CHAPTER XV 



THF, INTRODUCTION OF THE LYCHEE AND LUNGAN 

 INTO OTHER LANDS 



Roxburgh ' states that the lychee common in Bengal was 

 originally brought from China. India is the only country into which 

 a successful commercial introduction has been made and Macmillan 2 

 reports: 'This fruit, represented by different varieties, of varying 

 quality, is grown to great perfection about Calcutta and elsewhere in 

 India, and is commonly sold in the bazaars when in season. " The 

 lungan and rambutan, introduced into India in 1798, have always 

 been carried side by side with the lychee. 



Europe became interested in these fruits in the early part of 

 the 19th Century, when effort was made to introduce them into both 

 England and France. And it was doubtless at this time that these 

 plants were transferred to different places in the East Indies where 

 their culture is more promising. In the Quarterly Journal of Science, 

 1882, we find the statement: "Attempts have been made to 

 introduce into Trinidad the litchee (Nephelium Litchee), and though 

 the climate is too uniformly hot, the fruits have been delicious, 

 resembling a high class muscat grape in consistency and flavor." 



In 1903 O.K. Cook and G.N. Collins J in their Economic 

 Plants of Porto Rico, published by the United States National 

 Museum, devoted nearly a page to Litchi chinensis, calling attention 

 to it as "one of the fruits most likely to succeed in Porto Rico and 

 likely to be of value when once generally introduced." They 

 pointed to the scarcity of literature on the results of experiments on 

 this tree in the West Indies and to its successful introduction into 

 India. 



' Roxburgh, William, Flora India; or description of Indian plants^ 2 

 vol., Calcutta, 1832, Vol. 2, page 269. 



2 Macmillan., Hugh F. , A handbook of tropical %ardenittg and planting, 

 Colombo, H. W. Cave and Co., 1910, page 177. 



* Cook, O.F. , and Collins, G.N. , Economic plants of Porto Rico. In 

 contributions from the United States National Herbarium, Washington, D. C. , 

 1903, Vol. 8, part 2, pages 176 and 177. 



Ill 



