Nov.  2,  1896.J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
337 
GOVERNMENT  BOTANICAL  (J  ARDENS, 
SAHARANPUR  AND  MUSSOORIE. 
From  the  report  on  the  progres.s  and  condition  of 
the  Government  Botanical  Gardens,  Saharanpur  and 
Mussoorie,  for  the  year  ending  31st  March  1890,  wo 
make  the  following  extracts: — 
CULTIVATION  : FHUIT  CULTURK. 
Crop. — The  mango  crop,  the  chief  and  most  pro- 
fitable of  the  fruit  crops  of  the  country  in  a good  year 
for  that  fruit,  was  for  the  second  season  in  siiccesaion 
extremely  light.  The  trees  fiowered  faiily  well,  but 
owing  to  the  presence  of  insect  blight  they  did  not 
set  fruit  so  plentifully  as  the  show'  of  blossom  would 
lead  one  to  expect. 
It  may  not  be  quite  in  place  to  draw  comparisons 
between  the  past  and  current  season  in  a repoit  sup- 
posed to  bo  only  dealing  with  the  past  one,  but  T 
cannot  help  remarking,  even  at  the  risk  of  it  being 
considered  so,  on  the  profuse  manner  in  which  the 
mango  blossomed  this  spiing.  Almost  every  tree  met 
with  was  laden  with  blossom  from  top  to  bottom  and 
so  profusely  in  many  instances  that  the  foliage  was 
entirely  hidden  by  the  flow'ers.  Notwithstanding 
the  great  show  cf  blossom,  the  crop  of  fruit  during 
the  coming  season  will  be  again  light.  Insect  blight 
was  not  present  to  any  great  extent,  1 o:  were  there 
unseasonable  showers  of  rain  while  the  trees  were  in 
fljwer  ; therefore  I can  only  account  for  the  lightness 
of  the  current  crop  to  the  extreme  dryness  of  tlie  air 
caused  l)y  the  prolonged  drought,  having  possibly 
withered  up  the  organs  of  fructification  before  fertilisa- 
tion could  be  effected. 
Bers,  lichees,  loquats,  peaches,  pears,  plums  and 
oranges  yielded  avei age  crops,  but  the  yield  of  limes, 
lemons  and  grapes  were  considerably  below  the  average. 
'The  amount  realized  by  the  sale  of  fruit  was 
Rl,355-8  0,  or  B69-7-0more  than  was  realized  from  the 
same  source  in  the  previous  year. 
Amkrican  Dewburkv  (lluhus  trivialis). — This  useful 
small  fruit  is  gradually  becoming  better  known  to 
growers  of  fruit  in  this  country.  During  the  past 
year  147  plants  were  distributed  against  30  plants 
in  the  previous  year,  as  noted  in  former  reports 
the  fruit  is  of  little  use  for  dessert,  but  it  furnishes 
an  excellent  preserve  and  on  that  account  alone  is 
well  worth  growing. 
The  jilants  forming  the  garden  plantation  of  dew- 
berry were  all  raised  from  seed,  it  had  been  noticed 
durirg  the.  past  season  or  two  that  the  quality  and 
yield  of  fruit  of  individual  plants  varied  consider- 
ably. A selection  of  offsets  from  the  largest 
fruited  and  most  prolific  bearers  was  therefore  made 
during  the  past  cold  season  and  transplanted  to  a 
new  plot  of  ground.  When  the  newly  made  plant- 
ation comes  into  bearing  the  quality  and  yield  of 
fruit  is  pCertain  to  be  fairly  even  and  better  than 
is  now  Produced  by  many  of  the  seedling  plants  for- 
ming the  old  plantation, 
Arabian  Date  Palm  (rinenix  docUjlifera). — Since 
submission  of  the  last  annual  report  25  plants  of 
the  Arabian  Date  Palm  have  been  killed  by  the  palm 
borer,  lihyncJwjihorus  i'cn-uyincus,  but  the  mortality 
would  not  have  been  quite  so  great  if  the  plants 
had  been  allowed  to  linger  on  until  they  died. 
With  a view  of  trying  to  completely  eradicate  the 
pest  every  individual  plant  was  carefully  examined 
and  all  plants  that  were  suspected  of  harbouring  the 
pest  were  uprooted  and  burned.  Many  of  the  plants 
looked  fairly  healthy  when  uprooted  and  in  such 
cases  the  only  sign  of  the  presence  of  the  insect  was 
premature  withering  of  the  lower  leaves  of  the  plants. 
As  all  suspected  plants  were  found  when  uprooted 
to  be  attacked  by  the  borer,  premature  decay  of  the 
lower  leaves  has  proved  to  be  a sure  sign  of  the 
commencement  of  an  attack.  In  future  as  soon  as 
premature  loss  of  the  lower  leaves  is  noticed  plants 
showing  such  symptoms  will  be  at  once  uprooted 
and  burned. 
Three  of  the  plants  are  for  the  first  time  carrying 
a crop  cf  fruit,  hut  as  it  will  not  ripen  until  towards 
the  middle  of  the  current  summer,  comment  on  its 
quality  will  have  to  stand  over  to  the  next  annual 
report. 
