Part 12

_The leaves of this tree are oval, but acute. The flowers have each five petals, and fifteen stamens: they are solitary, terminate the branches, and have scarcely any stalks. The fruit is a berry about the size of an orange._

The name of this gum has been derived from that of the country whence it is brought. The mode of obtaining it is by puncturing or cutting the branches of the trees. It issues from the wounds in a fluid state, but soon becomes hardened by the heat of the sun. After this it is formed into large cakes or rolls, in which state we receive it.

Gamboge is chiefly used as a pigment. When good, it is of a fine orange colour; and on being softened with water, is bright yellow, requiring no preparation previously to being used. It is also given as a medicine; but its operations being very violent, it should be administered with great caution.

The dried fruit of the gamboge tree is not unfrequently sent to our colonies in the East Indies, where it is used in sauces, and with several kinds of food.

146. _WELD_ (Reseda luteola) _is a plant of the mignionette tribe, used in dyeing: it grows wild, in barren and uncultivated places, particularly on coal-pit banks, in several parts of England._

_The leaves are spear-shaped, and entire, with a tooth-like process on each side of the base. The flowers are yellow, and in long spikes; and the calyx is divided into four segments._

In some parts of England, particularly in the clothing counties, weld is cultivated to great extent; and it flourishes in sandy soils that could be turned to little advantage in any other way. When the plants are ripe, they are pulled up by the roots, dried, and tied into bundles for use.

The tinging quality of weld resides both in the stems and roots. This imparts to wool, cotton, mohair, and silk, a very bright and beautiful yellow colour; and blue cloths, dipped in a decoction of it, become green. The yellow colour of the paint called _Dutch pink_ is obtained from this plant.

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CLASS XII.--ICOSANDRIA.

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MONOGYNIA.

147. _The GUAVA, or BAY PLUM, is a West Indian fruit, of which there are two kinds, one white and round, and the other red and pear-shaped. The former is produced by a tree_ (Psidium pomiferum) _which has sharp-pointed and highly ribbed leaves, and flowers three on each stalk; and the latter by a tree_ (Psidium pyriferum) _with oval leaves and single-stalked flowers._

Equally delicious and wholesome, these _fruits_ are in the highest estimation in the countries where they are produced. The rind or skin is lined with an apple-like substance, which is used for tarts and other sweet preparations. It is also stewed and eaten with milk; and, in this form, is generally thought better than any other stewed fruit; from the same part a marmalade is made. This rind encloses an agreeable pulp, mixed with innumerable small seeds. The whole fruit is eaten raw, or prepared as a sweetmeat in various ways; the most common form in which we see it is that of a jelly.

The _wood_ is used for fuel, and also makes excellent charcoal.

148. _The COMMON MYRTLE_ (Myrtus communis) _is a well-known ornamental evergreen shrub, which is cultivated chiefly in greenhouses in this country, but grows wild in the countries of the South of Europe._

Although this shrub is cultivated with us chiefly for ornament, it is of considerable utility to the inhabitants of the South of Europe. Its _young shoots_ are used for tanning leather; and both its _leaves_ and _berries_ are employed in medicine. From the former a distilled water is obtained, which is sometimes used in gargles. The berries are likewise distilled; and an oil prepared from them has considerable repute as a means of thickening the hair.

149. _ALL-SPICE, or PIMENTO, is the dried berry of a West Indian species of myrtle_ (Myrtus pimenta, Fig. 45.)

_This tree grows to the height of twenty feet and upwards, and has somewhat oval leaves about four inches long, of deep shining green colour, and numerous bunches of white flowers, each with four small petals._

In the whole vegetable creation there is scarcely any tree more beautiful or more fragrant than a young pimento about the month of July. Branched on all sides, richly clad with deep green leaves, which are relieved by an exuberance of white and strongly aromatic flowers, it attracts the notice of all who approach it.

