CITRUS CULTURE IN HAWAII 



27 



waii. The true variety has been propagated by inarching and 

 grafting. The trees are prolific and the fruit of excellent quality. 



Fruit — Size, large ; form, pyriform and often as much as 10 inches long ; rind, thick and 

 spongy ; surface, pale yellow and dotted with numerous oil glands ; pulp cells, large, pale 

 yellow ; seeds, few ; flesh, moderately juicy and of very good flavor. 



Seedless Pomelos 



The seedless fruits of some varieties of pomelos are the most 

 desirable. Seedlessness is restricted mainly to the spring crop, 

 most of which matures about April. The blossoming time of the 

 seedless crop ranges from the previous five to seven months 

 when only very few other citrus trees are in bloom. Some vari- 

 eties of pomelos are inclined to be everbearing, but all tend to 

 have a main crop which, in Hawaii, matures in the fall and is 

 usually seed-containing. The blossoms for the main crop come on 

 in the early spring when most other kinds of citrus also are in 

 bloom. The original tree of the Victoria variety of pomelo at 

 the "Old Plantation," 949 South King Street, Honolulu, produces 

 seedless fruit in the spring, and later fruit with seeds varying 

 from few to many. The only citrus near this variety are two 

 orange trees, which are within 150 feet. Seed production in the 

 pomelo appears to be the result of fertilization from the pollen 

 of orange flowers. 



At the Hawaii station five young, grafted Victoria pomelo 

 trees have fruited in season for 6 years. Three of them are in 

 the citrus orchard of oranges, mandarins, grapefruits, limes, and 

 lemons. The other two occupy large, individual tubs. The trees 

 in the orchard produce fruit in the spring and in the fall. The 

 early crop is seedless, or may contain some seed, whereas the fall 

 crop usually contains 50 to 70 seeds per fruit, which approaches 

 the maximum number. The blossoms producing the seedless 

 fruit come on in the fall when few, if any, other citrus are in 

 bloom except possibly the lemon. The trees in the tubs were 

 kept with other kinds of pot-grown trees about 360 feet from the 

 orchard and out of the current of the prevailing trade winds. 

 They produced seedless fruit even at the time the same variety 

 in the orchard bore seed-containing fruit. The flowers of the 

 Victoria pomelo are believed to be self-sterile and to require 

 pollination from other congenial citrus to produce seed-contain- 

 ing fruit. 



Groff, in Siam (14), who, presumably from lack of time, was 

 unable to prove that any one variety is absolutely seedless, found 

 an approach to such a condition and reported trees bearing seed- 

 less fruit except on branches extending toward other varieties 

 of regular seed-producing habits. 



Fertilization of the ovules of the flower through pollination 

 is essential to the setting and development of fruits, except in the 

 case of edible bananas, Sultanina grapes, Oriental persimmons, 

 and navel oranges. Coit and Hodgson (8, p. 28 k, 293) state that 

 the blossoms of the Washington Navel orange are devoid of 

 viable pollen, and that the variety has other characters indicat- 

 ing hybrid origin, but will set some seed if the ovules having 

 normal embryo sacs are fertilized with pollen from some con- 



