52 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



February 12, 1916. 



FRUIT. 



now MANGOES MAY BE CLASSIFIED. 



The chautic coiRlitioii of mango elassiticatiou in India 

 has led to the publication of a note on the subject by 

 Dr. W. Burns and Mr. 8. H. Pryag, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Bombay, in the Ayrirxdtural Journal of Indin, 

 Vol. X, Part IV, October 191.^. The characters of the fruit 



6. 



.3. Right shouhler. 



are taken as the basis of classification. 

 <ial, it is maintained that if it serves 

 it is as good as a natural classification. 



It is proposed to divide the fruit into three main classes: 



(1) round fruited — those varieties with fruits in which the 

 length from stalk to apex is e(iual to or less than the breadth; 



(2) long fruited - those varieties in which the length is 

 distinctly greater than the breadth: (3) indelinite — those that 

 fall in neither class, on account of being on the border line 

 between the classes and, in addition, of somewhat variable 

 nature. 



In making reference to the length and breadtii or, in 

 other words, the axes of the fruits, it is j)ointed out that thi.s 

 forces us to consider in what position a mango fruit should 

 be for ilescription. It is a u.seful Cdiiveiition, tiie authors 

 say, to describe a mango fruit lying on its .side with the 

 beak to the left. One can then talk of its length (axis 

 between stalk and apex), l>readth (axis at right angles to 

 length and parallel to plain in which the mango fruit is 

 lying), and thickness (axis at right angles to breadth and 

 vertical to surface on which the fruit is lying). 



The parts mentioned in any such description are shown 

 in the accompanying diagram. In addition to size and three 

 dimensions, weight, colour, surface and the nature, closeness 

 and distribution of the small dots on the skin may be 

 mentioned. After the fruit is cut, the Hesh should be 

 described as to taste, colour and stringiness, the skin as to 

 thickness, and the stone as to size, weight, fibre and markings. 



If we desired to make a world-wide classification, we 

 should make territorial classes embodying the Indian, West; 

 Indian, Cuban, l-'hilippine, etc., mangoes: these could again 

 be grouped under the two great heads of monoembryouic and 

 polyembryonic. So far only monoembryouic mangoes are 

 known in India. 



PLANT BREEDING IN CUBA. 



Messrs. F. S. Earle ami Wilson Popenoe contribute aa 

 article of much inlevest to West Indian horticulturists to the 

 Journal, of Heredity for December 191"). It shows the rich 

 opportunities that exist in Cuba and the West Indies 

 generally for plant breeders, especially growers of fruit; and 

 it indicates the attempts that should be made to take advan- 

 tage of these natural resources. 



After referring to the work that has been done in Cuba 

 with tobacco and cane, in connexion with which attention is 

 called to selection for resistance to disease, the article pro- 

 ceeds for the greater part of its length to discuss the selec- 

 tion of fruits. The northener coming to Cuba, as to the 

 West Indies generally, is apt to scoff at many of the native 

 fruits, and to compare them unfavourably with temperate 

 fruits. In doing so, it is pointed out, ho fails to remember 

 that most of the tropical fruit.s — practically all with the 

 excejition of the pine-apple and the banana — are nothing 

 more than half wild seedlings. It is no wonder then, that 

 many of the tropical fruits, in their present state, are of 

 rather inferior ijuality. Rut at the same time their standard 

 is not relatively poor, and one is led to expect that very 

 good results might accrue from the application of modern 

 methods of selection. 



Coming to imlividual cases, mention is made first of 

 the need of a suitable grape for cultivation under tropical 

 conditions. Though the south European grapes are occa- 

 sionally grown in Cuba and other tropical countries with 

 a certain degree of success, they do not flourish and produce 

 abundantly. There exists in Cuba, however, a native species, 

 Yitis caribaea, which might, through hybridization with 

 some of the cultivated grapes, give rise to a race which 

 would be of the greatest value to tropical regions. The 

 vigour and productiveness of this wild grape suggest that it 

 might also be of value as a stock on which to graft varieties 

 of the Vinifera type. Even in its present form this grape 

 is equal, in size and c|Uality, to many of the wild grajjes of 

 North America. 



.\nother native plant of possible economic value, recently 

 brought to the attention of horticulturists, is the Cuban 

 walnut (Jui/hins insufaris). 'Phis tree occurs in the moun- 

 tains of the ishind, producing nuts which compare favourably 

 in size with the northern black walnut. The kernels are 

 difficult to remove from the shells, however, and the partition.s 

 are thick. It is pointed out that there are very few nuts 

 which succeed in Cuba or in the tropics generally, and the 

 addition of a walnut to those already cultivated would be 

 a distinct advance. 



Oppoitunities with the mango are especially great. 

 Nearly all Cuban mangoes are polyembryonic, and reproduce 

 themselves more or less ti'ue to type when grown fix>m seed. 

 In till- I'^ast most of the mangoes are monoembryouic, 

 and the .seedlings do not come true to type. It may be 

 mentioned here that the seeds in a mango are not pr(xluced 

 sexually as in most fruits, but by a process of buddiog 

 Hence raising ])lants from [)olyembryonic mangoes is really 

 a form of vegetativi- and not si'xual reproduction. In the> 



