Edible Products. 



206 



[March, 1912. 



In the introduction of the mango — 

 the fruit of which from the best types 

 in the Philippines is of unsurpassed ex- 

 cellence, even superior in flavour to the 

 East Indian varieties introduced into 

 Florida that have fruited so far, and 

 closely approaching them in their free- 

 dom from fibre and in their small seed, 

 the Philippines have been more fortun- 

 ate than any other part of the tropics, 

 where the seedling types mostly produce 

 small fruits, inferior in flavour, very 

 fibrous, and with a large seed. Unlike 

 the East Indian grafted monoembryonic 

 mangoes which tail to do so, the poly- 

 embryonic mangoes of the Philippines 

 reproduce themselves practically true 

 from seed. Fortunate in the introduction 

 of the mango, the reverse is the case in 

 the pineapple, only one mediocre variety 

 having come to the attention of the 

 writer, and no time should be lost in 

 introducing the several superior varieties 

 that are c ultivated in Florida, the West 

 Indies, Hawaii, and Singapore. The 

 avocado (Persea gratissima), destined to 

 become one of the great tropical fruits 

 of the world, the a sexua) propagation 

 of which has been so solved in Florida 

 within the last ten years where large 

 budded orchards are now being rapdly 

 brought into prominence, has never 

 gained a permanent foothold in the 

 Philippines until introduced by the 

 Bureau of Agriculture a few years ago, 

 and no trees of this valuable fruit are 

 planted in the Visayas, where appar- 

 ently everything is favourable for their 

 growth. The rapidity with which the 

 seed deteriorates, making difficult its 

 safe transportation to countries distant 

 from its natural habitat, is responsible 

 for this, and partly explains the absence, 

 until recently, of this species in the 

 Philippines ; but the failure to have 

 introduced the cherimoya from Peru, 

 Mexico, and Chile, the seeds of which 

 are so easily transported, seems almost 

 criminal negligence in view of the fact 

 that three other species of the same 

 genus with vastly inferior fruits have 

 been imported and are flourishing. Ber- 

 tholletia excelsa, the well-known " nigger- 

 toe" nut from Brazil, the sapote bianco 

 (Casimiroa eduLis), also ceriman (Mons- 

 tera deliciosa), the only aroid in the 

 world that produces an edible fruit, and 

 that of great excellence, almost entirely 

 seedless ; the f'eijoa (Feijoa seilowiana), 

 the culture of which in California is 

 rapidly attaining considerable propor- 

 tions, and which is successfully cultivated 

 in southern France, the tiess (Lucuma 

 nvicoa var. angustifolia), and many 

 other species are still waiting to be 

 introduced into the Philippines from the 



Western Hemisphere, as is also the 

 hevi (Spondias dulcis), now introduced 

 into many parts of the tropics from its 

 home in Polynesia. It is almost inex- 

 plicable how the roselle (Hibiscus sab- 

 dariffa) has escaped introduction from 

 Malayasia and Indo-China, and yet not 

 more so than the no less remarkable 

 absence of several species of Nepheliums 

 and other fruits that are found in the 

 Malay Peninsula, Java, and adjacent 

 islands. No fiuit of African origin 

 seems to have yet been introduced into 

 the Philippines. 



Sugar, copra, hemp and rice are per- 

 haps destined to always be the great 

 staple crops of the Philippines, and, in 

 time, the cacao should become of con- 

 siderable importance ; but the soil, cli- 

 mate and the geographical position of 

 the Archipelago, with Manila as one of 

 the great shipping centres of the Far 

 East and its proximity to Hongkong, 

 Shanghai, and the ports of Japan, with 

 the heavy passenger traffic passing 

 through these ports are such as to in- 

 sure a very substantial income from 

 the production of fruits, if this industry 

 is properly developed, and in this the 

 Visayas should have a very considerable 

 share. 



THE CLASSES OF MAIZE BEST 

 SUITED FOR THE EUROPEAN 

 MARKETS. 



By C. du P. Chiappini, 

 Trades Commissioner for South Alrica. 



(From the Agricultural Journal of the 

 Union of South Africa, Vol. II„ No- 4, 



October, 1911.) 

 Neither I nor any one else can say 

 with any degree of certainty which 

 breeds of maize are most suitable for the 

 Europeau markets, if it is to be under- 

 stood that the maize is to be produced 

 in South Africa, for there are many 

 important matters to be taken into 

 consideration. First, from the market 

 point of vieiv, we have to consider which 

 classes of maize are most in demand or 

 are likely to be so in the future. To 

 enable us to consider this feature of the 

 question, we have to take into consider- 

 ation the uses to which different classes 

 of maize are put by the buyers, and 

 even then it will be necessary from time 

 to time to follow closely the require- 

 ments and demands of the markets ; 

 these fluctuate not only in so far as the 

 general maize trade is concerned, but 

 also as to the different classes in accord- 



