Sept.  1,  1896.] 
Sui^plcment  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist.  ” 
217 
FKUIT  CULTURE  IN  WESTERN  INDIA. 
The  fruit-grower  finds  a ready  market  for  his 
produce  in  Bombny.  The  large  number  of  steamers 
that  call  at  the  harbour  as  well  as  the  wealthy 
European  and  native  population  of  the  city  readily 
purchase  the  large  quantities  of  fruit  that  are  daily 
brought  to  the  city  and  offered  for  rather  high 
prices. 
Bombay  is  famous  for  its  mangoes ; in  fact  they 
are  par  excellence  the  first  of  the  indigenous  fruit 
of  Western  India.  The  best  varieties  are  the 
Alfonzo  or  Appus  which  is  classed  as  No.  1,  and 
the  Piry  which  is  No.  2.  The  latter  fetches  from 
E8  to  R12  per  100,  and  the  former  R12  to  R15 ; and 
so  a gardener  who  possesses  a few  dozen  trees  of 
these  varieties  can  make  his  fortune  in  a few  years. 
A typically  good  mango  should  be  sweet,  fibre- 
less, thin-skinned,  fairly  large  but  small-stoned, 
and  have  as  little  as  possible  of  the  turpentine-like 
flavour  in  it.  All  these  qualities  are  jwetty  well 
developed  in  the  two  varieties  mentioned  above, 
especially  in  the  Appus. 
It  is  by  grafting  that  the  excellence  of  these  two 
varieties  is  preserved,  as  it  is  too  commonly  found 
that  seed -grown  trees  do  not  prove  true  to  their 
kind.  The  method  of  grafting  adopted  by  tlie 
Bombay  gardeners  is  that  by  “ approach,”  seed- 
lings which  are  a year  old  being  used  as  stock. 
They  are  grown  in  pots  and  bung  on  the  branches 
for  the  purpose.  The  grafting  is  done  pretty  much 
in  the  same  way  as  that  adopted  in  Jaffna. 
One  should  be  very  careful  in  the  selection  of 
mangoes,  for  neither  their  colour  nor  their  smell 
is  a test  of  their  good  qualities.  Indeed,  I might 
gay  that  the  proof  of  the  mango,  as  that  of  the 
pudding,  is  in  the  eating ! Some  inferior  kinds 
give  out  a better  aroma  and  have  a more  tempt- 
ing colour  than  the  superior  varieties.  Strangers 
are  often  misled  in  this  way,  and  new  arrivals 
from  Europe,  when  they  once  happen  to  be  so 
duped,  contract  a prejudice  against  mangoes  in 
general. 
Mangoes  even  of  the  best  variety  must  be  fully 
matured  and  perfectly  ripe  before  they  are  eaten. 
Some  of  the  best  kinds  are  quite  sour  before 
properly  ripe,  and  if  gathered  before  they  have 
matured  and  kept  to  ripen,  they  do  notdevelope 
their  best  flavours  and  are  often  insipid. 
The  question  ns  to  the  relative  e.xcellence  of  the 
Bombay  and  Ceylon  mangoes  is  rather  a difficult 
one  to  decide,  and  some  of  my  Bombny  friends  would 
not  tolerate  the  idea  of  the  latter  being  considered 
superior  in  qualitj'.  It  may,  however,  be  safely 
said  that  a few  of  the  Ceylon  varieties,  especially 
certain  grafted  ones  of  the  North,  compare  very 
Livourably  with  Bombay  mangoes.  The  real 
Japana  ” mango,  so  well-known  in  Colombo,  al- 
though it  is  so  modest-looking  and  unassuming  in 
apjiearance,  is  not  a variety  to  be  despised.  The 
onlj'  objectionable  feature  in  it  is  that  it  has  a 
little  too  much  of  the  turpentinelike  flavour,  and 
1 have  seen  some  fastidious  persons  soaking  the 
pulp  in  coconut  “milk  ” or  juice  before  eating  it, 
so  as  to  get  rid  of  this  flavour. 
A Ceylone.-=e  visiting  Bombay  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  how  much  is  made  of  the  custard 
apple.  Soon  after  the  mango  season  is  over  in 
Bombay,  custard  aj)ples  begin  to  come  in  and 
take  the  place  of  the  former  fruit  to  a large  extent. 