Pimento trees grow spontaneously, and in great abundance, in many parts of Jamaica; but they cannot be propagated without great difficulty. The usual method of making a new pimento walk, or plantation, is to appropriate for this purpose a piece of woody ground in the neighbourhood of an already existing walk, or in a part of the country where the scattered trees are found in a native state. The other trees are cut down; and, in a year or two, young pimento plants are found to spring up in all parts, supposed to have been produced from berries scattered there by birds, which eagerly devour them.

About the month of September, and not long after the blossoms have fallen, the berries are in a fit state to be gathered. At this time, though not quite ripe, they are full grown, and about the size of pepper-corns.

They are gathered by the hand; and one labourer on a tree will strip them off so quickly as to employ three below in picking them up; and an industrious picker will fill a bag of seventy pounds' weight in a day. The berries are then spread on a terrace, in the sun, for about seven days, to be dried; but this is an operation which requires great care, from the necessity of keeping them perfectly free from moisture. By the drying they lose their green colour, and become reddish brown; and the process is known to be completed by their colour, and by the rattling of the seeds within the berries. They are then packed into bags or hogsheads for the market. When the berries are quite ripe, they are of a dark purple colour, and filled with a sweet pulp.

Pimento is thought to resemble in flavour a mixture of cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves, whence it has obtained the name of "all-spice." It is much employed in cookery; and is chiefly used in whole grains. It is also employed in medicine, as an agreeable aromatic; and forms the basis of a distilled water, a spirit, and an essential oil. The _leaves_ of the pimento trees yield in distillation an odoriferous oil, which is not unfrequently used in medicinal preparations, instead of oil of cloves.

150. _The PEACH is a large, downy, and well-known garden fruit_ (Amygdalus Persica), _which is supposed to have been originally introduced into Europe from Persia, and was first brought into England about the year 1562._

This rich and delicious fruit is highly and deservedly esteemed at table, as an article in our desserts; and, when ripe and fresh, is grateful and wholesome, seldom disagreeing with the stomach, unless this organ be not in an healthy state, or the fruit be eaten to excess. When preserved in wine, brandy, or sugar, it loses its good properties. The _kernels_ yield a salubrious bitter. The _flowers_, which are very beautiful, and appear early in the spring, emit an agreeable odour, have a bitterish taste, and are used for medical purposes. The _leaves_ are occasionally employed in cookery, but they ought not to be used without great caution, on account of their injurious properties.

There are many varieties of the peach, some of which are much more esteemed than others. The mode in which the trees are usually propagated is by a process termed budding, or grafting upon the stock of some other tree (see p. 147); and, by this process, those of any favourite kind may be exactly obtained.

151. The NECTARINE is a smooth-skinned variety of the peach, but of richer and more delicious flavour. The culture and management of the two kinds are exactly the same; and in all the circumstances of their growth, wood, leaves, and flowers, they precisely resemble each other.

152. _The COMMON or SWEET ALMOND is a soft and pleasant-flavoured kernel, contained in a nut which is of flattish shape, and has a tender shell with numerous small holes on the outside._

_The almond tree_ (Amygdalus communis, Fig. 46) _is usually twelve or fourteen feet high. Its beautiful pink flowers of five petals grow in pairs, and appear early in the spring. The leaves are somewhat oval, pointed, and delicately serrated at the edges._

Our shrubberies contain no tree the flowers of which are more beautiful than those of the almond; and these flowers appear in March and April, a season when few other parts of the vegetable creation have recovered from their wintry state. Though known to the ancients from the most remote periods of antiquity, the almond tree has only been cultivated in England since the year 1562, and this almost wholly on account of the elegant appearance of its flowers; as the climate of Great Britain is not sufficiently warm for the fruit to be perfected with us.

The almonds that are consumed in this country are imported, sometimes in the shell, but much more commonly without, from France, Spain, Italy, and the Levant; and they are packed in casks, boxes, and bales. The province of Valencia had formerly great celebrity for its almonds; but the cultivation of the trees in that part of Spain has for several years been much neglected.

