A
Branch As Thick As A Man's Thigh Is Chosen In The Early Spring,
And Is Cut Off Just Beneath A Group Of These Points, All The
Smaller Branches Are Lopped Off, And It Is Then Placed About
Two Feet Deep In The Ground.
During the ensuing summer
the stump throws out long shoots, and sometimes even bears
fruit:
I was shown one which had produced as many as
twenty-three apples, but this was thought very unusual. In
the third season the stump is changed (as I have myself
seen) into a well-wooded tree, loaded with fruit. An old
man near Valdivia illustrated his motto, "Necesidad es la
madre del invencion," by giving an account of the several
useful things he manufactured from his apples. After making
cider, and likewise wine, he extracted from the refuse a
white and finely flavoured spirit; by another process he
procured a sweet treacle, or, as he called it, honey. His
children and pigs seemed almost to live, during this season of
the year, in his orchard.
February 11th. - I set out with a guide on a short ride, in
which, however, I managed to see singularly little, either
of the geology of the country or of its inhabitants. There
is not much cleared land near Valdivia: after crossing a
river at the distance of a few miles, we entered the forest, and
then passed only one miserable hovel, before reaching our
sleeping-place for the night. The short difference in latitude,
of 150 miles, has given a new aspect to the forest compared
with that of Chiloe.
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