1988 



MANGIFERA 



MANGIFERA 



they should have stems slightly less than ^ inch in 

 diameter. An easily accessible branch on the parent 

 tree, of the same diameter as the stem of the seedling, 

 should be selected for the cion, and the seedling in its 

 pot placed upon a stage or support where the cion can 

 be brought into close contact with it. The juncture 

 where the inarch is made should be about 6 inches from 

 the base of the seedling, and about a foot from the tip 

 of the cion, which should be as straight and vigorous 

 as possible. A thin slice of bark and wood about 3 

 inches long is removed from one side of the seedling 

 stock, and a similar slice from one side of the cion; 

 the cut surfaces are then bound closely together with 

 waxed tape, or with raffia or soft string, and afterward 

 covered with wax to exclude the air. Several months 

 are required for a union to be effected, after which the 

 top of the seedling is removed just above the juncture 

 of stock and cion, and the cion is severed from the 

 parent tree just below the juncture. Inarching is 

 usually done in India at the beginning of the rainy 

 season, but it can be successfully practised at almost 

 any time of the year. 



Seedling stocks for budding or grafting are easily 

 grown. After removing the husk, the seed is planted 

 in a 5-inch pot and barely covered with soil. As soon 

 as germination takes place, the plants should be 

 watched to see that not more than one shoot is allowed 

 to develop; some mangoes are poly-embryonic and will 

 produce six or eight shoots from a single seed. When 

 the young plants are well started, which in Florida 

 should be by early fall if the seeds were planted in 

 midsummer, they may be set out in the field in nursery 

 rows 2 feet apart, the plants 1 foot apart in the rows, 

 and allowed to remain there until after they are budded. 

 Field budding has been found much more satisfactory 

 than budding in pots. 



Several very distinct races of mangoes are known in 

 cultivation, and as yet practically nothing has been 

 done to determine which of these are of the greatest 

 value as stocks, although there is every indication that 

 this is an important question. In addition, some of 

 the numerous other species of Mangifera may be of 

 value for this purpose. As a general thing seeds of 

 any variety are used, including those of the common 

 "turpentine" mangoes, as they are called, which can 

 usually be obtained in quantity at a very low price. 

 The seeds should be planted as soon as possible after 

 their removal from the fruit, as they do not retain 

 their viability for many weeks. They are rather 

 difficult to transport through the mails, especially 

 when sent to distant countries. 



The proper time for budding is when the plants have 

 attained a diameter of stem as great as that of a lead 

 pencil, or greater, and are just coming into flush, i.e., 

 when the terminal bud is just starting to push out 

 new growth. The budwood, which should be cut from 

 vigorous, healthy trees, should be round, straight, 

 smooth, and preferably of the second flush from the 

 ends of the branches, the most recent flush of growth 

 being discarded. The wood should be as dormant as 

 possible, and the end of the branch from which it is 

 taken should never show the wine-colored young leaves 

 which are indicative of active growth. It is well to 

 have wood which has hardened up sufficiently to have 

 lost its bright green color and assumed a grayish 

 cast. 



The buds should be cut 1 to \Yi inches in length, with 

 a straight, sliding motion of the knife, aiming, if possible, 

 to keep the blade parallel with the budstick. A thin, 

 keen blade is essential. The incision is made in the 

 stock in the form of a T or an inverted T, exactly as in 

 budding citrous trees, and the bud is inserted without 

 any more pressure than necessary. A strip of waxed 

 tape is then used to bind it firmly in place. Cheap 

 muslin is used for making the tape; after being torn 

 into strips about 6 inches wide it is made into rolls 1 



inch in diameter and boiled in a mixture of one pound 

 beeswax and one-fourth pound rosin. 



Edward Simmonds, who has worked out the budding 

 of the mango in south Florida, considers April and May 

 the most propitious months for inserting the buds. In 

 strictly tropical regions the work can probably be done 

 at any time of the year when the stock plants are in 

 proper condition. 



At the expiration of three to four weeks, the top of 

 the stock is lopped, providing the bud shows signs of 

 having formed a union; lopping should not be close to 

 the bud, as this has been found to be dangerous. 



Large seedling trees are often worked over to choice 

 varieties by cutting off several of the main branches a 

 short distance from the trunk, and allowing a number of 

 sprouts to come out. When these have reached the 

 proper size they can be budded in the same manner 

 as seedlings. 



Races, types and varieties of mangoes. 



In different parts of the world several very distinct 

 races of mangoes are found, which tend to reproduce 

 their racial characteristics when grown from seed, 

 though showing minor variations in form of fruit and 

 other characters. One of the best defined races is that 

 from the Philippines, which appears to be closely 

 allied, if not identical, with the Cambodiana from 

 Indo-China; several more or less distinct seedling 

 types of this race are known in the Philippines, notably 

 Pahutan, Carabao, and Pico, and among these, in 

 turn, are to be found slightly differing forms which 

 when propagated by budding or grafting would con- 

 stitute horticultural varieties. The Philippine race, 

 which is polyembryonic, was brought to tropical 

 America at an early day, doubtless by the Spaniards, 

 and is the favorite in Mexico, where its seedlings are 

 generally called "Manila mangoes," and in Cuba, where 

 it goes by the name of "Filipino." In India, most 

 varieties appear to belong to a mono-embryonic race 

 which breaks up into more or less well-defined classes 

 or types, of which there are in turn numerous horti- 

 cultural varieties propagated vegetatively; thus of the 

 well-known Bombay type, or group, as it has been 

 called by some writers, there are several varieties, as 

 also of the Langra, Malda and other types. In Jamaica 

 the polyembryonic race known as No. 11 has become 

 very popular because of the fact that it reproduces 

 itself very closely when grown from seed (which most 

 mono-embryonic mangoes fail to do) and has maintained 

 its good quality for considerably over 100 years; it 

 appears to be very closely allied to the Manga da Rosa 

 of Brazil, and probably has other allies in the region 

 from which it came. The relationships of the various 

 races and types of mangoes has not as yet been thor- 

 oughly studied, and a good classification is lacking. 



Of horticultural varieties there is an infinite and 

 bewildering number, especially in India, where it 

 appears to have been the custom to name almost 

 every tree that produced fruit of superior quality; this 

 has led to confusion and synonymy. One of the earliest 

 Indian authorities on the mango, Maries, reported a 

 collection of 500 varieties near Darbhanga, while 

 large numbers of named varieties have been briefly 

 described from many localities by various writers, 

 bringing the number of published varietal names well 

 up toward a thousand. Only a very limited number of 

 these, however, such as the famous Alfonso or Alphonse 

 of Bombay, have become well known and generally 

 recognized. 



The best Indian mangoes are probably not equaled 

 in flavor and quality anywhere else in the world, though 

 some travelers have professed a preference for the 

 Philippine types, which are, indeed, very delicious. 

 But the process of selection which has been going on 

 in India for centuries, and the perpetuation of the best 

 seedlings by inarching, has led to the existence of 



