CULTURE OF POMEGRANATES. 
The generic name, Punica , of this tribe of plants, seems to have arisen from 
the circumstance of the P. granctlmn being found growing in that part of Africa 
where ancient Carthage stood ; the ancients called the fruit Malum Punicum , 
Carthaginian Apple ; and Poynmn granatum, Kernelled Apple. The specific name 
granatum, from granum, grain, on account of the grains of its fruit, was borrowed 
from the latter. The Grecians seem to have set very great store by this fruit. The 
tree was first brought to Rome from Carthage in the days of Sylla ; and Pliny 
informs us, that the colour to dye cloth, called Punicius, is obtained from the flowers, 
and that the Romans used the rind, flowers, and every part of the fruit in medicine. 
Sloane says, “ The rind of the fruit, together with the bark of the tree, is still used 
in some parts of Germany, in the dyeing and preparation of red leather.” The rind 
also produces as good ink as that made from galls. In its wild state it grows to a 
bush from sixteen to eighteen feet high, and bears profuse crops of fruit, something 
after the manner of our hawthorn. Wine made from this fruit was strongly 
recommended by Lord Bacon for complaints of the liver ; or, if the wine could 
not be had, newly expressed juice might be used. He says, “ Let it be taken in 
the morning with a little sugar ; and into the glass in which the expression is made 
put a small piece of green citron-peel, and three or four whole cloves : let this be 
taken from February to the end of March.” The Persians make a very favourite 
drink of the rind, with the addition of cinnamon. The P. nana is used as a hedge 
plant in the West Indies ; its leaves are diminutive, and its red flowers, although 
not large, are pretty conspicuous. The common Pomegranate, P. granatum , was 
first cultivated in England, in the year 1548, during the reign of Henry VIII. 
Trained against a south wall, its fine scarlet flowers have a most beautiful appear- 
ance throughout all the summer months ; the fruit, however, produced in such 
situations, although highly ornamental, seldom has any flavour, or comes properly 
to perfection. 
Propagation and culture. — The usual mode of propagation is by layers. 
Lay down the branches of the previous year’s growth in May, merely pegging them 
without making any incision ; aud by the autumn they will have made good roots, 
and may be taken off any time before the buds break, and planted either in thirty- 
two sized pots, in a mixture of good rich loam and a small portion of sandy 
peat, or against a warm wall, as recommended hereafter. They will also strike 
freely by well ripened cuttings, taken off in the autumn, and planted in pots filled 
with equal quantities of light sandy loam and peat, covered over with a hand or bell- 
glass, and set in a shady part of the greenhouse or stove, keeping them perfectly 
free from mould, or over dampness, until the following February, when they should 
be plunged in a bark or hot-bed, where they will speedily strike root ; they should 
