756 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



country to eat Mangos in. A hot day, about 90 deg. in the shade, and a 

 fine ripe Mango just taken off the ice after breakfast, in the morning, is 

 a thing one will never get in England as we do in India. So the Mango 

 stands a poor chance of ever becoming a favourite in Great Britain or a 

 profitable fruit to send ; and until the vendor of the fruit knows exactly 

 when as to ripeness and what variety to sell his customers, the chance of 

 the Mango is, I fear, not much. 



There are many people, however, lining or travelling abroad who would 

 like to know the names of the best varieties. The following list may also 

 conjure up pleasurable remembrances in many readers in England, old 

 residents in India, who had their garden and favourite Mango-tree. 



Mangos in India are propagated by inarching, which is the best 

 method when properly done. It does not matter much -with the native 

 gardener if a bit of string is left on or two inches of " snag " is left to grow 

 over. One of his reasons for having a "graft" is because it "bears 

 better." The "bit of string," or the rotten end of the stem, is not 

 taken into consideration. Grafts made as they are made here would 

 never live in England ; but in this country Nature repairs a lot of bad 

 carpenter's work in the way of inarching, and even from Government 

 gardens, where professional Europeans superintend the work, the " grafts " 

 are just as bad as it is possible to make them. Seedlings give good 

 results if seed is properly selected, and I would advise intending planters 

 in the Colonies 'to import fruit and sow the seeds in layers, in trays of 

 soil, instead of buying "grafts," which in some localities are "made 

 specially " for the market, and consist of two seedlings tied together. 

 Verily the ways of the native gardener " are peculiar." 



The general idea in India amongst Europeans about Mangos is that 

 there are four good varieties — Bombays, Maldahs, Lengeras, and Budays. 

 These names really mean four large classes of fruit, and the sub-varieties 

 of each are endless. I myself collected over 500 varieties in Durbhungah, 

 in North-West Bengal, one of the homes of the Mango. To illustrate 

 the shapes of these four great classes, I refer to the figures of " Afooz " 

 (fig. 321) and "Durbhungah Bombay" (fig. 322) for the Bombays; 

 "Amun" (fig. 323), "Sha Pusund " (fig. 325), and "Buckley's Gow- 

 raya" (fig. 330) for the Maldahs ; " Barka " (fig. 331) for the Lengeras. 

 The Budays are of all shapes, and ripen in the month of Bhadon, the fifth 

 month of the Hindu year. The Budays are very little known, and are 

 seldom seen in the Bazaars. One of the best, named " Fuzhe," can be 

 bought in Calcutta in September, sometimes at about Sd. each ; it is a 

 large, fine fruit, weighing often 2 lb. each. Most of the good varieties 

 of Budays fetch from 6 to 10 rupees per 100 in Durbhungah Bazaar, 

 where they are plentiful. 



Some of the terms used in my description of the fruit are curious. 

 " Nak," or Nose, is the native name for the point where the pistil was 

 situated on the young fruit when it was in the flower, and where also the 

 root comes out of the seed. 



During my seven years' sojourn in Tirhoot, the " Garden of India," 

 I collected all the finest varieties of Mangos in India, most of which 

 were planted in the Maharajah of Durbhungah's grounds. The Mango 

 season lasted for five months. We had one variety, a perpetual bearer, 



