FLORIDA ,STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
99 
of it, but the grapefruit is unknown; at 
least we saw none of it after leaving Ja¬ 
pan. They have shaddock, larger and 
coarser than any we have. You not only 
have to get the outer skin off of it, but you 
have to take the skin off each segment as 
well. They are worth the trouble, how¬ 
ever, and you are repaid in eating them. 
The juice cells are as large as peas, per¬ 
haps, and very pleasant to the taste. 
In addition to oranges, leitchees, shad¬ 
dock, etc., they have quite a number of 
different kinds of very good nuts. One 
is an acorn that is as good, or better, than 
our wild chestnut. It is not as large as 
our cultivated chestnut, but it is very 
toothsome. I have a few seeds, and I 
see some nurserymen present to whom I 
shall give them. 
I might mention in passing the botan¬ 
ical garden at Hongkong. Hongkong is 
a city built right on the side of a moun¬ 
tain island rising precipitously out of the 
water. It seems to be simply a rock that 
goes up sharply to what is known as the 
peak, a distance of two thousand feet, 
with very little room for anything. How¬ 
ever, they have terraced it and changed its 
surface entirely from the natural aspect. 
It is a city of some 400,000 or 500,000 
inhabitants, and is said to be the largest 
shipping point in the world, after Liver¬ 
pool and New York. Its botanical gar¬ 
den is planted upon the side of that moun¬ 
tain, overlooking the harbor. The gar¬ 
den is under English management and is 
well stocked up with fruits and ornamen¬ 
tals. Owing to the steep mountain side 
on which it is located, its terraced land¬ 
scaping is wonderful and beautiful, espe¬ 
cially at night. To our admiring view 
the mountain rose abruptly out of the har¬ 
bor, the electric lights were glittering and 
reflected back from the mirror-like water. 
It was simply a most gorgeous and mag¬ 
nificent sight. 
From Hongkong we sailed to Manila. 
Again we were at home, and Old Glory 
waved its inspiring folds over our heads, 
and we were with friends. The Philip¬ 
pines are in a most chaotic condition. The 
Americans are having unbelievable and 
indescribable difficulties to contend with, 
but they are doing wonders. There is a 
Florida man, with his wife, in charge of 
the little sub-Experiment Station a few 
miles below Manila. He is doing good 
work and fair results are promising. 
There are some specimens of the tanger¬ 
ine and some of grapefruit, and in spite 
of adverse climate and unfavorable condi¬ 
tions generally, I think they may succeed 
in producing some good results along cit¬ 
rus lines. One man was experimenting 
with corn, and told me he had the most 
wonderful thing in the way of Guam 
corn, and gave me an ear or two to bring 
home, but the weevils got at it, and when 
I reached Florida there was nothing left 
but dust and chaff. j 
The most delicious fruit we found in 
the Philippines was the mango. Talk 
about the mango we grow down on the 
southern end of the Florida peninsula! 
They are good; they are fine; but in com¬ 
parison they are like my Honolulu 
friend’s pineapples. Our mangoes do not 
compare with the mangoes in the Philip¬ 
pines. When you take a spoon and eat 
one, then eat another, and then another, 
and still want more, one can form some 
kind of an idea about how delightful they 
are. 
