FLORIDA ,STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
139 
different in appearance. This year a num¬ 
ber of them are fruiting, and I am eager 
for them to ripen. The fruit on three of 
the trees is a dark rich purple, with green 
underneath. They look like they will be 
large—are the shape of the mulgoba, and 
I think they are going to be a month ear¬ 
lier than the budded trees.' Part of the 
other trees have fruit shaped like No. II, 
some having large fruit and abundant 
quantity, while others are thin, poor look¬ 
ing fruits and still others are rounder. 
I hope to have a more interesting report 
of them next year. 
Dr. Gifford has some of the Philippine 
mangoes that he secured in Mexico that 
he hopes will do well here. The quality 
he says is as good as the best East In¬ 
dian varieties, and they are heavy bear¬ 
ers. 
Last year, Mr. Blackman reported that 
the Department of Agriculture at Wash¬ 
ington had pronounced an avocado, orig¬ 
inated by himself, and named the '‘Black¬ 
man” to be the best avocado yet tested, 
all points considered. 
This year, I have the honor of making 
a similar report—as a fruit sent from my 
orchard and named “The Haden,” in hon¬ 
or of Captain Haden, who planted the 
seed, was pronounced to have more good 
points than any yet tested. May the hon¬ 
or be shifted each year! 
Unfortunately, I have had to leave the 
State in summer the past seven years, 
and have missed learning many valuable 
lessons. 
I believe that there are possibilities of 
preserving, evaporating and otherwise 
treating these fruits, that would prolong 
their season. 
One of my neighbors dried some of the 
fruits of the carissa and said it acted very 
much like dried apples when soaked in 
water. 
The Carissa Grandiflora is one of the 
handsomest of our plants. The large 
white flowers are both beautiful and fra¬ 
grant and the deep red fruit on the dark 
green foliage is especially attractive. The 
first is a good deal like a raspberry in 
flavor, and makes a nice sauce or jam. 
The tamarind can be dried or put up 
in sugar or molasses, as the Bahamans do, 
and makes a pleasant drink when added 
to water, or they are nice used as a con¬ 
serve. I find that almost every one who 
passes my tree stops to look for a few 
ripe tamarinds and they are eaten as rap¬ 
idly as they ripen. 
The sapodilla has been neglected, as it 
is a fine fruit and the tree is very orna¬ 
mental. I find that the fruit makes one of 
the best sweet pickles I have ever made, 
I am going to try to dry them this year. 
It takes the seedlings a long time to 
bear, and there is a saying among the 
Bahamans that he who plants a “dilly” 
tree will not live to see it fruit. This 
may account for its scarcity in the gar¬ 
dens as most people are very fond of the 
fruit, and the tree grows of itself, after 
it is started. It grows wild on the keys. 
The sapota blanca is an unusually beau¬ 
tiful tree. Only a few weeks ago I said 
that I did not esteem the fruit of it highly 
but recently I have changed my mind. 
My tree is not in a good place and has 
very little attention, but I believe if it 
were well treated that we might grow to 
value it as they do in Mexico, where it 
is a great favorite. 
