1 Szpr., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 195 
In Queensland, however, I have not met with any large specimens—the 
ayerage would seem to be from 5 to 10 lb., although one fruit of 23 Ib. is on 
record. 
The tree comes into bearing here in three to four years, and while large 
fruit will contain as many as 200 seeds, ten to twelve seeds per fruit is more 
common. ‘The cropping season is also very short in this State, usually lasting 
less than two months between January and March. 
The fruit is distinctly palatable and is wholesome and nutritious. The 
smell, however, is apt to prejudice one against it on tasting it for the first time, 
and if, in ignorance, an over-ripe fruit is opened, not only is the smell intensified 
and rendered disagreeable, but the fruit is not so nice flavoured, for, like the 
Durien, to which it is sometimes likened, it must be taken at the right degree 
of ripeness to be appreciated. 
If these over-ripe fruit are removed or buried, the smell is really no stronger 
than that of the mango, and not as disagreeable. To judge a ripe Jackfruit, 
however, needs a little practice, for one cannot judge by colour. The usual 
method is to me. the fruit or flip it with the finger, when the hollowness of the 
sound denotes the degree of ripeness. 
The white milky juice, which is very sticky, renders an unripe fruit 
uneatable, and in an over-ripe one, the stringyness as well as strong smell 
makes it equally unpalatable. An ideal fruit should have the pulp firm but 
neither soft nor hard, and a pale yellow colour, when it will be found sweet and 
of a most agreeable flavour. 
Tn its native countries the fruit is considered a delicacy ; natives will pay 
1s. to 1s. 4d. each for them,’and Europeans become exceedingly fond of them. 
The pulp may also be cooked in various ways; I have had it boiled in milk, 
cooked in custards, fried in batter, and preserved in honey. In the latter form 
it is an excellent’dessert. Bernays, in his “ Cultural Industries,” gives a receipt 
for boiling in milk, from which, however, the pulp would subsequently seem to 
be strained off. 
In opening a fruit, the rind, which is about half-an-inch thick, should be 
cut through and the fruit then broken open. The pulp sacs containing the 
seed may then be picked out from the surrounding fibres. These should at 
once be cut open, the seed taken out, and put into a basin of water. The 
addition of a very little salt to the water improves them, and, it is said, 
eliminates what little smell may remain. If strained and served up promptly 
with icing sugar sifted over, they are not only palatable but excellent eating 
and quite odourless. 
However, although it cannot be said that in this case “all love Jack,” 
still all concur in attesting to the excellence of the nuts when roasted. These 
may be roasted like English chestnuts, which they much resemble, or boiled and 
used in curries or stews. After being boiled they are sometimes dried and 
ground, and cakes and nutritious farinaceous foods made from the flour. 
The Jack-tree is also useful as a timber tree. The wood is a bright yellow 
when first cut, and is hard. It soons turns darker on exposure, however, and 
when old and polished compares very favourably with mahogany in durability, 
beauty of grain, and colour. From India and the South Seas the timber is 
sent to England, where it is used for cabinet and furniture making, and largely 
in the manufacture of brush backs. It takes a very high polish, and works up 
yery like satin-wood. In India the wood of the roots is used for carving, and 
small boxes and articles of this wood, after seasoning and being artificially 
scented (generally by being packed together with sandal-wood), are passed off 
as of this more yaluable wood. The principal use of the Jack-tree in the 
Northern portion of this State would be as a fodder, and in this way it would 
probably prove as valuable as the Algaroba or Mesquit Bean-tree. ‘The leaves 
are readily eaten by stock, and it is a tree that will grow in a dry as well as in 
a hot climate. In some of the dry parts of India it is extensively lopped 
