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Although the mango grows freely everywhere, it is not a fruitful 

 tree in every district ; in the southern plains, and the low, dry lime- 

 stone hills it produces enormous crops year after year, and very often 

 two crops a year, the main crop from May to August, and the second 

 crop later in the year, The crop season varies slightly according to 

 locality and altitude, so that it is possible to get mangoes nearly all 

 the year round. In districts where the fruit is plentiful, the natives 

 to a large extent subsist on it during the season, and appear to suffer 

 no ill effects, but on the contrary look well and strong. As already 

 stated, all animals are exceedingly fond of the fruit. Horses will 

 leave a feed of corn to eat mangoes, and when being ridden over 

 mountain roads, horses and mules will stop to pick up a fallen fruit. 

 Cows collect under the trees in the pastures and scramble for the fruits 

 as they drop. In humid districts, and along the northern coast, the 

 tree is not at all fruitful except in very dry years, and in the wet dis- 

 tricts like Castleton it rarely fruits. This is probably due to the fact 

 that in such districts the trees are never at rest, but always in a state 

 of vigorous growth ; or it may be due to defective pollination ; trees 

 in humid localities often flower profusely but fail to set fruit, and 

 this would indicate that the pollen, owing to the excessive humidity, is 

 never in a suitable condition to be carried ab ut by insects or by the 

 wind 



The export trade in mangoes is small, but is capable of enormous 

 expansion. In 1877, the number of fruits exported, was only 600. 

 valued at 15s. ; ten years later the number was 93,470, valued at 

 £116 68. ; at the end of the next ten years, 8o4 packages of this fruit 

 were exported, valued at £207 ; for the year ending March, 1900, the 

 number was 515 packages, valued at £143 10s. 



The fruit is considered by some to be best when picked fresh from 

 the trees, but of the choice East Indian varieties it is said that they 

 should be gathered when full, and laid on a shelf for a few days to 

 mature and ripen The taste for mangoes is readily acquired by Eu- 

 ropeans and Americans, and children of Europeans in the tropics eat 

 the fruit with keen relish as soon as they are able to eat anything. 



Propagation — The choice varieties are propagated by inarching, and 

 the commoner kinds are grown from seeds. It is a curious fact that 

 the choice, delicate imported varieties are seldom produced quite true 

 from seeds, whilst the No. 11, Black Mango, Kidney Mango, etc., 

 nearly always come true. 



Budding has bten successful, so far, only to a very limited extent, 

 at the Hope Gardens. Experiments in this direction will be continued 

 to determine several points that at present are not quite clear, i.e., the 

 best time of the year to bud, the age of the stocks and the best 

 variety of stock to use, &o. 



The tree is remarkable for its vitality; it is quite a common prac- 

 tice to cut off all the limbs, and leave nothing but the stump of a large 

 tree that is giving too much shade for other crops, and yet, in a year 

 or two it will again have a fine head of branches and foliage. 



The following special opinions on the subject of mangoes, have 

 been received : — 



From Colonel J. G. E. Griffith, Hodges, Black River. 



I am very pleased to place at your disposal any information I pos- 



