468 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Junz, 1899. 
difficult one; still, an answer is given (1) by the fact that saponin makes its 
appearance first in the unripe pods, and only after some days in the leaves; (2) 
the analogy with similar processes shows that tannic acids in many instances are: 
found in unripe fruits, to be transformed into sugar when the fruits ripen, as In 
the case of the banana, which is rich in gallotannic acid, and even when 
cut off the tree will lose nearly every trace of tannin, and get rich in sugar and. 
vegetable slime. ; 
Tn the case of the Peach-leafed Poison Bush (Zrema aspera) which has been 
denounced by some as injurious to stock, it would seem that the difficulty with this. 
plant lies, not in poisonous properties, but in the indigestibility of the fibrous. 
leaves. The fibre remaining in the animal’s stomach becomes hardened into 
balls, in the same manner as hair is found matted and hardened in the stomach: 
and intestines of cows, horses, and pigs, eventually causing the animal’s death. 
Economic Botany. 
By F. MANSON BAILEY, F.L.S., 
Colonial Botanist. : 
THE KEI APPLE (ABERIA CAFFRA, Hook). 
(Pratt CXYV.) 
A tara shrub, native of the Cape of Good Hope and Kaffirland, furnished’ 
with strong, straight, long spines, and rather small obovate leaves. The round 
lemon-coloured fruit, which 1s abovt 1 inch or more in diameter, has an agreeable 
somewhat acid flavour, and makes a most palatable preserve. A. few weeks ago 
Mr. Charles Harries called at my office with a fe-y fruits of this plant, of which 
he desired the name, &. I recommended him to try it as a preserve, mixed 
with melon, for jam-making ; a few days afterwards, he sent me a small pot of 
excellent jam, accompanied by the following note :—“ Since seeing you on Triday 
last about the ‘Kei apple,’ the information which you so kindly gave me 
concerning the *apple’s’ use for making jam, &c., has been put to the test, and 
I forward you herewith a small pot of jam which was made from the ‘apple” 
~and the melon which I was describing to you. According to the colour of the 
jam, you would think that colouring had been used, but I can assure you that 
none was used in making it. I am very sorry I did not come toyou sooner for 
the information, as the crop of fruit is just over and gone to waste.” The melon 
pe of is the White Gourd (Benincasa cerifera), a fruit equally as useful as. 
the pie-melon. In an unripe state, the fruit of the Kei apple is used for 
pickling. ; 
The plant is one of the best known for hedge-making, for which purpose it 
must be raised from seed, as it does not strike readily from cuttings. In 
planting for fruit, layers from female plants should be made. For fertilisation 
purposes, one male plant would supply pollen sufficient for 20 or 30 female ones. 
Although as previously stated, the fruit is a useful auxiliary in the manu- 
facture of preserves, its cultivation on a large scale for this purpose cannot be- 
recommended. The plant was introduced into England in 1838, by the Messrs.. 
Loddiges, and one of these plants (a male) was brought out by my father, who: 
left England for South Australia in the same year. 
