324 The National Geographic Magazine 



From G. N. Collins, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



Mango Fruit, showing Method of Packing 



demn the fruit as positively dangerous. 

 During the Spanish war this prejudice 

 was so strong that the soldiers in Porto 

 Rico were prohibited from eating the 

 mango, and many beautiful trees were 

 cut down. This prejudice probably 

 arose from eating the fruit when unripe, 

 in which state, like most other fruits, 

 it is unwholesome. 



In some parts of India the natives at 

 one season of the year live almost exclu- 



sively on mangoes, apparently 

 without harm. An extract 

 from the Pharmacographia 

 Indica, in Watt's Dictionary, 

 describes the fruit as ' ' invig- 

 orating and refreshing, fat- 

 tening, and slightly laxative 

 and diuretic." 



The mango tree (Ma?igifera 

 indica) varies in height, ac- 

 cording to the variety, from 

 little more than a bush to a 

 tree 50 to 70 feet high, with 

 a trunk 6 to 10 feet high and 



2 feet or more in diameter. 

 The leaves are lanceolate, 

 about t foot in length, taper- 

 ing gradually to a narrow 

 point, with a smooth, shining 

 surface. The young leaves 

 are first pink, then red before 

 turning green. The top is 

 rounded and ven^ dense. The 

 bark is gray and smooth. The 

 flowers are small, reddish- 

 white, or 3 - ellowish, borne in 

 large upright racemes. The 

 fruit varies greatly, accord- 

 ing to the variety. In some 

 kinds it is not more than 2 or 



3 inches in greatest diameter, 

 while others are three or four 

 times that size, some weigh- 

 ing as much as 4 pounds. In 

 form they vary from nearly 

 spherical to long and narrow 

 like a cucumber, straight or 

 crooked. The most common 

 varieties are usually from 2 



to 4 inches in length, more or less 

 kidney-shaped, with the " nak " or 

 stigmatic point more or less produced. 

 In color they may be green, yellow, 

 or red. In composition the difference 

 is no less pronounced. In some the 

 seed is large and the thin flesh be- 

 tween it and the skin consists almost 

 entirely of fiber attached to the seed, 

 while in others the seed is small, and 

 in some so nearly aborted that it is 



