Jackfruit

“ The fruit which Tanda picked was of the form and size of a melon, and attached by its stem directly to the trunk.
“We must cut some, for it is the chief vegetable I have in season,” said my uncle, cutting it in slices, and handing it to Tanda to fry. “We have some molasses to eat with it, produced from the sap of the gomuti-palm.”
Closely allied to it is the Jack-fruit, which resembles the bread-fruit. This latter, Mr Sedgwick told us, attains the weight of nearly seventy-five pounds; so that even an Indian coolie can only carry one at a time. ”

“ These berries grow in clusters on low bushes right on the very brink of the brimstone beds, and are so numerous that a bushel may be easily gathered in half an hour. In appearance they somewhat resemble a cranberry, and the flavor is pleasantly suggestive of grapes.
Space forbids more than passing mention of many other fruit trees of the tropics—such as the avocado, or alligator pear, tasting like our ordinary salad; the curious pineapple, with its cactuslike leaves; the mandarin orange, glowing brightly against its deep-green foliage ”

“ EXTRACT FROM THE ACCOUNT OF DAMPIER'S VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD PERFORMED IN 1688.
The breadfruit (as we call it) grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple-trees: It hath a spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a penny-loaf when wheat is at five shillings the bushel; it is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind. When the fruit is ripe it is yellow and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They gather it, when full-grown, while it is green and hard ”

“ Nature had placed within their reach a supply of delicious food, to be had without the asking. The bright green leaves of the plantain rose up in every direction, growing and multiplying unaided, besides bearing huge clusters of fruit all the year round. The glossy, thick-leaved Jack-fruit was also conspicuous; palms reared their tufted heads aloft, among them the much esteemed cocoa-nut, useful in more ways than one; there, too, the leafy tamarind stood waving its pinnate foliage in the evening breeze, proof against the scorching rays of the sun, even at midday. ”

“ We make “fruit nectars” by adding lemon juice, sugar and water (the less sugar the better, a sugar syrup is preferable) to pure fruit juices and to combinations of fruit juices. Some, such as grape and black raspberry, will bear a good deal of water, but pineapple and other delicate flavored juices very little.
If pineapple is combined with another juice, let it be something without a strong, positive flavor (as orange or strawberry) , or the pineapple juice will be wasted. A strong and a neutral flavored juice, red raspberry and currant for instance, go well together. ”

“ Its fruit is the size of a large orange, of a yellow colour when ripe, and perfectly round, with a hard brittle shell; inside it is full of a soft reddish pulp in which the seeds are contained. This pulp is of a very agreeable acid flavour, and is much liked by the natives. The ripe fruit, when cleaned out, is employed by them to contain small quantities of oil, &c. It is not always easy to obtain ripe seeds, as this creeper is the favourite resort of a villainous, semi-transparent, long legged red ant—with a stinging bite like a red-hot needle—which is very fond of the pulp and seeds. ”

“ An East Indian tree of the same genus as the breadfruit (q.v.) , but larger. The fruit, which is very large, and weighs from 5 to 50 pounds, sometimes 70 pounds, is produced in great abundance. It resembles the breadfruit, but has a pulp of somewhat unpleasant flavor. It forms a great part of the food of the natives in some parts of India, Ceylon, etc. The seeds, which lie immediately under the rind, are very palatable when roasted. ”

“ It is curious to find these preserved fruits exported not only to England and the United States, but also to other countries, such as Algiers, the East and West Indies, and even South America, where nature has made the dwellers so far independent of preserved fruit. The fruits preserved by the crystallised process are chiefly pears, cherries, apricots, pine-apples, plums, figs, citrons, oranges, melons, and a dwarf orange called ‘chinois.’ Peaches are found to be too costly to be treated to any extent in this fashion. ”