Avocado  Pe.ar  [I’ersca  ijralissima). — In  the  garden 
report  for  the  year  1892  mention  is  made  at  paragraph 
52  of  the  thriving  and  promising  condition  of  three 
specimens  of  this  trqpical  fruit  tree. 
List  season  one  of  those  specimens  bore  and  ripened 
a few  fruits  for  the  first  time.  I was  absent  on  fur- 
lough when  the  fmit  was  in  season,  but  the  native 
head  gardener  describes  it  as  being  similar  in  size  and 
shape  to  a good  specimen  of  the  common  pear  and  pale 
green  in  colour  wheu  fully  ripe.  To  his  taste  the  pulp 
proved  insipid  and  nauseous  and  far  from  agree- 
able. The  fruit  is  described  in  works  of  reference 
as  being  highly  esteemed  in  the  West  Indies  and 
tropical  America,  though  strangers  at  first  do  not 
like  it.  It  is  never  eaten  as  gathered  from  the  tree, 
but  is  always  flavoured  with  spice,  lime-juice  or 
pepper  and  salt.  Wheu  its  own  peculiar  flavour 
ii  disguised  by  the  addition  of  these  adjuncts  all 
lovers  of  fruit  are  said  to  soon  acquire  a taste  for  it. 
The  Avocado,  or  Alligator  Pear  as  it  is  also 
called,  is  not  likely  to  become  a common  fruit  tree 
in  Northern  India;  but  as  it  is  a nice  evergreen 
and  ornamental  at  all  seasons  of  the-  year,  it  is 
deserving  of  a place  in  the  garden  on  that  account 
alone. 
The  seeds  are  also  said  to  be  of  economic  value  by 
yielding  a deep  indelible  black  stain  useful  for 
marking  linen. 
Ber  [Zizi/phns  jujuha). — The  Mauritius  variety  of 
jujub  plum,  made  mention  cf  at  p.aragraph  54  of 
last  annual  report,  were  transferred  from  pots  to  the 
open  ground  early  in  the  cold  weather.  The  plants 
hav'e  not  made  much  progress  since  being  planted 
out,  but  they  look  strong  and  healthy  and  give  every 
promise  of  making  good  growth  as  soon  as  the  mon- 
soon rains  begin. 
Blackberry  Everrearino  [Itolms  fruticosus). — This 
fruit-bearing  bush  still  gives  piremise  of  being  as 
well  adapted  for  culture  in  this  climate  as  its  con- 
gener the  dewberry.  The  pilants  mentioned  at  para- 
graph 57  of  the  last  annual  report  as  having  been 
planted  alongside  of  the  latter  have  made  excellent 
progress.  One  of  the  largest  plants  bore  a few  fruits 
this  season  for  the  first  time,  but  as  they  were  picked 
o3  by  birds  before  they  were  fully  ripie  I can  unfortu- 
nately offer  no  remarks  upon  its  quality. 
For  the  present  all  that  can  be  said  of  it  is  that 
it  gives  every  promise  of  being  a success,  but  it  will 
have  to  undergo  observation  for  another  season  be- 
fore more  reliable  information  can  be  given  about  it. 
Fig  [Ficus  carica). — The  Japanese  figs  continue  to 
make  the  same  slow  progress  as  reported  of  these 
varieties  in  former  reports. 
A few  of  the  plants  are  bearing  a small  crop  of 
fruit  this  season,  but  as  it  will  not  ripen  until  some- 
time after  the  date  of  the  despatch  of  this  report  com- 
ment on  the  quality  of  the  fruit  will  have  to  stand 
over  until  submission  of  the  next  annual  report. 
Loquat  [Erioholnja  Japomca), — The  small  planta- 
tion of  loquat  plants  raised  from  seeds  received 
from  the  Governor  of  Malta  has  not  made  such 
good  progress  as  anticipiated  when  it  was  reported  on 
in  paragraph  61  of  the  last  annual  report. 
Several  of  the  plants  died  last  season,  but  all  blanks 
have  been  filled  up  from  the  reserve  of  plants  main- 
tained in  pots. 
The  Malta  strain  of  loquat  looks  robust  and  appa- 
rently as  well  adapted  to  thi.s  climate  as  our  own  as  long 
as  it  is  under  pot  cultivation,  but  when  transferred  from 
pots  to  the  ground  it  gradually  falls  into  an  un- 
thrifty condition  and  dies  oli'.  The  soil  of  the 
plantation  is  of  good  average  quality,  so  at  present 
I am  at  a loss  to  account  for  the  Malta  kind  doing 
so  badly.  The  tree  is  a native  of  .Japan,  and  the 
Malta  strain  in  common  with  our  own  must  have 
originally  been  introduced  from  the  former  country. 
It  is  therefore  curious  why  a tree  of  common  origin 
should  be  found  delicate  in  India  after  undergoing 
a course  of  cultivation  for  a series  of  years  in  Malta. 
Orange  [Citms  aurantiuni). — A very  fine  variety  of 
the  Malta  blood  orange  fruited  last  season  for  the 
first  time.  The  plant  was  received  in  1888  from  Dr. 
Bonavia  when  Superintendent  of  the  Jail  at  Etawah, 
with  the  remark  that  it  was  a layer  of  a variety  of 
