174 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



April, 



FRUIT OF The mango (mangifera indica). 



late that it is called the ' ' mother of the 

 chocolate ; ' ' and many are used for shade 

 and ornament because of the beauty of 

 foliage and flowers. One of the com- 

 monest of the latter is Poinciana re^ia. 

 It is a native of Madagascar, but was 

 named for a governor-general of Cuba. 

 The tree is one of the commonest shade 

 trees of the tropics. Its flowers are 

 flame- colored and its beans are long and 

 brown. This tree is common in south- 

 ern Florida, but as a shade tree deserves 

 to be more frequently planted. 



A tree which is being extensivel}^ 

 planted in southern Florida is the 

 Mango, the apple of the Tropics {Man- 

 gifera indica ). It should not be for- 

 gotten, however, that this extremely 

 beautiful and useful fruit tree yields a 

 valuable wood. Its wood is soft and 

 open grained, although as with many 

 other tropical trees, the annual rings 

 are not distinct. It is used in India for 

 tea boxes, planks, doors, and window 

 frames. It is sometimes stained to imi- 



expected calamity occurs, such as a gale 

 tate Toon. Now Toon is the eastern 

 twin of the West Indian Cigar Box 

 Cedar. I presume that it is improper to 

 suggest that the mango wood be stained 

 to imitate the West Indian Cedar in 

 those parts of the West Indies where 

 Mango is plentiful and Cedar scarce. 

 The Mango is too valuable as a fruit 

 tree to be sacrificed. Although the 

 Mango came originally from India, it is 

 said that the mango fruit of the West- 

 ern Hemisphere is of an inferior grade. 

 There are some pretty good Mangoes 

 just the same outside of the Orient, and 

 I have heard it said that the best Mango 

 of the Western Hemisphere is produced 

 on the Island of Itamaraca, off the coast 

 of Pernambuco. 



Cedrela odorata. This extremely use- 

 ful and beautiful tree is not a native of 

 Florida. It was once abundant in Cuba, 

 but has been practically^ exhausted for 

 cigar boxes, boats, etc. When cigars 

 are merely wrapped in paper or kept in. 

 an improper kind of box, not only is 

 their flavor affected, but they are in 

 danger of ruin from insect pests. At 

 any rate, the fine aroma of this wood, 

 its lightness, beauty, and other quali- 

 ties fit it especially for this and hundreds 

 of other purposes. It may be used in 

 the place of Mahogany. It is excellent 

 for any of the higher grades of cabinet 

 work. One might easily mistake this 

 tree for the European Walnut {Jiiglans 

 regia'). It has the same kind of foliage ;. 

 the same general shape, color, and form 

 of bark. It is a very rapid grower and 

 a great seed-producer. The winged 

 seeds are formed in pods which often 

 hang in large bunches from the tree. 

 I have been told that it can be easily re- 

 produced from cuttings, but I have never 

 tried it, and am therefore not certain. 

 What appears to be annual rings in the 

 wood are probably not annual at all. 



There seems to be no periodicity of 

 leaf- fall. With this as with other trop- 

 ical species, the ' ' personal element ' ' 

 plays an important role. I have seen 

 two Cedrela trees within lOO feet of one 

 another one with a rich green active 

 foliage and the other as bare as winter. 

 This difference in leaf-fall I believe to 

 be due to the spot in which the tree may 