The chief uses of sweet almonds are in confectionary and cooking. They are also eaten with raisins in desserts after dinner; but they should be well chewed, as every piece that is swallowed entire is indigestible. By pressure, they yield a considerable proportion, sometimes nearly half their weight, of _oil_. Indeed this is so plentiful that it may even be squeezed out of the kernel with the fingers. Some preparations of almonds are used in medicine, particularly that called _milk of almonds_, which is formed of pounded almonds, loaf-sugar, and water, well mixed together. In some parts of the East Indies, it is said that almonds supply the place of small money.

153. _BITTER ALMONDS are in no respect different from sweet almonds, either as to the appearance of the kernels themselves, or the trees which produce them, except somewhat in the size of the flowers and fruit._

Like sweet almonds, they yield a large portion of _oil_. This has no bitterness; but the substance which remains after the pressure is intensely bitter. If these almonds be eaten freely, they occasion sickness and vomiting; and, to many quadrupeds and birds, they are a fatal poison. There was formerly a notion, but it is an erroneous one, that the eating of them would prevent the intoxicating effects of wine. They are frequently used, instead of apricot kernels, in ratafia, and sometimes are employed in making a counterfeit cherry-brandy. The oil and emulsions of bitter almonds are used in medicine: and a powder and paste, for washing the hands is made both from them and from sweet almonds. By confectioners they are much in request for flavouring biscuits and other articles.

154. _The POMEGRANATE is an apple-shaped fruit with thick rind, and crowned with the leaves or teeth of the calyx. It is the produce of an evergreen shrub_ (Punica granatum, Fig. 47) _which grows wild in the southern parts of Europe._

_This shrub is usually from fifteen to twenty feet high. The branches are armed with spines; and the leaves are oblong, pointed, and dark green. The flowers, which are of a rich scarlet colour, have five rounded petals._

By the Greeks and Romans almost every part of the pomegranate tree (the root, leaves, flowers, and fruit) was considered to possess medical properties of a very remarkable and even marvellous description; and the country then chiefly celebrated for the production of it was that adjacent to the city of Carthage. The pomegranate is now, however, in little esteem, except on account of its fruit; the pulp or juice of which is pleasant to the palate, and, in common with other summer fruits, allays heat and mitigates thirst, but has a slightly astringent flavour. This pulp is red, is contained in transparent membranes, and included in nine distinct cells. The tough _rind_ of the fruit, which is of a bitter and astringent nature, was employed by the ancients in the dressing of leather; and it is still used in some parts of Germany, together with the _bark_ of the tree, in the preparation and dyeing of red leather in imitation of what is called Morocco leather.

Pomegranates were first cultivated in England about the year 1596; but the fruit grown in this country seldom attains a delicacy of flavour equal to that which is imported from Spain, Italy, and other warm climates.

155. _The CHERRY is a fruit of the prune or plum tribe, the original stock of which is the wild cherry_ (Prunus cerasus) _of our woods._

The gradual effects of cultivation, as they regard the cherry, have been the production of several kinds, which, both in size and flavour, infinitely exceed the fruit of the parent stock, or wild cherry of the woods. The kinds that are best known are the _May Duke, Early Kentish Cherry, White Heart, and Black Heart Cherries_. The trees are propagated by grafting (see p. 147) them usually upon the stocks of wild black and red cherry trees, which are reared for that purpose.

This agreeable _fruit_ is eaten either fresh or dried. It is sometimes preserved with sugar as a sweetmeat; is made into jam; used in preparations of the liqueur called cherry-brandy: and made into wine. From wild black cherries the Swiss distil an ardent spirit, by the sale of which to the French and Germans they derive considerable profit.

The _wood_ of the cherry-tree, which is hard and tough, is much used, particularly by turners and cabinet-makers on the Continent, for the manufacture of chairs and other furniture. The _gum_ that exudes from the bark is, in many respects, equal to gum arabic (273); and is considered very nutritive. Hasselquist informs us that, during a siege, more than 100 men were kept alive for nearly two months, without any other sustenance than a little of this gum, which they occasionally took into their mouths and suffered gradually to dissolve.

