385 
FRUITS IN PORTO RICO. 
The following notes are taken from the Report of the Porto Rico 
Agricultural Station for 1907 . . , . . . » 
“Barbados Cherry ( Malpigkia glabra ). This fruit is proving of 
considerable merit for making jellies and has the advantage that it 
bears several crops each year. On the station grounds the trees thus 
far have borne one heavy and two light crops during the yeai. 
The Barbados Cherry, is a small but rather pretty tree with pink 
flowers and a fruit resembling a small whiteheart cherry- It grows 
well here but never fruits heavily- Perhaps it might do better in dryer 
parts of the peninsula. , . . , * 
“ Otaheite goose-berry. ( Phyllanth us disticha) . This fruit has 
also been shown to produce a very excellent deep wine colored jelly 
and like the Barbados cherry produces abundant crops several times 
during the year thus making a very valuable household tree. 
Pkyllanthus disticha is the tree known here has Foko Malakka 
and the town of Malacca takes its name from this tree. It is a fairly 
large and handsome tree with fine feathery foliage, and a red stem. 
The fruits are globular about half an inch through with a large stone 
inside. The flesh is acid and green. It is occasionally used in curries 
here but is not very commonly so used. A native tree here it fruits 
very heavily and the ground is often strewed with its fruits. It is one of 
the fruits that it is quite neglected here and certainly might be used m 
making preserves. 
“ Anona cherimoUa has fruited during the year, while the fruits 
were small they were of excellent quality.” The chenmoyer a native 
of Peru lias frequently been introduced to the Straits Settlements, 
but has never grown a single fruit, indeed it is said never to have fruited 
in Java or elsewhere in the east, which is regrettable as it is perhaps 
the best of all Anonas. , , 
“ Rose- Apple. Eugenia jambos. A new use has been found tor 
this fruit. When mixed with other fruits in making jellies or preserves 
it is found that it gives to the product a delicate rose flavour that is 
very agreeable.” , . , . u 
This jambu is the white one with narrow leaves and white flowers. 
It grows very well in the Straits Settlements and flowers well, but 
seldom fruits, so much so that fruits imported from Rhio are quite ex- 
pensive. The commonly grown Jambus here viz. Eugenia Malaccense t 
Jambu Bol, and Eugenia aquar, Jambu Ayer Mawer, possess too little 
of the rose water flavour to be used in this way. The Jambu bol is 
however preserved in syrup and colored red with Hibiscus floweis makes 
a popular, but rather flavourless preserve. 
SIZE OF RUBBER-SEED. 
The Ceylon circular on the effect of tapping on seeds by Messrs 
Macmillan and Petch is very interesting, especially as it does not seem 
to be borne out at all by the phenomena here. It is stated that it is 
obvious that the seeds of the tapped trees were smaller than those of 
untapped trees. Now the seeds from the trees in the Singapore Botanic 
