Fairchild: The Mangosteen 



347 



Garcinia.^ Of these, he says, "only a 

 few can be recommended as promising 

 stock plants. . . . The most promis- 

 ing species of Garcinia for use as stock 

 plants for the mangosteen are Garcinia 

 tinctoria, G. niorella and G. livingstonei , 

 in the order named, the last a native of 

 Portuguese East Africa. The two first 

 named are from the Malay Peninsula. 

 . . . All the promising species ought 

 to be tried whenever there is an oppor- 

 tunity. Some species of Garcinia lately 

 found in the Philippine Islands would 

 seem to be especially promising mango- 

 steen stocks, especially those said to 

 grow under widely varying conditions. 



STOCKS EASILY GROWN 



"None of the species of Garcinia 

 used as stocks are difficult to raise from 

 seeds, provided they are fresh. They 

 are easiest to germinate when sown in 

 soil composed largely of partially de- 

 composed leaves mixed with a little 

 loam and rough-grained sand. They 

 should be potted as soon as the first 

 leaves are well developed. All the 

 Garcinias with the exception of G. man- 

 gostana have magnificent root systems, 

 and they thrive under ordinary treat- 

 ment in so far as soil watering and a 

 considerable range of temperature are 

 concerned." 



Dr. Ridley, of Singapore, says the 

 seashore mangosteen, G. hombroniana, 

 is a species which he has long wished 

 to cross with the true mangosteen. It 

 has fruits with a delicate peach flavor 

 and white flowers, and crosses between 

 the two species might prove more rapid 

 growers and better producers or make 

 good stocks for the true mangosteen. 

 In Cochin China there are at least ten 

 species of Garcinia, three of which are 

 edible, G. cochin-chinensis , G. loureiri, 

 and G. indica, according to L. Pierre in 

 his La Flore Forestiere de la Cochin Chine. 

 Specimens of several of these are now 

 growing in the Botanic Gardens of 

 Saigon and the late Dr. Haffner ex- 

 pressed a willingness to secure seeds 

 for experimenters. 



The whole subject of suitable stocks 

 and improved methods of propagation 



of the mangosteen, deserves to be given 



a study in connection with its introduc- 

 tion into America. There are forty-two 

 genera and 450 species belonging to the 

 mangosteen's family (Guttiferae) , many 

 of which deserve investigation as mango- 

 steen stocks. Mr. Oliver worked with 

 two of these allied genera, — Calophyl- 

 limi, which did not yield good unions, 

 and Platonia insignis, which he says is 

 "a very promising stock from one to 

 three years after germination, and if it 

 will grow under conditions suitable for 

 the mangosteen, it may turn out to be 

 the best stock of all those tried." 



Especial effort should be, and to a 

 certain extent is now being, made to 

 find hardy stocks that will permit the 

 propagation of the mangosteen in less 

 strictly tropical regions than those to 

 which it is now confined. It is possible 

 that hybridization of some of these 

 species would produce vigorous, resistant 

 stocks that would be of great value. 

 Here as everywhere among tropical 

 fruits, the plant breeder faces opportuni- 

 ties of almost illimitable promise, and a 

 field that has hardly been touched. 



It is not likely that much is to be 

 expected from direct hybridization of the 

 mangosteen. It is already so far supe- 

 rior to its congeners, that hybrids could 

 hardly fail to be worse, rather than 

 better, than the parent, as far as 

 quality is concerned. There is, how- 

 ever, ample room for selection, and 

 isolation of the best strains, which may 

 then be propagated under varietal 

 names. 



A thorough experimental study of the 

 subject would doubtless show other 

 possibilities that can not now be seen. 

 At present, however, it is perfectly 

 safe to say that there is no obstacle to 

 the dissemination of this queen of 

 tropical fruits, throughout the warmest 

 parts of the American continent; and 

 that if it can be grown on a commercial 

 scale within easy shipping distance of 

 Unites Stated markets, the connois- 

 seurs of this country will have added to 

 their menu a fruit which has been 

 long acknowledged by many as the most 

 delicate flavored fruit in the world. 



'See Oliver, G. W., "The Seedling- Inarch and Nurse-Plant Methods of Propagation." U. S. 

 Dept. of Agr., B. P. I., Bull. No. 202, Washington, D. C, 1911. Valuable details in regard to 

 the growth of seedlings as well as propagation by grafting are given in this publication. 