156. _The APRICOT_ (Prunus Armeniaca) _is a fruit of the plum tribe, which grows wild in several parts of Armenia and was first introduced into this country about the middle of the sixteenth century._

Some persons are inclined to consider the apricot as the most delicate of all our hardy fruits. For pastry certainly none is more excellent. It is used for tarts, both green and when ripe; it is also preserved with sugar in both these states, and is sometimes dried as a sweetmeat. Care, however, should be taken to gather it before it becomes soft and mealy. The _kernels_ of apricots have a pleasantly bitter flavour, and answer much better for several purposes in confectionary than bitter almonds, which are usually applied. They likewise contain a sweet oil, which, like that of almonds, was formerly used in emulsions.

The _gum_ that issues from the apricot tree is nearly similar to that of the cherry (152). The _wood_ is coarse-grained and soft, and consequently is seldom used in carpentry.

Apricot trees are chiefly grown against walls, and are propagated by grafting upon plum-tree stocks.

157. _The COMMON or DOMESTIC PLUM, in all its varieties, has been derived from a wild species of plum-tree_ (Prunus domestica), _which grows in hedge-rows and thickets in several parts of England; and is distinguished by its branches being without thorns, and its fruit-stalks being single._

Were it not a well-established fact, few persons would suppose that the _magnum bonum_, or _egg plum_, the _green gage_, and several others, which are now common in our gardens, are indebted, for their parent stock, to the wild plum above-mentioned. These are all used at table; and, when sufficiently ripe, and eaten in moderate quantity, are pleasant and wholesome fruits, but, in an immature state, they are very unwholesome.

_Prunes_ and _French plums_ are the dried fruit of different kinds of plum-trees. They are usually packed in boxes, and are imported from the Continent, but particularly from the neighbourhood of Marseilles.--Brignolles, a town of Provence, about thirty miles from Marseilles, is one of the most famous places in France for dried prunes. _Prunes_ or _St. Catherine's plums_, constitute a lucrative branch of traffic, which is almost exclusively carried on in Tours and Chatelherault. Prunes are sometimes employed in medicine, but French plums are chiefly used at table.

The _wood_ of the plum-tree is of little value; but the _bark_ is in occasional request as affording a yellow dye.

158. _The BULLACE PLUM is a small violet-coloured fruit of globular shape, produced by a shrub_ (Prunus insititia) _which grows wild in our hedges, and is known by its branches being thorny, and its fruit-stalks in pairs._

The plum has a rough, but not unpleasantly acid taste, especially after it has been mellowed by the frost. A conserve, called _bullace cheese_, is sometimes prepared by mixture of the pulp of the bullace with about thrice its weight of sugar. In several parts of Germany this fruit is preserved in vinegar and spice; and is occasionally used, in the manner of cherries, for the flavouring of brandy. An infusion of the _flowers_, sweetened with sugar, is sometimes used medicinally for children. The _wood_ is pleasingly veined, and is much valued by turners.

159. _The SLOE is a small, round, and nearly black kind of plum_ (Prunus spinosa), _of extremely austere taste, which is common in thickets and hedges throughout nearly every part of England._

_The shrub that produces it has thorny branches, and the fruit-stalks are single._

The harshness and austerity of the sloe are proverbial. Its _juice_, if mixed with British made wines, communicates to them a red colour, and an astringent flavour, somewhat resembling that of port wine; a fact too well known to some of the dealers in that favourite liquor. The juice of unripe sloes, dried over a gentle fire, so nearly resembles the Egyptian acacia (273), that it has in many instances been substituted for that substance; it is, however, harder, heavier, of darker colour, and somewhat sharper taste than the genuine kind. A conserve of this fruit, made with three times its weight of double-refined sugar, has been used with success as a gargle for sore throats.

