400 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



cut the buds an inch and a half long ; insert the buds in the 

 stock at a point of the same appearance as the cion or at most 

 where it is streaked with gray." 



These methods of propagating the mangosteen are of recent 

 inception but they promise to be of immense value in extending 

 the area in which the tree can be grown, as well as in permitting 

 the establishment of superior varieties, which is not possible 

 when seed-propagation is the only means used. Fairchild 

 writes : " When one considers that so far no selection of varie- 

 ties of the mangosteen has been made, notwithstanding the 

 fact that practically seedless fruits are of frequent occurrence, 

 and further that the tree belongs to a large genus of fruit- 

 bearing trees, at least fifteen of which are known to bear edible 

 fruits, some of them as large as small melons, and that these are 

 scattered in Australia, the Malay region, South China, Africa, 

 Brazil, and Central America, it becomes evident that in the 

 development and breeding of the mangosteen and in the dis- 

 covery of a suitable stock for it, there lies a most promising field 

 for horticultural research." 



Season and enemies of the mangosteen. 



Seedling trees may begin to bear fruit when seven or eight 

 years old, but it is rare for them to do so before the ninth 

 year. It is not yet known how many years will be required for 

 an inarched or budded tree to come into bearing. In Ceylon 

 the trees are said to bloom twice a year, once in August and 

 again in January. The fruit from the first crop of flowers 

 ripens in January, and that from the second in July and August. 

 In Trinidad the fruiting seasons are said to be July and 

 October. The January crop in Ceylon is a light one, not over 

 100 fruits to a tree, while in the August crop 500 to 600 fruits 

 a tree may be expected. 



As to marketing, Fairchild says : "Although the mangosteen 

 is a very delicate fruit, it has an exceedingly tough, thick rind, 



