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11.

grams in weight, with a range from 300 to 600 grams. It has a rather leathery skin, almost smooth although the areoles indicating the fused carpels are clearly marked by impressed lines. An unusual feature is the development of the fruit stem to a much greater diameter than that of twig which bears it. The custard-like flesh is cream-colored, granular near the skin, less sweet and less pleasantly flavored than that of the sugar-apple; in fact the custard-apple is usually considered uninteresting by connoisseurs. Yet custard-apples find a ready sale in many tropical markets. Numerous dark brown seeds, the size and shape of common beans, are imbedded in the flesh. There seem to be two seedling races, differing only in the color of the fruit: one is yellowish-green, the other reddish-yellow at maturity.

Propagation by budding and grafting is not difficult, but no sufficiently good seedlings have appeared to justify selection as varieties. Seeds germinate in 4 to 6 weeks and retain viability for a year if stored dry. The value of seedlings as vigorous rootstocks for better anonas has already been noted.

THEELAMA

This species, Annona diversifolia, was called to the attention of tropical horticulturists about 1915, with the recommendation that it might well be termed "the cherimoya of the lowlands." It is native to semi-arid lowlands and foothills along the Pacific coast from southern Mexico to Nicaragua, where the climate is too warm for cherimoyas. It is somewhat handicapped by the large seeds and fact that the fruits show a tendency to split open upon approaching maturity, a defect which might be controlled by harvesting the fruits before they ripen on the tree. Although it is grown in dooryards here and there throught the region in which it is believed to be indigenous, it is abundant in only a few places: at Tapachula, in the State of Chiapas,