The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1925-09-15
U. S. GETS RARE FRUIT
SOUGHT BY QUEEN
PULP HAS CONSISTENCY OF A
PLUM WITH THE FLAVOR OF
STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM.

Queen Victoria on her throne, sur
rounded by retainers eager to OBEY
her every wish, with the Injuries OF
the world at her beck longed for
something that even the resources of
the British empire could not procure
for her. She longed for taste of man
gosteen. the wondrous fruit OF the
Fast. REQUESTS and offers of reward
nroved unavailing. No one, even the
most enterprising, could bring it to
London. For long before the shores OF
England appeared on a ships horizon
the fruit had wilted and persisted. So
the queen of England never tasted
mangosteen, says the New York
Times,
Now the growth of this fabulous
fruit has been started in the American
tropics The department Of agricul-
ture announced recently that experl-
ments in tropical America have reach
ed the stage where the regular deliv-
cry of mangosteen to the United States
will be possible in about ten years
That is a long time to wait, but the
fruit is worth it.
Mangosteen for centuries has been
extravagantly praised Travellers re-
turning from the East have likened it |
to the golden apples of the Hesperides,
TO nectar and ambrosia; it was SAID
that "of all the fruits OF the Indies 1t |
was by far the most delicious. David
Fairchild, the American botanist now
with the department of agriculture,
to whose long study of the mangosteen
the success of the present experiments
is in great measure due, gives de-
scripton of this orchard luxury.
''Melts Like Ice Cream"
This delicious fruit is about the
size of a mandarin orange, round and
slightly hattened at each end, with
smooth, thick rind, rich red-purple in
color. with here and there bright,
hardened drop of yellow juice which
marks some injury to the rind when
it was young.
GAS these mangosteens are sold IN
the Dutch East Indies heaped up on
fruit baskets or made into long, regu- /
lar bundles within strips of braided
bamboo, they are as handsome as any
thing of the kind could be, but it is ,
real beauty is seen.
"The rind is thick and tough To get
at the pulp inside it one makes cir
cular cut and lifts the top half off like
cap. The white segments, five, six
or seven in number, lie loose in the
cup. The cut surface of the rind is OF
a moist, delicate pink, and is studded
with yellow points formed by the
drops of exuding juice.
"As one lifts out this cup, one by
one the delicate segments which are
the size and shape of mandarin or
ange, the light pink sides of the cup
and the veins of white and yellow inn
bedded in it are visible. The separate
segments are between snow-white and
ivory in shade and are covered with a
network of hbres. The side of each |
segment, where it presses against its
neighbor, is translucent and slightly
tinged with pale green.
"The texture of the mangosteen pulp
resembles that of well-ripened plum
only it is so delicate that it melts in
the mouth like bit of ice cream. The
flavor is indescribably delicious. There
is nothing to mar the perfection of
this fruit, unless it be that the juice
from the rind forms an indelible stain
on a white napkin. The seeds are very
thin and small"
Mr.. Fairchild, in his enthusiasm,
omits description of the taste, leav
ing it to the imagination to fill in the
gap after the words, "indescribably
delicious" According to other expert
definition mangosteen tastes some
what like strawberries and cream.
Mangosteen grows on small fir-like
trees not more than thirty feet nigh,
with deep-green glistening leaves six
to ten inches long. In Java and Suma-
ira it grows best, though there are
few small orchards in the Straits
Settlements and Malacca. The largest
mangosteen orchard in the world is
near Saigon, Cochin-China, and that
contains only 400 trees.
1t is one of the most local of all
plants and balks at transportation. 1t
cannot grow in regions where the tenn