34 THE MANGO IN PORTO RICO. 



aclvisabilit}' of shipping in cold storage has never been properly' tested, 

 but the general opinion seems to be that low temperatures injure the 

 Havorof the fruit. Mr. J. II. Hart, Superintendent of the Royal 

 Botanical Gardens of Trinidad, recommends" a temperature some 8° 

 or 1(»- below that in which the fruit was ripened. '• Pick the fruit," 

 he says, " when fully formed or " full.' handle without bruising, or, as 

 I wrote many years ago of oranges, ' handle as you would eggs,' 

 choose well-formed and uninjured fruit, pack so that fruit receives no 

 undue weight or pressure, place for transit in a well-ventilated part of 

 the ship, and nearly every kind of fruit can be carried successfully for 

 voyages of from six to fourteen days or more, mangoes of the best 

 kind among the number;" while experiments in shipping mangoes 

 from Australia would indicate that a temperature of about 35-^ was the 

 most satisfactory-. 



There can ))e no doubt that questions of ventilation and of packing 

 so that the fruit is not subjected to undue pressure are of more 

 importance than the exact temperature, and the instructions of Mr. 

 Hart will, if followed, allow good fruit to reach the northern markets 

 in prime condition. 



The United States consul at Bombay, William Thomas Fee, in his 

 report for October, 1901, states that in the large shipments of man- 

 goes now being sent from India to London the fruit is packed in the 

 cast-off boxes used for shipping oil to India, and that it arrives in 

 good condition. 



M. Nollet, director of the garden at Martinique, has succeeded in 

 making small shipments from that island to Paris with a loss not 

 exceeding 10 per cent. The fruit was wrapped in soft paper and 

 packed one dozen in a box, the interstices tilled with sawdust and the 

 whole placed in cold storage. 



The fruit is usually picked when of full size, but l)efore it has com- 

 pletely ripened, and is placed in shade to complete the process. In 

 some parts of India it is buried in the ground to ripen, as this is sup- 

 posed to make it sweeter. 



To establish a market for Porto Rican mangoes, it will be necessary 

 for some individual or company to undertake to grade, pack, and ship 

 the fruit on a scale sufficiently large to enable commission merchants 

 to receive regular consignments and feel confidence in the uniform 

 quality and condition of the shipments. Growers may hesitate to 

 embark in the production of mangoes on a large scale before a market 

 is assured, but a market will not be assured until the supply can meet 

 the above conditions. A large and well-organized plantation could 

 probably best meet these requirements, but, in the absence of such, the 

 neighboring planters of mangoes might very advantageously cooperate 



aBul. Royal Bot. Gardens, Trinidad, 1897-99, Vol. Ill, p. 192. 



