11
oz. They hug the stem closely in compact single rows in progressive
stages, the lower tier ripe, the next uppermost nearly so, the
development decreasing consistently to the rudiments of flower-buds in
the crown of the tree. The leaves fall as the fruit grows, but there is
always a crown or umbrella to ward off the rays of the sun. When ripe,
the most approved variety is yellow. In the case of the female plant
growing out of the way of a male, the fruit is smaller in size, and
seedless or nearly so.
Another curious, if not unique point about this estimable plant is that
sometimes within the cavity of a perfect specimen will be found one or
two infant naked fruits, likewise apparently perfect. Occasionally these
abnormal productions are crude, unfashioned and deformed.
Ripened in ample light, with abundance of water, and in high
temperature, the fruit must not be torn from the tree "with forced
fingers rude," lest the abbreviated stalk pulls out a jagged plug,
leaving a hole for the untimely air to enter. The stalk must be
carefully cut, and the spice-exhaling fruit borne reverently and
immediately to the table. The rite is to be performed in the cool of the
morning, for the papaw is essentially a breakfast fruit, and then when
the knife slides into the buff-coloured flesh of a cheesy consistency,
minute colourless globules exude from the facets of the slices.
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