FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
191 
little bits of fruit on them. It is a ques¬ 
tion of chance, of course, as the profess¬ 
or has explained. One time you may 
get something as good, or even a little 
better than the parent, but as a rule they 
sport and retrograde. 
Mr. Goodwin: Seeds from the same 
fruit will produce both the large and the 
small varieties. 
Mr. Moses: I would like to say 
that, even in growing the small ones, if 
they are not too small, they are very 
palatable. 
They have an enemy that attacks the 
base of the fruit stem; a borer, a small 
green worm. I do not know what moth 
lays the egg, but it is very difficult to 
raise a perfect fruit. 
Professor Rolfs: Have you tried con¬ 
tact insecticides, such as Whale Oil Soap? 
Mr. Moses: I have sprayed with 
Whale Oil Soap. 
Mr. Goodwin: It has also another en¬ 
emy; a little patch that forms and grad¬ 
ually spreads, sometimes when it is green 
and sometimes when it is ripe, that causes 
a little rotten spot. 
Dr. Berger: Since you have gotten on 
the enemy line, there is another, that is 
a fly that deposits an egg in the inner 
flesh. When it is able, it deposits the 
egg in among the seeds. Of course, 
those fruits are ruined. That fly exists 
in the Miami section. 
Mr. Hume: They probably got it 
from Cuba. 
Dr. Berger: I presume so. The way 
to get around that would be to select 
your buds from the very thick-fleshed 
varieties, so that the fly cannot get its 
egg through into the seed. They have 
to get it into the seed, and in that way 
you can get ahead of the fly. Get a thick- 
fleshed variety, and the egg is destroyed 
in the flesh. 
Mr. Yothers: Some time last Octo¬ 
ber, Mr. Marlatt, who is chairman of 
the Federal Quarantine Board, sent me 
on a more on less secret mission tO' find 
out if it was the Mediterranean fruit fly, 
and I assure you there was considerable 
anxiety felt by Mr. Marlatt and myself. 
Further investigation showed that this 
fly showed up at Natal and the British 
possessions. That brings up another 
point; all these fruits from this country 
should be quarantined to prevent the 
further introduction of this fly. I do not 
know that it will do much good to lock 
the barn after the horse is stolen. 
Mr. Hume: We are trying to get this 
through the Federal Department and our 
own Legislature. We hope to report we 
have succeeded. 
Mr. Gillette: It would be the solution 
of the tariff problem. 
Mr. Hume: It would be a fine one, 
indeed. 
Mr. Spalding: I wonder if it is too cold 
to grow papayas successfully here? 
Mr. Hume: If you had some way of 
starting the plants early in a hot-house 
with no danger of freezing, and sow 
your seeds about December or early Jan¬ 
uary, they would probably fruit the same 
season. They are almost like a vegeta¬ 
ble. Mr. Painter tells me he fruited 
them in Jacksonville last year. 
Mr. Goodwin: If they freeze even 
down to the ground, if the trunk is some¬ 
what large, they will come up the next 
season. 