A custard  apple  tree  is  considered  second  only  to 
the  mango  as  regards  profit.  The  price  of  a dozen 
custard  apples  ranges  from  twelve  annas  to  a rupee. 
The  tree  bears  better  in  Western  India  than  in 
Ceylon,  because  more  care  is  taken  about  it  there, 
and  it  is  attended  to  almost  as  much  as  the  orange 
or  any  other  fruit  tree  that  is  usually  grown  in 
orchards.  Considering  the  fact  that  this  tree  can 
be  easily  grown  and  wuthout  any  great  e.xpense,  it 
will  be  to  the  interest  of  the  Cejdon  fruit-grower 
to  take  to  its  cultivation  ; and  once  the  general 
public  acquire  a taste  for  custard  apples, 
there  will  be  a constant  demand  for  them.  The 
custard  apple  is  a much  more  agreeable  fruit  than 
the  other  two  allied  fruits  of  the  Nat.  Order  Ano- 
nacece,  viz.,  the  “sour-sop”  and  the  “bullock’s 
heart,”  the  peculiar  smell  and  sour  taste  of  the 
former,  and  the  rank,  coarse  flavour  of  the  latter 
being  objectionable  to  many.  There  is  besides  a 
common  belief  among  the  natives  that  the  latter 
fruit  w hen  consumed  largely  brings  on  boils.  None 
of  these  objections  apply  to  the  custard  apple,  and 
a stranger  takes  a liking  to  it  very  soon.  But  the 
fruit  as  we  find  it  in  Ceylon  is  small  and  requires 
much  improvement  which  must  be  effected  by 
careful  selection  and  cultivation,  and  by  intro- 
ducing superior  varieties  from  India  or  elsewhere 
if  necessary. 
Other  fruits  grown  in  and  near  Bombay  in 
considerable  quantities  are  the  bananas,  oranges, 
guavas,  melons,  the  papaw,  &c.  The  vine  is 
grown  at  various  altitudes,  and  the  Black  Ham- 
burgh is  reputed  the  best  variety  as  regards 
flavour  and  regularity  of  bearing.  English  fruits 
such  as  applies  and  pears  are  brought  chiefly  from 
upcoLintry. 
All  these  fruits  find  a ready  sale  in  Bombay 
and  here,  in  Ceylon,  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
case  should  be  otherwise.  AFith  the  large  number 
of  steamers  that  now  call  at  Colombo,  and  with 
the  increase  of  the  wealthy  European  and  native 
population  in  the  metropolis,  and  the  large  towns 
in  the  Island,  there  is  bound  to  be  an  ever-growing 
demand  for  fruit;  and  the  supply  must  keep  pace 
with  it.  Superior  varieties  of  fruit  if  produced 
in  abundance,  especially  in  those  parts  from  which 
the  produce  can  be  transported  to  the  large  town 
markets  by  rail,  may  be  counted  uj)on  to  yield 
good  returns.  By  a system  of  careful  selection, 
suitable  cultivation,  manuring,  pruning  and 
thinning  out  overcrowded  fruits,  many  of  the 
indigenous  varieties  of  fruit  can  undoubtedly  be 
improved  and  made  to  fetch  higher  prices  in  the 
market.  Some  trees  that  fruit  earlier  and  later 
than  the  usual  fruiting  season  should  also  be 
grown,  if  possible,  .so  as  to  distribute  the  crops  all 
through  the  year  as  far  as  practicable.  Superior 
foreign  varieties  should  be  introduced  in  cases 
where  the  indigenous  ones  are  poor ; and  grafting 
and  budding  should  be  resorted  to  as  a moans  of 
improvement. 
AVhen  we  note  the  great  strides  made  in  America 
and  Australia  in  fruit-culture,  we  cannot  but  ad- 
mit that  there  are  vast  possibilities  for  a tropical 
and  fertile  Island  like  Ceylon  for  improving  and 
developing  the  cultivation  of  fruits.  And  for 
some  time  to  come,  at  least,  there  is  no  fear  of 
the  fruit-grower  overstocking  the  home-market. 
But  when  we  are  threatened  by  such  a crisis, 
then  it  will  be  time  to  think  of  sending  out  our 
fruit,  preserved  and  tinned,  to  the  foreign  markets 
of  the  world. 
E.  T.  IIOOLE. 
