California tree was originally imported from Saharanpur, India. It 
first fruited in 1913. It is possible that varieties from the hill coun- 
try of India may prove best adapted to California and Florida condi- 
tions. The United States Department of Agriculture has placed a 
number of litchi. trees in different parts of California, and the writer 
distributed a considerable number of seeds in that State in July, 1914. 
NATURAL REQUIREMENTS. 
The litchi appears to belong just within or near the border of the 
Tropics. When the tree is young it is very sensitive to frost, but 
when mature it is reported that considerable cold is endured without 
injury. Mr. A. C. Hartless, superintendent Government Botanical 
Gardens, Saharanpur, India, states, in a letter to the writer, that the 
trees "have been known to stand 11° of frost." In south China the 
litchi is grown on comparatively low lands, but nearer the Equator in 
India its cultivation is extended to considerable elevations. Definite 
data are not available as to the optimum atmospheric moisture, but 
the evidence indicates that a rather high humidity is desirable. 
Abundant rainfall is important unless irrigation is applied, but heavy 
rains during the flowering season are injurious. It is believed in 
China that electrical storms interfere with the production of flowers 
and fruit. Whether this be well founded or not, it may be worth 
while to record that the 1916 crop in Honolulu was a total failure and 
that the few months preceding the flowering season witnessed some of 
the most severe electrical storms that have occurred in the city in 
many years. 
A deep, moist, alluvial soil seems best adapted to the needs of the 
litchi, but it prospers in a rather heavy and compact soil. In China, 
a favorite place for planting is along the banks of streams or on the 
dikes between rice fields. Though the litchi has been grown chiefly 
in very heavy soils in Hawaii, in the absence of exhaustive experi- 
ments it is impossible to state positively that it would not do equally 
well in light soils, provided the moisture requirements were well 
maintained. 
CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS. 
Much is yet to be learned regarding the cultural requirements of 
this tree. No orchard experiments with the litchi are on record in 
any of the meager and fragmentary literature available on the 
subject. Unless there is a liberal rainfall or a constant subterranean 
supply of water, abundant irrigation is necessary. It is well known 
also that large quantities of fertilizer are used in the cultivation of 
the litchi. It is the custom of some of the Chinese growers to apply 
night soil several times during the year. For this purpose a shallow 
trench, dug near the ends of the roots of the tree, is filled with the 
fertilizer which is covered with soil. Duck manure also is a favorite 
