118 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



arched trees have borne within i8 months after the process of 

 inarching. 



The mango was first planted in Florida on the Keys in the 

 forties and on Biscayne Bay, Florida, at about the same time. 

 The first trees to develop in Florida were therefore seedlings. 

 Grafted specimens of the Mulgoba mango were brought to 

 Florida in 1889. The varieties at present grown in Florida 

 fruit from May to September. For shipment to the northern 

 cities mangos are picked after developing their color and before 

 softening. The amount of sugar in mangos range from 11.5 

 to 20 per cent., depending upon the variety and stage of ripe- 

 ness. Mangos also contain from 0.5 to i per cent, protein and 

 therefore in their nutritive value compare favorably with other 

 common fruits. 



PAPAYA 



The papaya is native to Central America and the West 

 Indies. The type which has made the greatest place for itself 

 belongs to the species Carica papaya. The other common types 

 of papaya are C. paltata, C. quercifolia, C. erythrocarpa, etc. 

 The common papaya, often called papaw, especially in the Eng- 

 lish tropical colonies but having no close relationship with the 

 common papaw of the central states, occurs everywhere 

 throughout the Tropics and subtropics. It grows wild even in 

 Florida. The trunk of the papaya tree reaches a height of 25 

 feet and bears long stemmed, palmately seven-lobed leaves, 

 which are about 2 feet across. The leaves are borne in a 

 crown at the top of the tree and fall away as soon as mature, 

 leaving a large characteristic scar on the trunk of the tree. 

 The trunk is sometimes branched but usually is unbranched 

 and erect. The fruit of the papaya varies in size from that 

 of a tennis ball to long watermelon-like fruit, weighing some- 

 times 18 pounds and measuring 16 inches in length. The fruit 

 varies greatly also in shape from perfectly spherical to elon- 

 gated or cucumber form and several types of papaya are dis- 



