B. IM.— 36. B.I. A?:.— 49. 



THE MANGO IN PORTO RICO. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The manj^o is considered )>y maii}^ to be the finest of tropical fruits, 

 though on this point there is much diversity of opinion, occasioned to 

 a great extent by difference in taste, but still more by the great diver- 

 sity in the fruit itself , which varies enormously in different localities, 

 there beino- laro-e areas where the mango is common and where not a 

 single good variety is to be had. Persons forming their opinion of 

 the fruit in such localities usually indorse the proverbial statement 

 that the mango is '"a mass of tow saturated with turpentine.'' On the 

 other hand, those acquainted with the fruit at its best are almost 

 unanimously^ enthusiastic in their praise. Elphinstone, the historian 

 of India, says: 



The mango is the best fruit of India, at once rich and delicate, and all other fruits 

 are comparatively insipid beside its intensity of taste. There is something in it that 

 is nothing less than vi)luptiious. 



A taste for mangoes, at least for the varieties existing in Porto 

 Rico, has in most people to be cultivated; ])ut once acquired, it is like 

 a taste for olives, and becomes almost a craving. The milder flavored 

 varieties, in which no taste of turpentine is to be detected, are usually 

 enjoyed even by the novice, but after one becomes familiar with the 

 fruit a slight taste of turpentine ceases to be disagreeable. The fiber, 

 however, that exists in the poorer varieties is an unmitigated evil, and 

 renders the eating of a mango a serious operation, to which one must 

 devote his entire attention and may need to conclude with a bath. In 

 the varieties where the fiber is the worst, one can not even have 

 recourse to sli(;ing the meat from the seed, as in that case the cut ends 

 of the fibers are stiff' enough to irritate the tongue. 



Good mangoes are produced m America, but as yet in such small 

 quantity that few persons have had an opportunity to taste any but 

 inferior fruit. Sample lots of the more common and poorer varieties 

 are frequently shipped to northern markets, and have doubtless done 

 much to hinder the growth of the trade. A first impression is very 

 lasting, and first impressions of the mango based on such fruit are likely 

 to be anything but favorable. As an example, mangoes are frequently 