An infusion of the _flowers_ in water, or the flowers boiled in milk, are sometimes employed medicinally; and the _bark_, reduced to powder, has been efficaciously administered in agues. If boiled in ley, the bark yields a red dye. The young and tender _leaves_ of the sloe afford a substitute for tea, but some persons consider them unwholesome. The juice of the fruit, mixed with green vitriol, becomes an indelible black fluid, either for dyeing linen, or as writing-ink. The _wood_, being extremely tough, is converted into walking-sticks, and made into the teeth of rakes; it is also sometimes used by turners. Dr. Withering has remarked, that, from certain effects which he observed to follow the prick of the _thorns_ of the sloe, he was inclined to consider they had some poisonous quality, especially in autumn.

PENTAGYNIA.

160. _The MEDLAR_ (Mespilus germanica) _is usually considered a native English fruit, having been remarked, more than a century ago, to grow wild in hedges about Minshull in Cheshire. It is distinguished by being depressed and concave at the top, the leaves of the calyx continuing upon it; and by its containing several hard, compressed, and angular nuts._

It is the property of the medlar, which is cultivated in most large gardens, to be hard, and remarkably austere and disagreeable to the taste, until it has, in part, undergone the putrefactive fermentation, when it becomes a soft, mellow, and, to many palates, a pleasant fruit. Medlars are usually gathered from the trees about the end of October, or beginning of November. To facilitate their becoming fit for the table, they may be placed in moist bran; but such as require to be kept for subsequent use should be deposited on dry straw. In a fortnight or three weeks those in the bran will be eatable, and the others will more gradually ripen. After they are perfectly ripe, they, however, soon become mouldy and decay.

The _wood_ of the medlar-tree somewhat resembles that of the pear-tree, but is of no great value.

161. _The COMMON PEAR is a well-known garden fruit, derived from an English stock, the wild pear-tree_ (Pyrus communis), _which grows in hedges and thickets in Somersetshire and Sussex._

It would be an endless task to describe the different known varieties of the cultivated pear. Some of these are very large, and others extremely small; some have a rich and luscious flavour, and others, as the iron pear, are so hard and disagreeable to the taste, as to be absolutely unfit to eat. Pears are chiefly used in desserts; and one or two of the kinds are stewed with sugar, baked, or preserved in syrup.

The fermented _juice_ of pears is called _perry_, and is prepared nearly in the same manner as that of apples (162) is for cider. The greatest quantities of perry are made in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The _Squash_, the _Oldfield_, and the _Barland perry_ are esteemed the best. Many of the dealers in Champaigne wine are said to use perry in the adulteration of it; and, indeed, really good perry is little inferior, either in flavour or quality, to Champaigne.

Of the _wood_ of the pear-tree, which is light, smooth, compact, and of yellowish colour, carpenters' and joiners' tools are usually made, as well as the common kinds of flat rulers, and measuring scales. It is also used for picture frames that are to be stained black. The _leaves_ impart a yellow dye, and are sometimes employed to communicate a green colour to blue cloth.

162. _The APPLE, in all its numerous varieties, has been derived from the_ Crab-tree (Pyrus malus), _which grows wild in almost every thicket, and in hedges of all parts of the kingdom._

The uses of apples are very extensive, and even the _crab-tree_ is not without its use. The _fruit_ is indeed small, and bad to the taste; but its fermented juice, which is called _verjuice_, is sometimes employed in cookery, occasionally in medicine, and frequently by wax-chandlers, for the purifying of wax. Dr. Withering conceives that, with a proper addition of sugar, a grateful liquor might be made from the juice of crabs, little inferior to hock. Hogs and deer are particularly partial to this fruit. The _wood_ is tolerably hard, and, when made into the cogs of wheels, acquires a polish, and is very durable.

Apple-trees are all produced in an artificial manner, by a process termed _grafting_. This is performed by inserting young shoots of such trees as bear valuable fruit, on stocks that have been raised from the seeds of crabs. Thus the shoot of an apple-tree, inserted into a crab stock, occasions the crab-tree, from that time, to produce apples of nearly the same kind and quality with those of the tree from which the shoot was taken. Other stocks might be used, but those of the crab are considered the best. The same process is adopted in the propagation of nearly every kind of fruit-tree; since, by experience, it has been ascertained that such as are produced from seed all partake of the nature of wild fruits, and have little resemblance to the fruit from which they spring.