CHAPTER XVI 



SUMMARY 



The lychee and the lungan are two delicious and attractive 

 fruits of South China origin. The former is so highly prized by 

 jthe Chinese that it has become the subject of song and verse by 

 Chinese poets and and of lengthy treatises by Chinese writers and 

 officials. A study of Chinese literature reveals interesting historical 

 data with regard to the names of these fruits and their importance in 

 the life of the Chinese people. Chinese methods of propagation and 

 culture are therein disclosed, a knowledge of which should lead to 

 more successful treatment in the introduction of these fruits to other 

 lands. 



European travellers to China have continuously reported the 

 lychee and the lungan since 1585, seventy-one years after the dis- 

 covery of the sea route to China in 1514. Botanists have thoroughly 

 studied these important species and they are now attracting the 

 attention of western horticulturists. 



The whole group of sapindaceous fruits, including especially 

 the sub-tropical lychee and lungan, and also the tropical rambutan 

 and pulassan, deserve more adequate consideration as promising 

 fruits for culture in the West. The lychee and lungan are the 

 subject of this work. Sufficient botanical information regarding the 

 relationships of these two species is at hand to warrant a series of 

 experiments w r hich should prove of value to the Occident in the 

 cultivation of these fruits. 



The lychee grqjvs luxuriantly in the river deltas of the prov- 

 inces of Kvvangtung and Fukien. The tree is well adapted to dyke 

 conditions and in the delta of the Pearl river, where there are 

 hundreds of miles of dykes, the lychee industry has grown to such 

 an extent as to warrant whole villages devoting themselves exclusively 

 to its propagation. A lychee park has even been established near 

 Canton. The lungan thrives under somewhat drier conditions and 

 the industry has been developed more extensively in Fukien than in 

 Kwangtung. The lungan will endure more cold than the lychee, but 

 both suffer severely from heavy frosts. They attain their best 

 development where the winters are mild and dry and the summers 

 hot and humid. 



116 



