1 Nov., 1901.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 481 
There are so many exquisite varieties of mango that they could not readily 
be studied, and their characteristics found out, without being collected in one 
garden. Irom thence they could be disseminated to all parts of the empire 
where the climate would be likely to suit them. 
I have often tried those that sometimes appear in the London shops from 
the West Indies and other Atlantic islands. I never found one worth eating. 
They would not be looked at by an Indian mango connoisseur. 
Ihave often wondered why wealthy English gentlemen, with extensive 
gardens and acres of glass-houses, have never, that I am aware of, undertaken 
to build a special house for the reception and growth of the trees that produce 
one of the finest fruits in the world. 
It is the same with oranges. The British markets are flooded with foreign 
oranges, which are often unripe and sour. When ripe they are mostly stale, 
and not infrequently have a flavour of onions or tar. The flavour of tar is 
acquired from the ship-hold, and that of onions comes from a mixed cargo of 
oranges and onions ! 
To eat an orange off the tree when perfectly ripe would be a revelation to 
persons who have not been in orange countries, and the difference between 
those imported and those taken off the tree at the right time is something like 
the difference between night and day. 
And yet one never hears of any wealthy gentleman undertaking to erect a 
special house for oranges, and to collect these fine things which are to be found 
in various parts of the world. a 
There is such a thing as a movable glass house on rails. Such contrivances 
would be very useful in England, where foreign fruit trees might be kept warm 
under glass in winter, and the house wheeled off them in summer to expose 
them to direct sunlight and rain, both being very invigorating to all trees. 
If the present movable house is somewhat cumbersome it could be made 
in sections ; and surely the engineers who have built the bridge over the Forth, 
and have done other wonderful things, would be equal to inventing a house that 
could be easily drawn away by either horse, steam, or hydraulic power.* 
Then I am told that the reason why orange-trees are not popular in 
England is that their leaves have to be washed, which is a great bother. I am 
afraid, however, that sufficient experiments have not been tried, with washes 
syringed over the leaves, to rid them of that curious sooty, powdery parasite 
that more or less covers them. ‘There is the ammoniated sulphate of copper, 
used successfully by the French to combat mildew on vines; there is carbolic 
soap, and petroleum, and other combinations that might be tried. 
I must not forget, however, that I am writing about Imperial gardens for 
the dissemination of fruit trees which are little known, and not about private 
gardens. 
Where mango-trees in India can be grown, guavas, lichis, and bananas can 
be also grown. 
Of guavas there are two forms, the globular and pyriform. Those 
sold in bazaars are not choice, but they make one of the snest fruit jellies in 
existence. You have to eat guava jelly, freshly made, with clotted cream, on 
toast, to understand what this fine thing means. 
__ AJl guavas make a capital stew—peeled, with the seeds scooped out, 
and stewed in sugar and a little water. They are excellent, with a swz generis 
flayour. 
The raw fruits are not much relished by the English in India, owing to 
their strong scent; some cannot tolerate them in a room. But there are 
guavas and guavas. The choice varieties would be worthy of cultivation in 
an Imperial garden. There is one fine variety which I came across in Lucknow. 
lt was presented to me by a native gentleman, and, strange to say, it had the 
* At Baden Baden, in Germany, numbers of fine orange-trees were grown in immense boxes 
on wheels. These were kept in the glass house during the winter, and in summer were wheeled 
out to adorn the gardens of the Kur-saal.—Ed. Q. A.J. 
