2 



every seedling that struck his fancy, and tacking a name on to it. In other 

 mango growing countries inarching is not yet practiced, or has been intro- 

 duced only recently, comparatively speaking, yet the natives invariably 

 distinguish many seedling types or varieties by name. 



In India, in the Philippines, in Australia, in Hawaii, and especially in 

 tropical and subtropical America, mango culture is coming under the in- 

 fluence of modern scientific methods. Every year sees several contribu- 

 tions to the literature on the subject, and a great increase of interest in it 

 on the part of horticulturists, both amateur and professional. New methods 

 of propagation are being perfected, cultural problems are being solved, 

 and planting is going on at a rapid rate. The mango promises, in fact, to 

 become an important commercial fruit wherever it can be grown; its^ 

 present importance in India testifies to its vast possibilities elsewhere. 



With all this interest and activity comes an increasing need for accurate 

 information on all that pertains to mango culture. The work done in the 

 past few years has scarcely made an impression on the field and there 

 remains much to be accomplished before the subject will be placed upon 

 a thoroughly scientific basis. One of the most important, and as yet, almost 

 untouched fields is the systematic study of varieties, — their nomenclature 

 and classification. India offers the greatest opportunities for work along 

 this line, since the majority of the world's named varieties are to be found 

 in that country. Quite recently the work of systematizing these varieties 

 has been undertaken by a few energetic horticulturists, among whom 

 should be mentioned in particular A. C. Hartless, Superintendent of the 

 Government Botanical Gardens at Saharanpur, and the near future will 

 surely see the accomplishment of some important results. There exists, 

 however, a need for uniformity in this work, and to this end the writer 

 ventures to offer the following suggestions: 



Nomenclature. 



In view of the present confusion of mango names it seems almost use- 

 less to expect that the subject can ever be thoroughly straightened out; 

 yet much can be done to improve conditions as they exist at present, and 

 there is certainly no reason why the most important varieties should not 

 be established under their correct names and with a uniform orthography, 

 in so far, at least, as European and American horticulturists are concerned. 

 As regards India, a concerted effort on the part of English horticulturists 

 connected with the various botanic gardens and experiment stations could 

 accomplish a great deal, as the few scattered efforts of the past have clear- 

 ly demonstrated. 



Without doubt there is no end of cases where certain varieties exist in 

 different localities under different names. One authority states that Pairi 

 of Bombay is grown in Hyderabad under the name of Goabunder, and in 

 Chittu under the name of Badami. Whether these three are actually 

 synonymous or not, they are, in all probability, very similar in general 

 characteristics, or this confusion would not have arisen. Obviously, the 