“ The sample of cashew preserves examined had the following composition:
Citrus Fruits. —The term “citrus fruit” is applied to that class of fruits represented by the orange, lemon, grape fruit, and lime. In the United States extensive areas are devoted to the production of citrus fruits, and it is claimed by connoisseurs that some of the best varieties grown anywhere in the world are the products of this country. Florida and southern California are two localities where the development of the citrus fruit industry has been carried to the greatest extent. ”

“ Many other fruits that grow on this island were not ripe at the time we were there. They include watermelon, pumpkin, alligator or avocado pear, guava, groundnut or peanut, papaw, seaside grape, cocoa plum, cucumber, rose apple, breadfruit, egg plant, cashew nut, and mammee. Owing to the rapid ripening and decay of these fruits after being picked, it is almost impossible to export them with success. Pineapples, oranges, bananas, and cocoanuts are the principal fruits that are exported ”

“ On many occasions I have taken men thoroughly conversant with pineapple-growing, and who knew what a good fruit really is, through some of our plantations, where I have given them fruit to test, and, without exception, they have had no hesitation in saying that they have never tasted better fruit. Our fruit has a firmness, freedom from fibre, and a flavour that is hard to beat. It is an excellent canning fruit, superior in this respect to the Singapore article, which it surpasses in flavour. ”

“ When grown under favourable conditions, citrus-trees are heavy bearers in this State, it being no uncommon thing to meet with seedling or worked orange-trees of from ten to twelve years of age producing over twenty cases of marketable fruit to the tree, averaging about 10 dozen medium-sized fruit. ”

“ The bamboo stands, indeed, in much the same relation to the Burmese as coal to us, and any 48 cessation in the supply would be attended with consequences scarcely less calamitous.
The pine and custard-apples, plantain or banana, and Jack-fruit grow to perfection.
A well-grown and thoroughly ripe custard-apple, eaten when just ready to fall to pieces on the slightest provocation, is certainly a pleasant and enticing fruit, which may be eaten with impunity, but which, like the rose, is not without its thorn, in the shape of a very unpleasant after-taste. ”

“ Of tropical fruits cultivated below 4000 feet, oranges and indifferent bananas alone are frequent, with lemons of various kinds. The season for these is, however, very short; though that of the plantain might with care be prolonged; oranges abound in winter, and are excellent, but neither so large nor free of white pulp as those of the Khasia hills, the West Indies, or the west coast of Africa. Mangos are brought from the plains, for though wild in Sikkim, the cultivated kinds do not thrive; I have seen the pine-apple plant, but I never met with good fruit on it. ”

“ Gill sprouts are slower in coming into bearing than suckers, but the results are usually more satisfactory. Like the banana, once a pineapple plant has borne fruit the fruiting stalk dies down, and its place is taken by one or more suckers, which in their turn bear fruit and die. Pineapples are planted in Queensland in several ways, but by far the most common method is to set the suckers out in single or double rows, from 8 to 9 feet apart, with the plants at from 1 to 2 feet apart in the row. ”

“ In North Queensland bananas ripening on the plant frequently split, and seldom attain perfect flavour. The ripening process takes place after the fully developed bunch is removed and hung up in a cool, shady, well-aired locality. Then the fruit acquires its true lusciousness and aroma. Other climes, other results, perhaps; but a banana, "ripe and luscious from the tree," is not generally expected in North Queensland. The fruit may mature until it falls to the ground, yellow and soft, yet lack that delicate finish, that benign essential, the craft of man bestows. ”

“ It is possible to bud as you propose, and it is not necessary to go back to the old stock. Work in above the forks.
No Citrus Fruits on Lemon Roots.
Would it be any advantage to bud the Washington Navel on grapefruit and lemon roots?
The grapefruit or pomelo is a good root for the orange, and some propagators prefer it. The lemon root is not used at present, because of its effect in causing a coarse growth of tree and fruit and because it is more subject to disease than the orange root. In fact, we grow nearly all lemons on orange roots. ”

