface  of  from  12  to  even  20  feet.  The 
woods  are  not  of  straight  grain,  hut  are  twisted, 
knotted,  -gnarled,  and  contorted  in  shape,  and 
this  bent  and  knotted  quality  in  the  hard  and 
tough  varieties  produces  a most  excellent  materi;  1 
for  knees  in  small  and  medium-sized  w'ooden  ves- 
sels, for  which  it  is  much  used.  In  a general 
sense,  it  is,  perhaps,  in  this  emploj'ment  th;  t 
Samoan  woods  find  their  greatest  value.  Much 
was  expected  in  years  gone  by  from  the  production 
of  fibres,  and  an  array  of  p>lants  was  cited  pro- 
ducing fibres  of  a merchantable  character.  The 
intervening  years  have  allowed  the  shipments  of 
various  samples  to  Europe  for  experiment,  but  the 
experiments  were  such  that  no  encouragement  or 
demand  followed.  The  fibre  obtained  from  the 
covering  of  the  coco'  ut  is  particulaily  the  only 
one  produce  in  the  Samoan  islands.  This  article 
is  well-known  to  commerce,  and  long  ago  took  a 
place  in  the  manufacture  of  mats,  and  to  soms  extent 
as  a substitute  for  hemp  in  twines.  In  all  coconut 
growing  countries,  it  is  of  course  abundant  in 
proportion  to  the  production  of  mats.  In  Samoa  it 
13  used  by  the  natives  in  making  all  the  twine  and 
small  rope  their  needs  require,  and  does  not  enter 
into  export — Jourmd  of  the  Socicfif^  of 
HASSAN  JACK  FRUIT. 
The  Jack-tree  of  the  East  Indies  (Artocarpus 
integrifolia)  is  a handsome  evergreen  tree  about 
60  feet  high,  the  trunk  having  a diameter  of  30 
to  40  inches.  Its  dome  of  dark  foliage,  with  the 
stem  burd#osd  with  monster  fruits,  is  perhaps  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  East  Indian 
village  surroundings.  The  yellow  timber  is  highly 
valued  for  carpentry  and  furniture,  and  takes  a 
fine  polish  ; it  becomes  beautifully  mottled  with 
time,  and  then  resembles  Mahogany.  It  also  yields 
a yellow  d3e,  little  inferior  to  fustic.  The  fruit 
yields  a very  important  article  of  food  to  the 
natives  of  the  East  Indies,  both  when  green  ns 
well  as  when  ripe.  It  is  closely  allied  to  the 
Bread-fruit  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  but  usually  is  not 
so  palatable.  Europeans  seldom  touch  it.  The  oily 
seeds,  when  roasted,  are  eaten,  and  are  said  to  re- 
s mble  Chestnuts. 
The  leaves  of  the  Jack-tree,  as  the  specific  name 
implies,  are  usually  entire.  In  exceptional  cases 
they  are  three-lobed  ; this  is  specially  a characteris- 
tic of  seedling  plants.  The  lobing  of  the  leaves 
shows  the  alhuity  of  the  Jack  to  the  Bread-fruit. 
They  both  belong  to  the  tribe  Artocarpeae  of  the 
N.  O.  Urticacese,  as  also  do  the  Figs,  which 
yield  a similar  milky  juice.  The  flowers  of 
the  jack,  produce  on  the  stem  and  older  bran- 
ches, are  monoecious — that  is,  they  apper  on  dif- 
fereirt  parts  of  the  same  plant  They  have  a 
somewhat  sweet  smell.  This  is  in  marked  contrast 
to  the  strong,  unpleasaut  odour  of  the  ripe  fruit. 
The  male  flowers  are  densely  crowded  on  the 
outside  of  a fleshy  hon.-like  central  receptacle, 
about  2 to  3 inches  long.  The  individual  flowers 
are  very  minute,  and  consist  of  a single  stamen 
and  a two-dobed  yellow  anther.  In  a section 
across  the  receptacle  the  male  flowers  are  to  Le 
seen  radiating  in  a very  regular  manner  from  the 
circumference  of  the  spongy  centre.  The  fema’e 
floivers  are  similarly  arranged,  but  on  a much  large r 
receptacle,  and  are  so  numerous  and.  thickly  crowd 
ed  as  to  form  an  oblong,  tuberculated  mass  of 
flowers  several  inches  long.  Each  female  flower 
consists  of  an  oblong,  tubular  perianth,  green  and 
contracted  at  the  mouth.  The  ovary  is  provided 
at  the  base  with  a lateral  white  style  passing 
through  the  aperture  of  the  perianth.  After  the 
ovary  is  fertilised  the  mass  (or  spadix  as  it  might 
be  called)  swells  in  all  directions,  and  forms  a 
tuberculated,  compound  flesby  fruit,  sometimes  w'e- 
ighing  from  40  to  60  lbs.,  probably  the  largest 
that  is  known.  The  central  part  is  the  soft,  fleshy 
receptacle ; surrounding  this,  and  radiating  toward 
the  circumference,  are— (1)  the  succulent  parts  of 
the  very  numerous,  linear,  abortive  florets  ; and  (2) 
the  enlarged  perianths  of  the  fertile  florets  much 
swollen,  and  appearing  as  brownish-yellow  succulent 
masses,  2 or  3 inches  long.  Those  two  sets  of 
bodies  constitute  the  eatable  part  of  the  Jack-fruit. 
Each  seed  is  completely  hurried  in  pulp,  and  enclosed 
in  a leathery  testa.  It  is  usually  as  large  as  a 
Nutmeg;  it  is  destitute  of  albumen,  and  composed 
of  two  unequal  cotyledons. 
Good  figures  of  the  flowers  and  fruit  are  given  in 
the  Botanical  Magardne,  tt.  2833  and  2834,  from 
specimens  grown  in  the  Botanic  Garden  at  St.  Vin- 
cent,  in  the  West  Indies.  A plant  is  mentioned  to 
have  flowered  in  1827  in  the  stove  of  the  Edinburgh 
Botanic  Garden. 
The  ordinary  Jack-fruit  above  described  is  familiar 
in  many  parts  of  the  tropics,  and  is  widely  cultivated 
in  the  East,  from  the  Punjab  to  China,  and  from  the 
Himalaya  to  the  Moluccas.  There  are  numerous 
varieties  recognised  by  the  natives  of  India  and 
Ceylon.  Although  common  in  the  latter  country,  it 
has  probably  been  introduced  at  a remote  period  from 
India.  It  was  introduced  to  .Jamaica  and  St.  Vincent 
by  Admiral  Rodney  in  1782,  and  thence  distributed 
to  other  countries  in  tropical  America.  The  fruit 
is  not  esteemed  anywhere  in  the  New  World ; pro- 
bably the  single  variety  there  known  is  an  inferior 
one. 
This  year  a drawing  of  a very  remarkable  Jack- 
fruit  was  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  J.  Cameron,  F.L.S-, 
Superintendent  of  the  Lai  Bagh  Gardens,  Bangalore’ 
in  Mysore.  In  a letter  dated  August  2;i  last  he  gave 
the  following  description  of  it : — 
“About  a month  ago  I sent  you  a photograph  and 
a water-colour  drawing  of  a remarkable  Jack-fruit-. 
