MANGIFERA 



MANGIFERA 



979 



the Mango, is cult, everywhere in the tropics. The fruit 

 (Fig. 1300) is large (4-5 in. long) and kidney-shaped, 

 the skin being smooth, rather soft, pale green, yellow or 

 half-red, and resinous. Inside is a large seed nearly as 

 long as the fruit. The shell of the seed is rough and 

 fibrous ; the kernel is shaped like a bean and is some- 

 times roasted and eaten like chestnuts. In a poor 

 variety of Mango the pulp is so full of fiber that the 

 fruit is sucked rather than eaten, and beginners say it 

 tastes like a ball of cotton soaked in turpeutine and 

 molasses. This is particularly true of the common or 

 turpentine variety, but the improved kinds are not un- 

 pleasantly fibrous. There are said to be 130 or more 

 varieties cult, in India, where the Mango is most es- 

 teemed. All parts of the Mango tree have a sweet, resin- 

 ous fragrance which suggests turpentine. 



In the tropics the Mango is a staple article of food 

 during the hot months. The ripe fruits are eaten raw, 

 either plain or sliced with wine, stigar and nutmeg. The 

 unripe fruits are made into jellies, preserves, tarts and 

 pickles. Starch and glucose are also made from Man- 

 goes. A wine is made by adding vinegar to the juice of 

 Mangoes. Various domestic animals are also fond of 

 the fruit. As to quality, the Mango is ranki-d by some 

 next to the finest pineapples and the mangosteen. 



The Mango is extensively cultivated in the West 

 Indies, and slightly in S. Fla. and S. Calif. A sketch 

 of its history in Florida is found in Bulletin 1, Div. of 

 Pomology, U. S. Dept. of Agric, from which the fol- 

 lowing facts are taken : No fruit stood higher in the 

 popular esteem in parts of south Floridathan tlie Mango 

 at the time when the disastrous freeze of January, IS8G, 

 killed to the ground every or almost every tree north 

 of Fort Myers. In 1KIS4. 12.'>.000 fruits were shipped from 

 Jamaica to the United States, and brought $900. In 

 their eighth year from seed two Florida trees bore 

 19,000 fruits. Some of these fruits weighed a pound. In 

 all cases where the trees were well cared for they pro- 

 duced from 4,000 to 9,000 Mangoes each when once well 

 in bearing. Mangoes were shipped to Chicago and 

 brought 60 cents a dozen. The fruit ripens June-Sept. 

 The only varieties advertised in America in 1899 were the 

 Common or Turpentine, Cole, Black, Long, No. 11, Apri- 

 cot and Apple. The following have been advertised in 

 the past: Alphonse, Banchore, Devambria, Green Mexi- 

 can, Melachoton, Pirie, Yam. The Mango can be fruited 

 under glass in the North. It requires a winter tem- 

 perature of 60°. 



The Mango tree is evergreen, grows 30-40 ft. high 

 and makes a round, den-e top (see Fig. 1301). The fis. 

 are small and produced in 

 terminal pyramidal panicles. 

 A greenhouse specimen in 

 England is said to have 

 borne 108 panicles, each con- 

 taining 2,100 fis., or a total 

 of a quarter of a million fls. 

 The Mango is a native of 

 the East Indies. W. M. 



Mangoes in Jamaica.— 

 The Mango was first known 

 in the New World in Brazil, 

 whence it was brought to 

 Barbadoes in the middle of 

 the eighteenth century. In 

 1782 a French vessel on its 

 way to Haiti was captured 

 by one of Rodney's squadron 

 and bronsht a« a prize to Ja- 

 maica; the collection of eco- 

 nomic plants on hoard was 

 deposited in the Botanic 

 Garden. Many of the plants 

 were new to the island, and 

 amon<;st these was the 

 Mango. It is said that the 

 book containing the local 

 names of the fruits was 

 thrown overboard. The 

 plants were numbered, and 

 Nos. 11 and 32 have become famous varieties in the 

 West Indies. The colored plate in the Botanical Maga- 

 zine (4510) is supposed to represent No. 32. 



f^^ny^ 



1360. Mangifera Indica. 



1361. Maneifera Indica. 



In Jamaica it has become thoroughly naturalized and 

 one of the commonest trees. In wet districts it is liable 

 to cease fruiting after a few years, probably on account 

 of its vigorous growth. It is recommended to treat it 

 as one would other fruit trees in temperate climates in 

 similar circumstances. Propagation is effected either by 

 sowing the seed of good varieties or grafting from a 

 good variety on strong seedlings. The fruit on trees 

 grown from seed is not true to the parent in every case, 

 but the percentage is so large tliat this has been the 

 usual method employed. The kind of grafting employed 

 is that known as grafting by approach or inarching. 

 Any kind of soil suits it. Wji. Fawcett. 



Mangoes in Florida. — The Mango deserves to be 

 planted on well-protected land all over south Florida. 

 The best soil is high, well-drained, sandy land suitable 

 for oranges, but the Mango thrives also on black-jack, 

 scrub ai.d spruce-pine lands, where most other trees are 

 a failure. Any good fertilizer will make the Mango 

 grow, but for fruit use plenty of ashes or sulfate of 

 potash beside the usual manure. In case of a hard 

 freeze cut the trunk back at once to sound, live wood. 

 The Mango tree is very handsome. The young growths 

 are wine-colored. e. N. Reasonek. 



Mangifera is a genus of 27 species according to the 

 latest monographer, Engler in DC. Mon. Ph.an. i: 195 

 (1883). They are all tropical Asian trees, their nearest 

 ally of horticultural value being the Cashew, which is 

 fully described under Anaeardium. Lvs. alternate, 

 stalked, leathery, entire : fls. polygamo-dioecious; 

 calyx 4-.5-parted; petals 4-5, overlapping, the middle 

 nerve usually thickened ; fertile stamens 1, or 4-5: 

 style filiform. 



fndica, Linn Mango. Figs. l.'ieO-l. Lvs. thickish, 6-10 

 in. long, with about 15 j>airs of lateral nerves: panicle 

 longer than the lvs.. densely covered with short, yellow- 

 ish hairs: disk tumid (not minute), 4-5-lobed, wider 