“ No pure Apricots or pure Plums are produced, but every possible variety and every possible combination and all qualities are brought out strongly. The range of colors is astonishing,—some new combinations of colors never before seen in fruits have been produced. The best California judges of fruits—the great growers and shippers—have pronounced some of these varieties the best fruit ever produced on this earth. Most of these fruits have a beautiful downy skin—many of them smooth—flesh orange, yellow, white, crimson or green ”

“ The pineapple comes into bearing early, and, except where suckers throw fruit as soon as planted, bear their first crop in from twelve to twenty months, according to the type of suckers planted and the time of year at which they are set. Practically every sucker will produce a fruit at the first fruiting, and these will be followed by succeeding crops, borne on the successive crops of suckers, so that when the whole of the ground is occupied by plants, the returns are very heavy. ”

“ It will, however, be seen at once that a country that can produce such fruits as the mango, pineapple, banana, papaw, granadilla, guava, custard apple, litchi, sour sop, cocoa nut, bread fruit, jack fruit, monstera, alligator pear, and others of a purely tropical character ”

“ When the orange, lime, citron, or common lemon become established under conditions that are favourable for their proper development, they apparently become as hardy as the indigenous plants, and are able to hold their own against them, thus showing how well the climate and suitable soils of coastal Queensland are adapted for the cultivation of citrus fruits. ”

“ There are twenty varieties of bananas, seedy oranges may be had anywhere, the mango, pineapple, mamey, guayaba, mamoncillo, guanábana, chirimoya, sapote or níspero, the papaya, a tree-grown melon superior to our best cantaloupes and with a taste of honeysuckle, and the grape-fruit are among the many island delicacies, but only the pineapple and grape-fruit are cultivated with any attention. ”

“ The islands produce the paper mulberry, from which their cloths and cordage are made; the acacia, used in the construction of their canoes; the banana, the sugar-cane, the yam, the bread-fruit; and, the most important of all, the taro root. Of late years, coffee, cotton, rice, tobacco, indigo, melons, the vine, oranges, peaches, figs, tamarinds, guavas, and many other plants and fruits have been introduced. The natives pay the greatest attention to the cultivation of the taro root. ”

“ It is readily grown from seed, and will produce fruit in less than twelve months from the time that it is planted, and will continue to bear fruit for some years. It does best on a free, warm soil of fair quality, though it may be grown anywhere with care, and often thrives well in very poor soils with the addition of manure. It is found growing wild on the borders of many of our scrubs and elsewhere, the seeds having been deposited by birds or other agencies, and under such conditions it produces an abundance of fruit. The fruit is of a roundish oval shape, and is of a dark-purple colour. ”

“ Jack and I did to the fullest, for from one end of Podunk highway to the other, in every farmstead that was the happy possessor of a strawberry patch, the proclamation had gone forth that berries were ripe and must be "done up" at once. There is no such thing as procrastinating with Nature, especially in her fruit department. Infinite in patience, unsparing in pains from the first inception of the berry to its maturity, when once her creative work is accomplished, she lays the finished product at your feet and henceforth waives all responsibility. ”

“ The bread-fruit is evidently a native of Java, Amboyna, and the neighbouring islands; but the antiquity of its cultivation in the whole of the archipelago, proved by the number of varieties, and the facility of propagating it by buds and suckers, prevent us from knowing its history accurately. In the islands to the extreme east, like Otahiti, certain fables and traditions point to an introduction which is not very ancient, and the absence of seeds confirms this.1498
Jack-Fruit—Artocarpus integrifolia, Linnæus. ”

“ The bread-fruit tree is interesting, with its handsome feathery leaves, and its large, melon-shaped product. It grows to fifty feet in height, and bears fruit constantly for three quarters of the year, then takes a three months' rest. It is only equaled in the profuseness of its product by the banana, forming one of the staple sources of food supply to the lazy, indolent denizens of tropical regions. ”