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.