METHODS OF PROPAGATION 69 



An Open Field for Experiment with the Lychce 



It is apparent that there is an open field for a series of inter- 

 esting and helpful experiments in the propagation of this attractive 

 fruit. The fact that the Chinese have always propagated a large per- 

 centage of their plants by layering has not enabled them to determine 

 the varied results that' can be obtained by means of grafting. A 

 series of experimsnts in grafting, budding or inarching the lychee on 

 stocks other than its own should prove of value to the Chinese in 

 their cultivation of this fruit. It should also prove of value to those 

 countries which are attempting to introduce the lychee under con- 

 ditions not so favorable as in its native hnbitat. 



Drought and frost resistance are two factors to be kept de- 

 finitely in mind in this work; and soil variations should be carefully 

 studied. The varied soil and climatic conditions in which the lychee 

 grows in China have resulted in distinct varietal differences which 

 can be utilized to advantage in this work. In this connection it will 

 be a decided advantage to regroup all the varieties of the lychee into 

 the water lychee and the mountain lychee classification as one Chinese 

 author has attempted to do. 



It should be especially noted that a study of the Lychee group 

 of the Sapindaceae as outlined under the botanical discussion reveals 

 the f ict that we can look with promise to regions remote from those 

 -of native habitat for stocks upon which to work the lychee. In 

 particular the wild lychee of the Philippines, Litchi Philippine ns^s 

 Radlk. (figure 2), offers great promise of being found useful as a 

 stock since it is the species most closely related to the cultivated 

 lychee, grows on well-drained uplands and on hill and mountain 

 slopes at considerable altitudes and is a tree of great height and large 

 diameter. All this is quite the reverse of the cultivated lychee. 

 Furthermore, this species has large seeds, at least twice the bulk of 

 those of the cultivated lychee, and hence presumably producing more 

 vigorous Seedlings. In any attempt to grow the lychee' on high, dry 

 situations it is imperative that a test be made of the Philippine wild 

 lychee as a stock. It is also possible that the little known Pseudone- 

 phelium furnitum (Blanco), Radlk., a tree growing on Luzon 

 Island, Philippines, in Borneo and Perak will upon fuller study prove 

 to be closely related to the lychee. It has flowers destitute of petals 

 like the lychee, whereas the flowers of the lungan arid the other 

 species of Euphoria have well developed petals. At any rate the 

 effort should be made to utilize also this species as a stock for the 

 lychee which is rather narrowly limited in its range of soil adaptation. 



