FltUITS OF QUEEXSLAXD. 43; 



it usually does better when so planted than when grown in a nursery and thence 

 transplanted to its permanent location. The land should be well worked prior 

 to planting, and the young trees require to be kept free from weeds and under- 

 growth till such time as they occupy the whole of the ground, when they are 

 able to look after themselves, and require no further attention, at any rate in 

 tin- warmer parts. It is not at all uncommon to come across a mango-tree, in 

 full bearing, in vigorous health, that is growing wild, the result of a stone that 

 has been thrown away by someone who has eaten the fruit. The young tree 

 has not only been able to hold its own against all kinds of indigenous growths,, 

 but has developed into a vigorous, healthy tree, thus showing that it is per- 

 fectly at home, and that the soil and climate of Queensland suit it to perfection. 

 The fact that by far the greater portion of our mango-trees have been grown 

 from seed has resulted in the production of innumerable varieties, many of 

 which are of decidedly inferior quality, as one never knows when planting the 

 seed what the resultant fruit is going to be like. One is more likely to get 

 good fruit by planting the seeds from selected fruit of the highest quality, but 

 is by no means certain to do so, as a number of seeds always revert to inferior 

 types. This has had a bad effect on our mango industry, and has been apt 

 to give the fruit as a class a bad name, so much so that we find it difficult 

 to get our Southern neighbours to take to it at all readily. I can quite under- 

 stand anyone, whose first experience of a mango is that of an inferior fruit, 

 full of fibre, and having a distinctly disagreeable flavour, condemning the 

 particular fruit, but because there are inferior fruits one should not condemn 

 the whole without knowing what a really good mango is like. 



We have many good mangoes in Queensland, but only a few that are 

 really first-class, and of the latter I have yet to meet the man or woman, who 

 is a fruit-eater, who does not appreciate their exquisite flavour, and who does 

 not consider them worthy to rank with any of the finest fruits. By many a 

 really fine mango is considered to be the king of fruits, and I am not at all 

 certain that they are not right, but, at the same time, a really bad mango is 

 indescribably bad. 



The mango grows to a large size here, even when comparatively young. 

 I know trees over 50 feet in height, having a spread of the branches of more 

 than 60 feet, a main trunk nearly 3 feet in diameter, that are under thirty 

 years old, and that have borne from 1 to 2 tons of fruit for a single crop. 

 Hundreds of tons of fruit go to waste annually for want of a market, or are 

 consumed by farm 1 animals, as the consumption of the fruit is practically con- 

 fined to this State, and the production is greater than we can consume, despite 

 the fact that mangoes are in season from the end of September to March, and 

 that they are a favourite fruit with all who have acquired a liking for them. 

 In addition to the consumption of the fruit in its fresh state, a quantity is 

 converted into chutney, but this is so small that it has no appreciable effect 

 on the crop as a whole. The unripe fruit makes an excellent substitute for 



