FRUIT.
Samar, Thamar, ARAB. Bua, MALAY.
Athi , BUM. Bar, Mewa, . . PERS.
Ooft, Dtrr. Owoschtsch, . . . REE.
Obst, Fruchte, . GER. Fruta, SP Phal, Mewa, . HIND. Kaijallam, . . . TATA.
Frutta, Frutte, . IT. Pandu, also Kaia, . TEL.
Fructum, . . . LAT. Yemish, Meyve, . TURK.
Fal, Kum The better known of the fruits of the S.E. of Asia are as under :— Anona Jack, Artocarpus integri squamosa.
Soursop, A. muricata. Breadfruit, A. incisus.
Bullock heart,A.reticulata. A. communis.
In few natural products is India more prolific than in its fruits. The pine-apple, mango, mangos teen , j ambo, tatnarind, orange, strawberries, dorian, guava, jack, grapes, figs, peaches, pomegranate, apricot, apple, pear, and loquat are amongst the best known, besides an infinite variety of smaller fruits, partaken of by the natives, either dried or in their curries. To the north, and in the hill dis tricts, peaches, grapes, figs, etc., are both abun dant and of good quality. In the south and central parts of Hindustan the fruits and vege table,s in general uso atnongst the people are tho melon, gourd, cucumber, water-melon, plantain, guava, jujube, custard-apple, and fig. In some of the hill districts tho wild raspberry and a , species of gooseberry aro found in great abundtume I and of good quality. On the N.W. of India, in parts of the Panjab, Himalaya, in Kashmir and in Afghanistan, the fruits preferred by Europeans are more plentiful. fn Kashinir the fruits which attain maturity are the apple, pear, quince, peach, apricot, plum, almond, pomegranate, mulberry, walnut, hazel-nut, pistachio, and melon. The gilas cherry is indigenous, and is cultivated in orchards. The bullace, Prunus insitita, is found nowhere else in a wild state. The vino is exten sively cultivated.
In Kashmir there are four varietica of walnut ; one of these grows wild in tho forest, and the others aro cultivated. Tho former is very tiny, and the scanty kernel is encased in a thick shell. One of the horticultural species is very much superior to the others ; it is tho Kaghazi (from Kaghaz, paper), because tho shell is as thin am paper, and can eamily be broken by the hand. The superiority of this specie.s is attributed to ita having been originally engrafted ; but though now raised from seed, it does not become deterio rated. Some of the Panjab fruits aro the produce of the waste or jungle lands; others aro regularly cultivated ; but among the moat remarkable are the products of the that or sterile sandy portions of tho Muzailargarh district. The berries of the salvadom, the seed-pods of tho jhand (Prosopis spicigera), which aro ground up and made into bread when dry, the acid berries of tho 1Vithania coagulans, used to curdle milk with, the shoots of that singular plant which is occasionally found in jhand and pilu thickets, the Roucerosia edulis, and also dried mushrooms, are among edible pro ducts of the province.
In Kanawar, apples are abundant and nice looking, though not with ranch flavour. Peshawar exports dried red raisins, which sell at 18 lbs. for a shilling, and dried raisins of a pale green colour, which sell at 4 lbs. for a shilling ; and bloom raisins are also obtainable. Dried apricota aro very abundant ; also figs dried, flattened, and strung together ; also the dried plum (alucha) of Pesha war. The small seedless raisin, the kismis, is in every bazar. In the upper hills of the Panjab, the apricot (jaldaru or zardaru) is common, its kernel yielding oil. Apples and pears are also grown. There aro two species of cherry, the jamuna, or Cerasus cornuta, and the Cerasus padam; the former has black sweetish berries, which are eaten. The wild pear, called tnehal or kainth (Pyrus variolosa), is common also in tho hills. It sotnewhat resembles tho medlar, and the fruit is sweet when it is rotten. In Kangra and Kulu there is a crab or wild apple, called ban mehal (Pyrus baccata), also a quince (Cydonia vulgaris). The fruit of the trimal, or Ficus macrophylLs, is sold in the bazar at Simla. There are on the Upper Sutlej some species of Ribes (R. nubicola and R. glaciala), which are like currants, but have little flavour ; also a species of gooseberry. There is a wild stmwberry (Fragaria Indict), and D. blackberry, called unsri (Rubus tlavus), the fruit of which is preserved. In Kulu and Kangra tho loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica), and the pome granate, darim (Punica granatum), both occur. The mitha tendu, or fruit of the Diospyros tomen toga, niust not be omitted. In the Sutlej Nlyrica sapida yields a fruit useful for making sherbets. Among nuts wo find the findak, or nuts of Corylus lacera, sold at Simla ; and the seeds of the edible pine (P. Gerardiana) aro kept for food in Kanawar, where they sell at 2 'ulnas a seer = Ild. the lb. Above Chilli this treo is the principal one in the forest. In the lower hills the fruit of the tunla (Phyllanthus emblica) should perhaps be included ; the well-known plantain and mango do not occur. The latter is last seen, says Dr. Cleghorn, near Rampur on the Sutlej, and the former below Kotgarh. Eleagnus conferta gehai and Carissa edulis yield fruits that can be v‘reserved, tho latter making the well - known "arunda jelly.