NEW HORTICULTURAL CROPS FOR FOOD SUPPLY 59 



are but few in America, though they are not difficult to grow in 

 Florida, California or in our insular possessions. A quotation from 

 Fairchild suggests the possible future of the mango in America. 

 He says: 



" The mango is one of the really great fruits of the world .... 

 There are probably more varieties of mangos than there are of 

 peaches. I have heard of one collection of five hundred different 

 sorts in India. There are exquisitely flavored varieties no larger 

 than a plum, and there are delicious sorts, the fruits of which are 

 six pounds in weight. These fine varieties, practically as free from 

 fiber as a freestone peach, can be eaten with a spoon as easily as a 

 canteloupe. Trainloads of these are shipped from the mango- 

 growing centers of India and distributed in the densely peopled 

 cities of that great semi-tropical empire." 



No one can read Bayard Taylor's fervent praise of the durian 

 and the mangosteen and not desire to grow these fruits in America. 



He says of the durian: — "Of all fruits, at first the most intoler- 

 able; but said, by those who have smothered their prejudices, to 

 be of all fruits, at last, the most indispensable. When it is brought 

 to you at first, you clamor till it is removed; if there are durians 

 in the next room to you, you can not sleep. Chloride of lime and 

 disinfectants seem to be its necessary remedy. To eat it seems to 

 be a sacrifice of self-respect; but, endure it for a while, A^-ith closed 

 nostrils, taste it once or twice, and you will cry for durians thence- 

 forth,, even — I blush to write it — even before the glorious 

 mangosteen." 



Listen to his laudation of the "glorious mangosteen." 



"Beautiful to sight, smell and taste, it hangs among its glossy 

 leaves the prince of fruits. Cut through the shaded green and 

 purple of the rind, and lift the upper half as if it were the cover of 

 a dish, and the pulp of half-transparent, creamy whiteness stands 

 in segments like an orange, but rimmed with darkest crimson where 

 the rind was cut. It looks too beautiful to eat; but how the rarest, 

 sweetest essence of the tropics seems to dwell in it as it melts to 

 your delightful taste." 



One need not titillate the palate to enjoy such fruit. Can they 

 be so delectable? Surely we can find a place for them somewhere 

 in America. 



