*^ NOTE and COMMENT fe* 



Strknuous Plant Impoktation. — Importers of plants . 

 have not always had the Federal Horticultural Board to con- 

 tend with, but the introduction of new plants in America has 

 sometimes failed to be plain sailing for all that. Take the 

 case of the mango, for instance. The introducion of this 

 fruit into Jamiaca was quite unintentional, so far as the origi- 

 nal importers were concerned. In 1782, a French ship bound 

 from Mauritius to Hayti with a cargo of economic plants was 

 captured by the English under Rodney and sent as a prize to 

 Jamaica. Among the plants were cinnamon, Jack-fruit {Ar- 

 tocarpus integrifolia) and mangoes (Mangifera Indica). The 

 mangoes were invoiced by number and the names having been 

 lost the plants were referred to by the original numbers. 

 "Number 11" turned out to be an especially well-flavored fruit 

 and to this day it has so influenced opinion that any superior 

 variety is sure to be called a "number eleven". About ten 

 years after this importation Captain Bligh landed in Jamaica 

 with several hundred plants of bread-fruit {Arctocarpus in- 

 cisa). The account of his adventures in securing these reads 

 like a tale from the Arabian Nights. As Lieutenant Bligh, 

 he left England in 1787 in command of the British ship 

 Bounty for a trip to the Society Islands in quest of bread-fruit 

 trees. He tried to sail around Cape Horn but hostile winds 

 kept him back and he was obliged to make for Tahiti by way 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. After taking on a cargo of a 



