56 THE LYCHEE AND LUNGAN 



the north and ths driving sheets of rain blast the opening flower bucis. 

 The fruits of the lychee and lungan form and develop very quickly 

 during a most intense growing period from May to August. The 

 country at this time is undergoing its heaviest rainfall and the humidity 

 is high. Tne highest average monthly rainfall record for this period 

 was in August, 1918, when 564.7 rnm. (22.23 in.) fell; the lowest 

 was in April, 1913, and amounted to 85.8 mm. (3.37 in. ). The 

 average yearly rainfall for the seven year period was .1581.80 m.m. 

 or 62.3 inches. Frosts are very light within the delta but during* the 

 summer months the region is subject to severe typhoons and floods. 



Considerable work is still to be done in the study of the frost 

 resistance of this tree and in the acquisition of varieties especially 

 adapted to cooler climates. Hsu Po ()$)) l in his work on the 

 lychee, says, "They are only suitable for hot, low countries and 

 greatly fear altitude and cold, but when care is bestowed they can be 

 protected." Ts'ai Hsiang (HH) 2 reports: 'Three marches to 

 the west of Fuchow there is a locality called Shui Wai, where 

 the climate is a little colder and where the lychee cannot be planted. " 

 The Superintendent of the Government Botanical Gardens at 

 Saharanpur, India, ? latitude 28 degrees north, has known the lychee 

 to endure a freeze of 21 'degrees with the loss of only a few leaves. 

 He says that the lychee is hardier than the mango but has grave 

 doubts of any variety that will stand snowfall. He reports that 

 Dehra Dun is very little cooler than Saharanpur, yet there is a 

 difference in the fruit. The fruits from the Dehra Dun trees are 

 more acid. This statement with regard to the inability of the lychee 

 to withstand snowfall is corroborated by Sung Chia (>&3E) 4 when he 

 reports a snow fall of several inches at a place called Cheung Lok 



1 HSU PO (t&UV Li Chih P'u (^3df) in Ku Chin Tu Shu Chi 

 Cheng W44HHI3U P W H Hui Pien (ft&gfg), Ts'ao Muh 

 section 274 (J&-W-b-HW); U Chih Pu 2 (3fc3tH), page 4 



2 TS'AI HSIANG (M), Li Chih P'u (^*|) in Ku Chin Tu Shu 

 Chi Chen K f^MHHfeft), Po Wu Hui Pien (tf&^IS), Ts'ao Muh Tien 

 section 273 tfff-tf-b-t-Hfc), Li Chih Pu 1 (-), page 4 



? Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, Correspondence, Reports, etc. 



4 SUNG CHIA (&JE6), Li Chih P'u (^3d&) in Ku Chin Tu Shu Chi 

 Cheng (-ft+mMM), Po Wu Hui Pien (ff&IW), TSao Muh Tien 

 (**), section 273 (mHW-fc+H^), Li Chih Pu 1 (&-), page 10 



S-t-m 



