196 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Sxepr., 1902. 
annually to feed cattle. The fruit also are greedily eaten by all kinds of stock; 
pigs and calves are very fond of them. The fruit, however, unless allowed to. 
become over-ripe and drop, should be split open. As a shade tree in paddocks 
itis always green and cool. 
Like all other artocarpads, the Jack exudes a considerable quantity of 
viscid milky juice, from which the best birdlime is made in India. This sap is 
also used, mixed with other material, for caulking small boats and canoes. A 
ycllow or khaki dye is extracted from the wood, bark, and roots (and Bernays 
says, also by boiling the sawdust). Asan ornamental tree in tropical landscape 
gardening it is in demand, and in farmyards or their vicinity is a grateful as. 
well as a handsome shade, and if used for no other purpose adds considerably 
to the too little used compost manure heap by its shed leaves and fruit. 
As a shade for coffee it is popular in some parts, especially steep land 
where the soil is a bad retainer of moisture. I have also seen the leaves plaited 
or pinned together with thorns to make plates for the native’s meals of rice, 
&c. Altogether, the tree is thought highly of, and considered second only to the 
breadfruit in economic value in its native land, where it is one of the few trees 
left standing and preserved when new scrub land is opened for cultivation. 
In India several seeds are often sown together and the young plants subse- 
quently grafted together into one stem by approach, making a stronger and 
somewhat quicker growing tree. This is supposed to make the tree come into. 
bearing earlier also, but this is very doubtful. Bernays states that whole fruit 
are planted for subsequent grafting as above. I have |not seen this done, but, 
if the whole 100 or 200 seed germinated, the subsequent grafting or inarching 
must prove a somewhat complicated process. In the same article by Bernays, 
which is about the best I have yet met with on this too little appreciated tree, 
a method of growing a long stem is described which I have carried out with 
some success. By this method of cultivation the seedling Jack is made to grow 
up a hollow bamboo till 24 to 3 feet high; then the stem, which is thin and 
pliable, is twisted round like a spring or corkserew—more often in one large 
circle—on the ground and covered in with earth. This stem grows with the 
tree, and, if bearing on the stem and branches is discouraged, will often bear on 
the buried portion of the stem. This procedure is not invariably successful, 
however. It is an experiment easily made, and the root fruit, if obtained, is so 
vastly superior to others as to be well worth the time and trouble. The first 
indication of a root fruit isa slight upheaval of the ground, which subsequently 
cracks, and before ripening one-half of the fruit becomes visible. The root- 
fruiting tree is, I think rightly, considered a distinct variety. The seed of the 
true fruit is said to invariably produce true root-bearing stock, which the seed 
of artificially induced crops will not do, of course. 
The Jack-tree is said not to bear at all if the roots reach permanent water; 
but this also is not authenticated. It may be propagated by cuttings, but seed 
is so readily germinated that recourse to the more troublesome method is 
unnecessary. The seed, however, quickly loses its vitality, especially upon 
becoming dry, and to this cause failure to germinate them can be often ascribed. 
For seed, the ripest fruit should be taken. Fruit that has dropped from the 
tree and squashed gives good seed for immediate planting; but, should seed 
be required to despatch even on a comparatively short journey, fruit not quite 
ripe should be chosen. Some say, only fruit from the stem should be taken for 
seed, but I have raised equally good plants and trees from fruit from the 
branches. 
As stated, the seed germinates freely. Frequently, on opening the fruit, 
especially if over-ripe, the seed will be found to have already germinated, and 
to have a root 1 to 2 inches long. The spike will be quite small, however, and 
possibly only just emerging from the germ. But if this root be broken, andit 
is very brittle, that seed is lost. The seed, which is about 1 inch long and 
34-inch in diameter, will be found within a small cocoon-like bag inside the 
edible pulp. This peculiar bag is quite loose, and feels not unlike thin wash- 
