788 
THR POMEGRANATE. 
granum, gi'ain, 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 Phny informs us, that the colour to dye cloth, 
called Puniceus, , is obtained froi>a the flowers, and that the Romans 
used therin^ ilp\N[ers, .^nd eveiy 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 dying and preparation 
of red Jeather. 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 hears 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 ta- 
ken from February to the end of March." The Persians make a 
very favourite drink of the rinds, 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. granata) 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 appearance throughout all the summer months : the 
fruit, however, produced in such situations, although highly orna- 
mental, 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 years' gTov\ th, 
in May, merely pegging them without making any incision ; and by 
the autumn, they will have nuide good roots, and may be taken ofl" 
any time befoi'e the buds break, and planted either in thirty-two 
sized pots in a mix,ture of g9od rich loam, and a small portion of 
sandy peat, or planted against a w arm wall, as recommended here- 
after. They will also strike freely by well ripened cuttings, taken 
oflfin 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 green-house or stove, keeping them 
perfectly free from mould, or over-dampness, until the following Fe- 
bruary, when they should be plunged in a bark or hot-bed, where 
they will speedily strike root ; they should then be potted off sepa- 
rately, and again plunged in a brisk heat, until they have established 
