POMONA COLLEGE JOURNAL 



of ECONOMIC BOTANY 



Volume I DECEMBER 1911 Number 4 



The Mango in Southern California 



F. W. POPENOE 

 WEST INDIA GARDENS, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA 



The mango, with which but few people of California are intimately familiar, 

 is throughout the tropics where extensively grown, the fruit of first importance. 

 While systematic cultivation on an extensive scale has been applied to it in com- 

 paratively few countries, in all parts of the tropics it is grown in the greatest 

 profusion and valued about as those of temperate climates value the apple. To 

 those who are familiar with its finer varieties it is held in the highest esteem, but 

 it is a regrettable fact that in many localities it is found only in inferior seedling 

 forms, and this is accountable for the misunderstanding which exists in the 

 minds of some Americans in regard to this fruit. 



In India the cultivation of the mango extends back to the remotest antiquity, 

 and careful selection of seedlings has resulted in the production of the finest 

 varieties now existing. These have been propagated to a limited extent by in- 

 arching, and the Indian mangos are now famed as the finest mangos in the 

 world. 



The fruit has been termed "the king of tropical fruits," or "the apple of 

 the tropics." Its beautiful coloring and delicious flavor, together with its exten- 

 sive use in all tropical countries, seem to warrant these appellations. In many 

 countries it is one of the commonest of fruits, growing in a semi-wild state, and 

 forms an important part of the diet of the natives during the season when it is 

 to be obtained. 



According to DeCandolle, the mango is a native of South Asia and the Malay 

 Archipelago, but it has long ago spread from its native home to the most remote 

 corners of the earth. In Florida it is now attracting attention as a commercial 

 proposition, and plantings of considerable extent are being made. Through the 

 introduction of some of the choicer Indian varieties, many of which have already 

 produced fruit, the mango industry in Florida has become one of great promise. 



Until late years the slow and laborious method of inarching had to be resorted 

 to for the perpetuation of any desirable variety, but recently several methods of 

 budding have been successfully practiced and by these means the production of 

 trees of known varieties on a commercial scale has been made possible. 



The value and esteem in which the mango is held are attested by an article 

 in a recent number of the National Geographic Magazine, by no less an authority 



