2858 



PUMMELO 



PUMMELO 



Indian varieties. Bombay Red. Fruit subglobose, 7 

 inches diameter; skin %- l A inch thick; pulp very 

 juicy, deep red (color of raw beef), pleasantly subacid, 

 with a characteristic flavor. This is said by E. E. 

 Bonavia to be "by far the finest variety of pummelo" 

 he had seen. He describes a number of other sorts 

 varying in shape, size, color, and juiciness. The leaves 

 and twigs of some varieties are smooth ; of others downy 

 or hairy. In 1904 a collection of thirteen sorts of 

 Indian pummelos was received by the Department of 

 Agriculture from the Botanic Garden at Calcutta. A 

 number of these have fruited both in California and 

 Florida. One of these Indian pummelos (shown in Fig. 

 3256) was grown at Eustis, Florida, in 1915, and has 

 pink flesh. 



Siamese varieties. The Siamese seedless pummelos, 

 grown in the Nakon chaisri district, have long been 



3256. Pummelo. (Branch and fruit X 1 A\ details X 1 A) 



famous and have recently been studied there by H. H. 

 Boyle (Phil. Ag. Rev. 7:65-9, pis. 3, 4, Feb., 1914. 

 Journ. Heredity, 5:440-7, pis. 1-3, Oct., 1914). Oval 

 Nakon chaisri. The best variety is slightly oval, 4^ 

 inches diameter, 4 inches high: skin pale yellow; flesh 

 white, juicy, aromatic, not bitter; seeds few or none. 

 'Boyle considers this variety superior to any other pum- 

 melo and to any grapefruit and says it is a good fruit 

 for market purposes. Flat Nakon chaisri. A very flat 

 fruit, 4% inches diameter, 3J4 inches high; skin bright 

 yellow; flesh white, juicy, aromatic; seeds few or none. 

 Boyle considers this an excellent fruit for market pur- 

 poses. Two other seedless varieties, but of somewhat 

 inferior quality, were found by Boyle. 



Japanese varieties. In Japan many varieties of pum- 

 melos, there called Buntan, Uchimurasaki or Jabon are 

 known, variously estimated from 75 to 200. The fol- 

 lowing are among some of the more promising studied by 

 T. Tanaka in the course of a survey of the citrous fruits 



of Japan: Hirado. Large, depressed globose, about 4-5 

 inches in diameter and 3-4 inches high, with grapefruit- 

 like smooth skin of lemon-yellow color; pulp juicy, rind 

 thin, segments regular, core rather small, very good 

 flavor; seeds small but numerous. This variety origi- 

 nated at Hirado near Nagasaki, Japan, some seventy- 

 five years ago as a seedling of a pummelo brought from 

 Java. The writer saw bearing trees of this variety at the 

 Nagasaki agricultural experiment station in 1915 and 

 found the fruits to be juicy and of excellent quality and 

 noted that the tree remained almost entirely exempt 

 from citrus canker (caused by Pseudomonas citri) which 

 was attacking seriously Washington navel orange trees 

 grown only a few yards distant. On account of its 

 superior quality and high degree of canker-resistance, 

 hybrids were made in June, 1915, between it and Amer- 

 ican grapefuit by means of pollen shipped from Florida 

 to Nagasaki in vacuum tubes (Science N.S. 42:375-377. 

 Sept., 1915). It is hoped to secure in this way canker- 

 resistant hybrids equal to the grapefruit in quality. 

 Seedlings of the Hirado pummelo are now being grown 

 by the Department of Agriculture. Ogami, vicinity 

 of Kagoshima; rare; very large, very flat; rind smooth; 

 thin, pinkish; core large, segments numero.us, some- 

 times twenty-five, pulp pinkish, fine-grained, micy, very 

 good quality; seeds numerous. Hata-jirushi, experi- 

 ment farm of Count Tachibana, Yanagawa, Fukuoka- 

 ken. A very large flat pummelo like the Ogami, very 

 much like the latter in general characters but rind 

 much thicker and pulp vesicles coarser, good-flavored; 

 seeds numerous. Yoko-jirushi, experiment farm 

 of Count Tachibana, Yanagawa, Fukuoka-ken. 

 A large round variety with rough skin; oil- 

 glands remarkably large and prominent, not 

 much rag, segments regular, pulp slightly pink- 

 ish, good quality, vesicles long and parallel; 

 seeds numerous. Take-jirushi, experiment farm 

 of Count Tachibana. Long-oval in shape, with 

 salmon-colored flesh, segments large and rather 

 irregular, very sweet and of good quality; seeds 

 few. Tamura. Shinkai-mura, Kochi-ken; a 

 round, smooth-skinned variety, with pale pink 

 flesh, segments irregular, large, pulp coarse- 

 grained and good quality; seeds very few. 



Formosan varieties. Matb. Matao, Ensuiko- 

 cho, Formosa. Common; fruit small, conical; 

 rough-skinned, rind very thin; core small, pulp 

 similar to the Ogami, very high quality; practi- 

 cally seedless; very early ripening. Besides the Mato 

 pummelo, red (To yu) and white (Pei yu) pummelos of 

 fairly good quality are commonly grown in Formosa. 



Chinese varieties. Canton varieties. There are at least 

 half a dozen varieties grown about Canton. The Sung-ma 

 is one of the best for export. The sorts commonly 

 exported are pear-shaped, with a very fragrant thick 

 peel and a very firm greenish yellow pulp of aromatic 

 flavor. These pummelos are exported to all parts of the 

 world where Cantonese Chinese live. Arnoy, a very 

 large slightly pear-shaped pomelo with a thick skin and 

 very firm white flesh, is produced near Amoy. In spite 

 of its reputation it is of mediocre quality. 



California seedlings. There are many pummelo trees 

 in northern California grown from seeds planted years 

 ago by the Cantonese Chinese immigrants. Until a 

 few years ago Canton pummelos were regularly 

 imported by Chinese 'merchants in San Francisco. 

 G. P. Rixford has located two score or more seedling 

 trees in California which show considerable variation 

 in the size, color, shape, and quality of the fruit. Some 

 are of fairly good quality. These seedlings are mostly 

 old bearing trees and furnish excellent opportunity for 

 crossing with grapefruit in the hope of securing canker- 

 resistant hybrids. 



Florida shaddocks. In Florida, pummelos have been 

 grown for a long time under the West Indian name 

 shaddock. The grapefruit is so much better, however, 



