70 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 6, 1909. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



BUDDING .THE MANGO. 



Seedling mangos, as is well known, can seldom be 

 relied upon for the production of fniit, as the produce 

 is almost sure to be of inferior quality. Even if the 

 parent tree be of a superior variety, seedliug.s are likely 

 to revert to the original species. Ri-sort. must tht-re- 

 fore be had to propagation Ijy \egetHl.i\'e means if the 

 best mangos are to be perpetn.iitd. 



In the West Indifc.s the method known a.s ' grafting by 

 approach ' i.s practically the only method that has so far been 

 adopted for multiplying supei'ior kinds of the fruit. This 

 method, however, is not so satisfactory as it might be, movo 

 especially when a large number of young ti-e«is are required, 

 .since it is slow and elaborate, and involves the erection of an 

 unsightly structure, laden with i>ots, around the tree from 

 Avhich the graftings are to be made. 



In Queensland and also in the United States, 

 'budding' or 'bud-grafting' has of late years been 

 iidopted with great success in the pro[)agation of the 

 mango. This system is much more rapid than that of 

 grafting by approach. It has already been described in 

 an early number of the Af/rifuUurcd i\^r!?('.s (Vol. Ill, 

 No. ()2), but in view of recent encpiiries, and of the 

 fact that the number in cpiestion is out of print, it has 

 been thought desirable to again refer to the subject. 

 The method is described in Bidlctin A'o. 40 of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, U.S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, from which the following details have been 

 abstracted : — 



Seedlings of two or three years old, and which have stems 

 at least an inch in thicknes.s, may most suitably be used as 

 .stocks on wliich to bud the mango In young trees at this 

 •stage of growth, both wood and bark are thoroughly ripe, 

 and union of the scion with the stock will easily be accom- 

 plished if insertion of the buds is performed carefully. 

 A method of budding which has proved most .satisfactory is 

 shown in Fig. 'J ; tliis consists in removing a rectangular 

 piece of bark from the stock, and inserting another piece — 

 taken from a branch of a desirable variety of mango. This 

 hitter piece of bark will be similar in shape to that removed, 

 but a trifle larger in size, and will have a bud in the centre, 



As the results of experiments carried out in the United 

 States, it lias been found that branches of very young growth 

 (less than a year old) are unsatisfactory for iiroviding bud- 

 wood. This should be selected from wood old enough to 

 liave lost its foliage, which means that bud-wood will 

 frequently be over two years old. The use of bark of this 



age, and even older, ensures success in budding the mango, 

 as it unites rapidly with liark of a similar age on seedling 

 .stocks or on branches of trees. Precision in removing the 

 section of bark from the stock, and also from the variety to 

 be pro]iagated, are factors upon which success depends to 

 a certain extent. 



W hen the section ot liiiik from the Imdwood has been 



Flo. 9. l;i:cTAN(:UL.\R FaTiII MiIIIo I'.l hOI.N'O TtlE 



MaNOO. 



pi-opcrly fitted in place, a small ipiantity of grafting wax 

 should be smeared over the edges of contact, and the bark 

 then tied iirndy with thick strands of bast as .shown at 

 C. (Fig. 9). After this, the cut surface.s, and all but the laid, 

 should be covered with strips of cloth dipped in melted 

 paraffin, as a further preventive agiiinst the admission of air 

 and moisture between the cut suif.ices of stock ami scion. 

 If there is undue exposure to the sun, sh-ide should be 

 provided liy means of striiis of [iiipcr tied ovcv the bud, and 

 extending down over it. 



At the end of a fortnight fi'om Iradding, the stock may 

 bo examined to ascertain the [a-ogicss that has been made. 

 Tiic cloth wrappings may lie removed, ami the raffia loosened 

 if there is danger of its cutting into the liark. When a suffi- 

 cient time has elapsed to make certain that union has taken 

 place, part of the top of the stock slmnld l)C removetl, in 

 order to encourage the bud to start. This it will do with 

 very little coaxing. 



fiudding may be jjerformed at any time during the 

 growing season, but with ever)- plant there are certain periods 

 when the operation will be more successful than at others. 



