THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 4, 1913. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE BUIDING OF THK MANGO IN 



ST. LUCIA. 



In a recent issue t f the Agricultural Xewx an account 

 was given of recen* work on the budding of the avocado 

 in Dominici . 



Information has been lately received through the .Agri- 

 cultural .-^uperintendent, St. Lucia, of .similar investigations 

 carried our, by .Mr. Aichibald Brooks, Assistant Agricultural 

 Su|ierintendent, on the budding of the mango. 



It appears that Mr Niles, the Junior Instructor and 

 Overseer at the E.xperinu-nt Siation, Union, was the 6rst to 

 achieve complete success in mango budding; but a more 

 general investigation of the subject on a larger .scale, extend- 

 ing over the last eighteen months, is described by Mr. Brooks 

 in his notes, which constitute the basis of the present article. 



It is pointed out, first of all, that success in mango- 

 budding mainly depends upon the vigorous condition of the 

 stocks. For this reason the preliminary attempts to bud both 

 mango and avocado stpcks raised in bamboo pots proved 

 unsuccessful. Flute and Thudding and splice grafting were 

 tried, and it was endeavoured to increase the vitality of the 

 young stocks by the judicious application of sulphate of 

 ammonia. Every attempt proved unsuccessful; the buds 

 remained dormant for several weeks, and in some instances 

 the avocado buds commenced to swell, but eventually 

 turned black 



Having at the lime a large bed of vigorous one year-old 

 seedling mango stocks, it was decided to attempt budding 

 them by similar methods to those employed in the propagation 

 of oriinges. The inverted T method was tried first, and the 

 attempts i)roved very .successful: about 60 per cent of the 

 buds developed and produced good plants. 



It is stated that this method has an advantage over the 

 well-known patch budding of citrus plants in that the former 

 does not demand such a high degree of .skill and de.vterity: 

 for in patch budding it is, for instance, essential that the bud 

 be cut so as to tit the incised area of the stock in order to 

 make a perfectly tight union. In the case of the inverted T 

 method it is only necessary that the biul be inserted beneath 

 the bark and firmly lied in position. 



The .selection of bud- wood it is pointed out, must be con- 

 fined to young woody branches. The buds should be tied 

 in position with ratlia; budding tape should wjt be used: for 



mango and avocado stocks, being more sappy than citrus 

 stocks, tend to favour the , development of fungi around the 

 wound when covered with waxed tape. This was found to 

 be one of the causes of previous failures already referred to. 



.■\ point which next received consideration was the trans- 

 planting of tlie budded stocks. Some of the plants were 

 lifted and jiotted in bamboo joints. The results show that 

 this can be done successfully; but it is necessary to exercise 

 great care, and only the largest bamboo pots should be 

 employed. It has been found that plants with unusually 

 long tap roots should not be potted, but transplanted direct 

 in the field Rfducing to any great e.vtent the length of the 

 tap root, when potting, generally results in the death of the 

 plant. 



Other plants were transplanted in a similar way to that 

 employed in citrus cultivation, and with the same satisfactory 

 results. The plants were forked up and all the soil shaken 

 from their roots. The leaves were clipped and the plants 

 transplanted to permanent positions in the field. 



In concluding his notes on this useful piece of investi- 

 gation, Mr. Brooks points out the several practical disiid- 

 vantages attending the usual method of mango propagation 

 nanu-ly, inarching; and finally, it is stated that experiments 

 are now in progress having for their object the determination 

 of the length of time that the plants will survive between 

 lifting and their tinal tran.splanting. The results should pro- 

 vide useful facts in connexion with the transportation of the 

 budded plants over long distances. 



A total of (,33".) plants was distributed from the 

 nurseries of the St Lucia I )epartinent of Agriculture during 

 last month, they included 3,L50 lime jilanis and 608 I'ara 

 rubber plants, as well as 300 of cacao The Agricultural 

 Superintendent states that the present demand in the island 

 for lime plants exceeds the sup[)ly by about 20,000, and that 

 preparations are being made for raising 100,000 plants next 

 year. It is estimated that the Hooding of the Ex|)eriment 

 Station at Union in October caused the loss of 70,000 lime 

 .seeds and seedlings. Additional trouble has resulted from 

 ihr Icavy rains of November, wliich have made it ditticult to 

 esl.i. !i-h lime seedlings. 



