B. P. I.— 63. S. P. I. D.— 37. 



THE PROPAGATION OF TROPICAL FRUIT TREES 

 AND OTHER PLANTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The purpose of this bulletin is to furnish short notes dealing with 

 the most feasible methods of propagating such tropical and subtropical 

 fruit trees and other economic plants as have thus far received little 

 or no attention in the United States and its near-by tropical possessions. 



Considerable progress has already been made in introducing new 

 and improved varieties of the fruits mentioned here, and experiments 

 are being carried on with a view to simplifying the old methods of 

 increasing the supply of these plants. 



The seeds of many varieties of trees and other plants have been 

 sown to produce fruiting specimens, notably the mango and the loquat. 

 The result of this method of propagation has almost invariably been 

 only a partial success with most of the subjects and wholly unsatisfac- 

 tory with others. 



Where seeds of any desirable fruit trees are available, they should, 

 of course, be sown and the seedlings planted out in permanent loca- 

 tions when large enough; but these seedlings should only be used as 

 stocks on which to bud or graft varieties of known value. In few 

 cases can seedlings be depended upon for the production of fruit; the 

 product is almost certain to be of inferior quality. Even if the parent 

 tree be of a superior variety, seedlings are likely to revert to the 

 original species. Therefore, as the seedlings of tropical fruits are as 

 a rule of healthy and vigorous growth, their best use will be to supply 

 a good foundation on which to work scions from good trees. 



Other economic plants, such as tea and Manila hemp, have also been 

 found to yield better products when propagated vegetatively than 

 when grown from seeds. The hemp plant belongs to a division of the 

 vegetable kingdom the members of which do not readily lend them- 

 selves to either budding or grafting, but it can be propagated quickly 

 by other means of vegetative reproduction. The tea plant may also 

 be multiplied vegetatively without resorting to budding or grafting. 



As the propagation of most of the trees and plants dealt with in 



