322 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



Regarding methods of propagation employed in China, 

 Groff says : " I have never seen a budded or grafted litchi 

 tree, and I understand it is never done. Litchi trees are either 

 inarched or layered, the latter being the most common and 

 most successful. If inarched it is on litchi stock. The common 

 practice in inarching is to use the Loh Mai Chi variety for cion 

 and the San Chi for stock." The method of layering mentioned 

 by Groff is that described above. Inarching is treated in this 

 volume in connection with the propagation of the mango. It is 

 a tedious process of grafting little used in America, but more 

 certain than budding and other methods. 



Litchi seeds are short-lived. If removed from the fruit 

 and dried, they retain their viability not more than four or five 

 days. If they remain in the fruit, however, and the latter is 

 not allowed to dry, they can be kept for three or four weeks. 

 In this way they can be shipped to great distances, or they may 

 be removed from the fruit, packed in moist sphagnum moss, and 

 allowed to germinate en route. Some of the choice grafted 

 varieties, such as the Bedana of India, do not produce viable 

 seeds. 



Higgins recommends that the seeds be sown in pots sunk in 

 well-drained soil. They should be placed hortizontally about i 

 inch below the surface of the soil, and after they have germinated 

 the seedlings should be kept in half-shade. 



Attention has recently been given to the possibility of grafting 

 or budding the litchi on the longan (Euphoria Longana) and 

 other relatives (see below). Higgins has successfully crown- 

 grafted the litchi on large longan stocks. He says, " Repeated 

 experiments with this method have shown that there is no 

 great difficulty in securing a union of the litchi with the longan. 

 A noteworthy influence of the stock on the cion should be 

 mentioned here. The growth produced is very much more 

 rapid than that of the litchi on its own roots, and in some cases 

 the character of the foliage seems to undergo a change." Addi- 



