The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1883-03-17
GARDENING IN BERMUDA,
Fruits and Vegetables Growing the Year
Round

Fruits and Vegetables Growing the Year
! Round.
HAMILTON, BERMUDA, FEGRUARY To-
| 1t is a marvel where all the vegetables
come from that are shipped from these
islands to New 10rk. for there is not
field of five acres extent III the whole
place, and the entire acreage is only Il,
900, of which 900 belongs to the gov
eminent, and more than 5000 are hills
aid rocks utterly unfit for til!age. The
main island contains ., 125 acres, 81,
Georges 100, Somerset ,02, and Iceland
Island 1913. These four are the principal
islands, and there ore only GOO acres to
be divided among the 200 CT more small
islands, none OF which are cultivated.
The immense quantity Of land not put to
any use is one of the first things noticed
by visitor. All the hills ani hiilsides
run wild, because they are not worth cui-
tivating. The rocks are too near the SUI
face. The only good land is il the little
valleys, where the san chimes and cool
winds never blow. \ short time age,
say , 900, 600 or 3, 00O, 00G years, when the
Bermudas were under water, the sea de-
posted a few feet oi earthly sediment Ill
these valleys, and ii is in this earth that
all the Bermuda potatoes and onions we
are acquainted with are raised. The
hills are covered with moIc or less soil.
and the soil is covered with Il thick
growth Of grass. There are cedar trees
growing i'll this thin coating of soil, and
bushes, and 10 end Of flowers, bat there
is not enough Of soil on the rocks TO cul-
| tivate. Whenever i road is r,tD over a
hill it is cut through tbs rock like alait-
| road cut to lessen the heigh5. The
sides of the cut are soon covered with
moss and creeping vines aud flowers, SO
that driving in Bermuda is like driving
through 4 great garden. But down in
the valleys, the pockets as the natives
call them, the land is better than any
land ever saw. When you take a pet
flower bed and put it III good condition,
and manure it and water it. by the end
OF the season it is soft and smooth and
rich. That is just the way this bermuda
land is. 1t is as rich ana soft as the best
llower-bed 1t is always in good condi-
ton, and you can plant anything il it in
any month OF tie year, and it grows. 1t
requires great deal OF manure, for there
is The Drain OF twelve months vegetation
every year, instead Of six months as We
| have.
| have not seen any one OF these patch
es Of good lana that contains more than
| two OF three acres, and most of them are
much smaller than this. Oni0ns alc the
great crop, and potatoes are next, \
lew people are try strawberries, but
| this is venture. One American, Gen.
| Hastings, is raising hundreds Of thous
ands Of flower bulbs for the New Iorl,
market. Nearly every lutte place has its
patch of bananas. and they give the is
| land more Of tropical appearance than
any other plant. The banana tree has a
| sort OF Gu 0an- Sou il -i;nciica look, inSep-
cradle from hot day. Some oyer-intelli
gent person will say that the banana plant
is not a tree, and for his special benefit |
will call it i Gusn. II grows rom SIX tC
ten feet high takes about six months tC
mature, produces one bginch OF bananas
and then dies; and is gathered IL its fa
Tiers. | believe III some countries bana
ma plants live GA aad produce crop tftel
crop, but one OF the social habits OF tit
Bermuda banana is to die as SoNl as it:
fruit ripens. When you see Il grove o
banana bushes growing around the bach
door and few L"iG-liaked darkey chill
dren playing among the plants, the scent
is truly tropical. | have seen, suppose
so, GEO banana trees on these islands, bu'
not ripe banana on any Of them. The,
cut off the punches While they are greer
and let them ripen IN the house. Flo
this reason | think bananas in New Eoi
are just as good as i'll :! Southern ecu ntr,
and ours are generally larger and sweet
er. They have an uGfort innate habit o
making a distinction here between plan
tains and bananas, which is very contus
ing to a Nor,heruer. We New Yorker
don't know anything ;:6ort plantains
though we are familiar with bananas
Any thing that la, yellow inside and
slippery skin to break yoar neck on til
sidewalk, we know rs 4 banana. Tn
big and rich ones that we Ike best thes
folks call plaintains.
The oranges raised here are not th
, best sort. They are generally prett
tart and are used principally for maxim
marmaladc, for which they ale particu
larly adapted. or else cultivated for thei
beautiful appearance. and there can hard
ly be a pretter thing in nature than
green tree, standing on Il green lawn
: loaded with bright. shining, yellow o!
angcs. There are few Mandarin oran@
trees, principally on tie grounds {
wealthy people. The Hon. Mr.. Harvey
of Sommcrset, took me through lis grow
OF Nfandarns few days ago. They trr
out the centre Of the tree ami bend owe
5 the branches, fastening their ends t
= stakes driven i'll the ground, to let til
: sun have full play Oh the tree. Ecrmud
a lemons are altogether unique. There ar
. thousands OF bushels here left to spoil o
= the trees. Lemon trees grow every
where by the roadside, and visitors sto
I and pick the !r;:it or tear oil the bran
ches. These lemons are at least twice ii
Il large dis the ordinary kind, with Yer
e rough skins and very soar juice. The
e do not keep, and this is why they Al
c not exported. But they make lemonade
@ that would maze your hair stand on enc
and as ingredients III hot whisky prnche
S -whew, Lines grow in plcnty-.nS
such lines as we see in New York. Th
is the season when ioIuots rip2n, an
d there are thousands of trees loaded dow
with them. They are large yello
a plum, tart, with a peculiar flavor. Whe
Il perfectly ripe they somewhat resemble
ripe persimmou There are Il few cherry
G moyas, and it is quite tic thing fo
Northern visitors to 90 wild over til
S cherry moya. Any one who is curior
to know what they are ike, can mako a
!. exact counterpart by mixing UP cu]
fl ful Of flower paste, adding spoonful ,
powdered sugar, and putting the mixtul