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The Custard Apple, the Cherimoya

SWEET AND SOUR SOP AND POND APPLE Anonacea WITH one exception (the wild, North American papaw) the members of the Anonacee or Custard Apple Family are tropical. (It must be remembered that the North American wild papaw and the tropical papaw are two entirely different fruits.) The fruit which bears the family name individually, the Custard Apple, or Bullock's Heart (A. reticulata), resembles distantly the wild Northern papaw. It is dark brown in colour; roundish in form, and is best in its natural state, thoroughly ripened, for eating, though it may be varied by serving with sugar and cream, with whipped eggs or by being frozen.

The Sweet Sop or Sugar Appleisthe Anona squamosa. The sweet, mealy, aromatic pulp of this little fruit is sometimes cooked in simple form but it is most delicious in its natural state. (The seeds, powdered, will drive away fleas or other insects.) In appearance the Sugar Apple somewhat resembles tiny, crownless pineapples.

The Sour Sop (Anona muricata), is much larger than the Sweet Sop, weighing up to five pounds or more, and, while also aromatic, is somwhat tart and chiefly used in making cold drinks, ices, etc., as it is most refreshing in effect. The Pond Apple, A. palustris or A. glabra, or laurifolia, sometimes mistakenly called "the Custard Apple," which name properly belongs to the Bullock's Heart, is not as great a favourite as the other members of the family though it is a fragrant, creamy fruit, "conical, with blunt point (not unlike a Bellflower apple in shape), and when ripe the large stem pulls out of the fruit, leaving a hole half-way through it."-H. E. Van Deman.

On the other hand, A. cherimolia, the Cherimoya, or Chiramoya, or Jamaica Apple, is the greatest favourite of the Anonas, most delicious, and even considered to outrank in general attractions every other known fruit save the Mangosteen. It varies in size and weight from those no larger than anorange to fifteen "pounders." Its juicy white pulp (containing small brown seeds) is eaten with a spoon, uncooked. It also makes a delicious frozen dainty.