1986 



MANGIFERA 



MANGIFERA 



terminal buds of the young branches; when a new flush 

 makes its appearance its leaves are usually reddish or 

 wine-colored, the color changing to green as the leaves 

 mature. After the development of each flush there is 

 usually a period of inactivity, following which another 

 flush is made, each one varying in length from a few 

 inches to a foot or more. The flowers, which are borne 

 in large panicles a foot or more in length, produced in 

 spring at the ends of the young branches, are yellowish 

 or pinkish in color; there are sometimes 2,000 or even 

 more on a single panicle, but only part of them are 

 perfect, the mango being polygamous, i. e., producing 

 on the same tree flowers in which both sexes are present 

 and flowers which are unisexual. The staminate 

 flowers greatly outnumber the perfect ones, as a general 

 thing; there is, however, only one pollen-bearing stamen, 

 the remaining four being abortive and represented by 

 staminodes of varying prominence. The perfect flowers 

 are easily distinguished from the staminate ones by 

 the small obliquely round ovary, borne upon the 

 swollen disk. The petals are ovate to lanceolate, com- 

 monly five in number. 



In size and character of fruit the mango is extremely 

 variable; there are varieties which are scarcely larger 

 than a plum, and there are others whose fruits weigh as 

 much as four or five pounds. The shape varies from 

 round to long and slender, some of the commonest 

 types being reniform, obliquely heart-shaped, oval, 

 or elliptical. The skin is smooth, somewhat thicker 

 than that of a peach, commonly yellow or greenish 

 yellow in color, but in some varieties bright yellow 

 overspread with scarlet or crimson, and of extremely 

 beautiful appearance. Other types are uniformly pale 

 lemon-yellow. The aroma is often delicious, spicy 

 and tempting, and this added to the brilliant color, 

 makes some of the finer varieties of the mango among 

 the most attractive of all fruits. The stone is large, 

 usually flattened, and in the ordinary seedling fruit 

 covered with long, tough fibers, which extend from all 

 sides into the yellow, juicy flesh. In the best grafted 

 sorts there is no fiber and the fruit can be divided into 

 halves, after making a longitudinal cut through the 

 flesh, like a freestone peach. 



The flavor, like that of many other tropical fruits, 

 is difficult of description. Lady Brassey has likened it 

 to a combination of apricot and pineapple, and others 

 have compared it to the peach, yet neither of these 

 comparisons conveys an accurate idea of the delicious 

 piquancy and fragrance of a perfect mango, rich and 

 sweet, yet never cloying, and overrunning with luscious 

 juice. In seedlings there is often an objectionable taste 

 of turpentine, especially in the skin; this, like the fiber, 

 is done away with in the finer grafted varieties. How- 

 ever, it is sometimes true of the seedling fruit, as 

 Jumelle remarks, that while "there are those who do 

 not like it because it smells of turpentine, there are 

 others who come to like turpentine because it reminds 

 them of the mango." 



The mango is preeminently a dessert fruit, yet it 

 lends itself to an infinite variety of uses, chief among 

 which, in India, is the manufacture of chutneys and 

 preserves. Mango chutney, of which there are numer- 

 ous kinds, such as Major Grey's, Colonel Skinner's, 

 Lucknow, and Bengal Club, is exported from India 

 in considerable quantities. The unripe fruit is used 

 in its manufacture, together with various other ingredi- 

 ents, principally spices. The unripe fruit is also used 

 to prepare a dish known in India as "mango phul," a 

 sort of custard made with milk and sugar. The ripe 

 pulp, properly spiced, is dried in the sun to form thin 

 cakes known as ambsath, a product which is, according 

 to Woodrow, "the special solace and delight of Indian 

 students in foreign countries." In Cuba and other 

 parts of tropical America, the fruit is extensively used 

 for the manufacture of jams and preserves. Exquisite 

 sherbets and iced drinks are made from it, the Cubans 



and Brazilians being especially skilful in preparing 

 them. In recent years, canning factories have been 

 started in India for the purpose of preserving the fruit 

 in the same manner as peaches and pears are preserved 

 in this country. There are varieties of the mango 

 especially suited for culinary use, and others preferable 

 as dessert fruits, just as with the more important 

 temperate fruits. 



In the United States, mango-culture has, in recent 

 years, attracted considerable attention in southern 

 Florida, where extensive experiments have been made 

 with varieties from all parts of the world. In 1901 it 

 was found that the tree could be successfully budded, 

 and nursery stock began to be produced in sufficient 

 quantities to permit of orchard plantings. The most 

 extensive groves are found in the vicinity of Miami, on 

 the lower east coast, but there are also numerous small 

 plantations as far north as Palm Beach on the east 

 coast, and at Fort Myers and other points on the west 

 coast, extending as far north as Tampa Bay, where the 

 trees are sometimes injured by frost, but nevertheless 

 grow and fruit fairly well, especially in the vicinity of 

 St. Petersburg. Florida has supplied nursery stock to 

 plant several young groves in Cuba, the Isle of Pines, 

 and Porto Rico as well. 



In California, the culture of the mango is limited to 

 the warmest locations, but fruit has been successfully 

 produced at Sierra Madre, Santa Ana, Hollywood, and 

 Santa Barbara. From past experiments, it appears 

 that the tree is much better suited to the so-called 

 frostless districts some distance from the seacoast than 

 to such localities as Santa Barbara, for the reason that 

 near the ocean there is not sufficient heat during the 

 summer months to ripen the fruit. The dry climate of 

 California seems to stunt the tree, and it develops much 

 less rapidly than in the tropics, but with abundant 

 irrigation it has made fairly good growth, especially 

 in the deep sandy loam of some of the foothill regions. 

 As to frost, the plants, when young, are easily injured 

 by temperatures lower than freezing, but when they 

 have attained a few years' growth they will withstand 

 temperatures as low as 27 or 28, provided they are 

 not of long duration, without serious injury. Protec- 

 tion should be given wherever possible. 



Cultivation of the mango. 



In regard to soil, the mango does not seem to be 

 very particular, but respecting climate it is much more 

 exacting. Deep rich soils, like many of those found in 

 Porto Rico and Cuba, produce a more rapid growth 

 and greater ultimate dimensions, but the shallow sandy 

 soils, underlaid with soft limestone, which are found on 

 the lower east coast of Florida, have so far proved satis- 

 factory, the mango requiring less fertilizer under such 

 conditions than the avocado or some other tropical 

 fruits. In India some of the best mango districts have 

 a deep rich alluvial loam, somewhat sandy in nature, 

 and this can probably be considered the best of all 

 mango soils. 



Granting that the mango is grown in a region free 

 from injurious frosts, the most important climatic 

 factor is the amount of rainfall, especially in regard to 

 the season in which most of it occurs. In general it 

 may be said that the mango produces the largest crops 

 and most brilliantly colored fruit in regions in which 

 there is a well-defined dry season corresponding to the 

 blooming and ripening season; damp, cloudy weather 

 while the trees are in bloom, even without any actual 

 precipitation, is very prejudicial, and it has been 

 thoroughly demonstrated in Florida that the best 

 crops are produced in seasons when the weather is dry 

 and sunny during the blossoming period. Moist 

 weather favors the spread of blossom-blight or anthrac- 

 nose (Cottetotrichum gleosporioides) , a fungous disease 

 that sometimes destroys all of the flowers. Many 

 seedling mangoes, as well as some grafted varieties, 



