440 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 18. 
at the extremities, and indented at the apex, with a dis¬ 
tinct shallow suture on one side, which extends from 
the stalk cavity to the apex. The skin is thin and 
transparent, exposing the fibrous texture of the flesh to 
which it adheres; the colour is yellowish-green, with, 
when much exposed to the rays of the sun, a light 
crimson cheek, and covered with numerous crimson 
specks and lines of russet; the whole surface is covered 
with ashy-grey bloom. The stalk is from lialf-an-inch 
to tbree-quarters-of-an-iuch long, stout, and inserted in 
a small cavity. The flesh separates freely from the 
stone ; is greenish-yellow, transparent, delicate, melting 
and juicy, with a rich, sugary, aud most delicious 
flavour. It ripens in the middle and end of August. 
The young shoots of the tree are smooth. The tree 
is a vigorous and healthy grower, hardy, aud an excel¬ 
lent bearer. It may be grown as a standard, dwarf, 
espaliei - , or trained against a wall; but the richest fla¬ 
voured fruit is always obtained from trees growing in 
the open ground, though not so large as those from a 
wall. In the north of England, and in Scotland, ex¬ 
cept in very favourable situations, it requires a wall to 
bring it to perfection. When there is a very abundant 
crop the tree should be gone over about the month of 
June, and the fruit thinned, otherwise, if the whole is al¬ 
lowed to ripen, the fruit will be small and inferior in 
flavour, wanting that peculiar richness which charac¬ 
terises this excellent plum. Thomas Andrew Knight 
was of opinion that the fruit was much improved by 
working the Green Gage on the Apricot; but we have 
no experience of the process. It is one of those varie¬ 
ties which maybe reproduced from the stone, and hence 
we have so many new seedlings, so called, which do not 
essentially differ from their parent. 
We come uext to the plant mentioned as Caeamus in 
our translation of the Bible. In the Hebrew original 
it is called Kanah Bosem. That our translators were 
not consistent in their rendering of this name, is proved 
by their translating it sometimes “ sweet Cane,” as ap¬ 
pears in Isaiah xliii. 24, and in Jeremiah vi. 20. We 
shall obtain some clue to the plant intended by the 
Hebrew original, if wo examine, in the first place, what 
particulars concerning it are stated in the Bible. 
It is certain that in its dried state it w r as highly fra¬ 
grant,—for it is one of the first three of the scented 
ingredients to be mixed with oil, to form “ an oil of holy 
ointment,” for anointing the holy places and the priests. 
This is the recipe:—“ The Lord spake unto Moses, say¬ 
ing, Take thou unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh 
500 shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, oven 
250 shekels, and of Kanah Bosem 250 shekels; and of 
Cassia 500 shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, 
aud of oil olive an bin : and thou shalt make it an oil 
of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of 
the apothecary.” (Exodus xxx. 23—25.) This is cer¬ 
tainly the first medicinal ointmeut on record, and will 
throw some light upon the subject of our iuquiry. 
That it was highly fragrant is evident, not only from 
the above passage, but from the following enumeration 
of some of the products of the imaginary garden in the 
Song of Solomon;—“Spikenard and Saffron, Kanah 
Bosem and Cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; 
myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.” ( Canticles 
iv. 14.) More light is thrown upon the object of our 
enquiry by its beiug so continually mentioned in con¬ 
nection with cinnamon. 
That the plant was not a native of Palestine is proved 
by more than one passage in Holy Writ, for in the 20th 
verse of the sixth chapter of Jeremiah , where God re¬ 
jects the worship which was unaccompanied by obedi¬ 
ence, he indignantly inquires, “ To what pnrpose cometh 
to me incense from Sheba, and Kanah Bosem from a 
far country ? ” 
We not only are thus informed that it was an impor¬ 
tation from some distant land, but from another of the 
prophetical books we learn the very part to which it was 
brought. That port was Tyre, and in the 27th chapter 
of Ezekiel, where the doom of that “ merchant of the 
people for many isles” is proclaimed, is a long enume¬ 
ration of the places to which its commerce extended, 
and the produce derived from them. Among these oc¬ 
curs the following:—“Dan also and Javan, goiugto and 
fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, Cassia (a species 
of cinnamon), and Kanah Bosem were in thy market.” 
Now, there is no doubt that the words Javan Meuzal, 
which our translators have rendered “ Javan, going to 
and fro,” means “ Javan of Uzal,” a city of Arabia, in¬ 
habited by the descendants of Javan. That our trans¬ 
lators had some doubt upon this point is shewn by then- 
putting Meuzal in the margin. If we refer to the 10th 
chapter of Genesis, we shall find in the 27th and follow¬ 
ing verses that Uzal is mentioned in connection with 
Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, aud other towns, all known as 
situated in Arabia. It was through Arabia that the 
caravans travelled which brought to Joppa, Tyre, and 
other places of that region the precious productions of 
India. It is quite certain, that during the same age the 
Phoenicians traded with India through the Persian gulf; 
but this passage in Ezekiel is the first historical record 
we have of the transmission through Arabia of the pro¬ 
ducts of India. 
We have now derived from the Scriptures all the in¬ 
formation they afford relative to the Kanah Bosem, and 
it amounts to this:—It was a fragrant part of a plant, 
1 which imparted its odour to oil; it came with Cassia, 
j or Cinnamon, a product of India; and, finally, from 
: the first word of its name, Kanah, we ascertain that the 
: plant was of the nature of the reed or cane, and we 
i may observe, in passing, that the word cane is derived 
from the Hebrew term we are now considering. 
Our next point for inquiry is, what plant of Hindostan 
; js known to us that agrees with all the foregoing par- 
; ticulars? We have no difficulty in saying, that we 
think that it is the reed like grass which produces the 
; highly-fragrant Ronsa, Rahusa, or Rusa oil, for it is 
spelt in all these ways by Europeans. This oil is pro- 
I duced by the Androvogon toorancurha, aud it is thus 
