The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-02-21
SOME TROPICAL FRUITS.
That Are Little Known to Northern Palates-Too Tender for Transports 4io. . nttnro 1na,ar

 That Are Little Known to Northern
 Palates-Too Tender for Transports
 ton to These Lands.
 In addition to the climatic condi- tions, the tropical products of the West Indies are interesting and attrac- tive. With some of these, as bananas and pineapples, we are all more or Hess familiar, but there are others that are so perishable that they will not bear transportation, and therefore are never exported. Some of these are very delicious, palatable and staple ar ticles of food among the natives, and presidential population. These, of course, are unknown except to those who have an opportunity of visiting the reigons where they grow.
 During recent visits to the island of Jamaica we had an opportunity of becoming acquainted iwth a number of these. Some are indigenous to the soil and grow wild, but are inn proved by cultivation; others are found only in the gardens and culti- lVated areas. { The mango is a tropical fruit but little known because it does not bear transportation well. It is native of tropical Asia, but has been extensive | ly cultivated in the tropical and sub- tropical regions of both the old and new worlds. As seen in the island of Jamaica, it grows to the height of 30 to 40 feet; a tree wittl dense spread ing, glossy foliage, which would se- cure it's cultivation as an ornamental tree alone. In it's wild state the fruit is stringy and sour it's containing gall lie acid, with a disagreeable turpen- tine flavor. Through cultivation and selection it has become sweet and lus- cious, with a great many varieties, differing not only in flavor but in size and appearance. In Jamaica what is known as No. is considered as the best When ripe the skin is a deep red, or bright yellow, shaded with green. The meat of the fruit is vel low, clinging very 'tehaeiously to the pit, which is flat and oblong While 1t is delicious in flavor the tate for 1t in some cases requires cultivation, but when this is acquired it is consid- cred great delicacy.
 The bread fruit is, perhaps, one of the most important as staple food product in the tropics, While it grows on a large tree and is a fruit, in its use 1t is more like vegetable. The tree grows, to a moderate height, with large leaves and highly ornamental as grown in the gardens. The fruit is nearly round, from to 10 inches in | diameter, sometimes with a tubercu- lated skin like a rind; others are smooth usually green or slightly bronzed in color Some have seeds that are eaten as chestnuts but in the best varieties the seeds are aborted these kinds are very highly prized and used as vegetables It mbatures at different times, affording a supply thoroughoutfthe greater part of the year. Before it fully ripens, when 1t is used, 1t is starchy in its na- ture and is prepared in various ways for the table, by baking, stewing, roasting in the hot ashes, frying etc. We preferred them baked, when they had taste somewhat resembling po- tatoes, and they ressaid to be very nutritious.
 Custard apple is the name applied to a fruit that resembles aan apple only in its size and shape, growing on large shrubs or small trees. It is, when ripe, of brown or purplsh color It has a somewhat large peel or rind, and contains pulp that is well named 'custard," as it is of about the same consistency, is eaten raw with q spoon without any preparation or fla voring, and presents the appearance and has the taste of a boiled or baked custard. It has some nutritious value, but is more of relish or desert fruit.
 The star apple is of similar char acter in it's growth, and takes it's name from the fact that a perfectly formed star is seen upon cutting 1t crosswise. The pulp is not quite as soft as in the custard apple, and of quite different flavor, some prefer ring one and some the other. The sour sop and the sweet sop are some what similar In growth. but quite diff ferent in both fruit and flavor, being more acid or sweeter, in accordance with the variety eaten and not nearly AS large as the apples.
 The neesberry is another fruit, hav- ing no resemblance whatever to a n Ia. for sale, like a rusty old, small, round, smooth potato. Inside of the skin or rind is found a pulp that is swedish or subacid and with a good many seeds.
 The traveller is interested in noting the growth of these fruits. The bread fruit is quickly recognized, but the others are not so easily distin- gulshed and I remember on one occa- sion leaving the carriage and climbing a small tree in the woods by the road side, supposing that I was securing star apples and I found that I had an entirely different fruit that was not edible, or at least was acrid and bit- ter, affording no inducement to the eater although I did not discover this until I returned to the carriage with "a hatful
 In the city of Kingston, the only large town in Jamaica, these fruits are brought to the market by the natives, who raise them in their gardens or small fields that are under cultiva- ton. They are not usually very good specimens that are offered, but are about the only source of supply to the