96 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



COMMONPLACE NOTES. 

 By the Secbetaby, Supebintendent, and Editob. 



Budding Mangos. 



Mangos are plants notoriously difficult to propagate by budding or 

 grafting, inarching being the most commonly practised method of propa- 

 gation. Mr. Hugh Dixson, F.R.H.S., of Sydney, New South Wales, who 

 is growing mangos and custard apples as wall fruits, in the course of a 

 communication refers to a method of budding which has proved successful, 

 and which will doubtless be of interest to others who are attempting the 

 cultivation of this fruit. 



He sends the following extract from a letter received from Mr. A. H. 

 Benson, instructor in Fruit Culture of the Department of Agriculture and 

 Stock. Brisbane : — 



'•'In regard to the plate budding of mangos, I have to inform you 

 that this method of working the mango is a very simple one, and is 

 carried out when the tree is in full growth : that is to say, when the sap is 

 moving freely and the bark parts readily from the wood. 



" The buds used are the dormant buds that are found on the older 

 branches of the tree, inch or more in diameter, where there has been 

 a terminal growth. This is shown by a ring round the branch even 

 though it is several years old. The dormant bud, together with the bark 

 surrounding it, some two inches square, is removed from the tree that it is 

 desired to propagate. The edges are carefully trimmed and a corre- 

 sponding square of bark is taken out of the tree that is to be worked 

 over, and the piece of bark containing the dormant bud fitted into the 

 space so left. 



" Success depends on the stock being in the right condition, viz. that 

 the bark runs very freely ; that the bark containing the bud is rather 

 thicker than that of the stock, and that this bark is tied very firmly in place 

 so that the inner bark joins perfectly ; good cotton wick is the best tie. 

 As soon as the bud is fitted into position and fairly tied, the branch or tree 

 above the insertion of the bud is ring-barked, so that the sap of the tree 

 is forced into the bud, which will then quickly unite with the tree. One 

 or more buds can be inserted in the same tree and several varieties of 

 mangos can thus be grown on the same stock." 



LUCULIA GBATISSIMA. 



Lieut-Col. Rippon, F.R.H.S., writing from the South Shan States gives 

 the following notes concerning the beautiful Luculia gratissima, which 

 no doubt cultivators of it will appreciate : " Luculia grows up to 6,000 

 feet in the Kochin Hills near Bhamo, and I have seen small plants 

 growing in the moss on otherwise bare rocks in the Bhamo Hills. The 

 rainfall there is over 100 inches annually. There is little lime there, but 

 mostly granite. Here (at Kalan), on the other hand, the soil is full of 



