the United States. The best varieties, which are rich and delicate, are scarce at present; but Mr Collins believes that in a very short time, with more care in the cultivation of the tree and with the introduction of new varieties of mango, great quantities of the finest fruit can be grown and shipped to this country. He believes that the fruit would soon become immensely popular and equal, if not surpass in popularity, both the orange and banana.

Mr Collins' report to the Department of Agriculture has recently been published, and from it the following notes are taken :

Though European residents in the Tropics almost universally acquire a fondness for the mango, and in England the demand for it is steadily increasing, it having been found possible to make importations from India, notwithstanding the great distance, the mango is as yet little known in the United States, having been represented in our markets only by fruit of inferior varieties. These give no suggestion of the qualities of the better sorts, and tend rather to discourage than to increase the demand. If an effort similar to that which brought the banana into favor in the United States could place an adequate supply of good mangoes before the public, there is no apparent reason why this new tropical fruit should not repeat the history of its now popular predecessor.

A taste for mangoes has in most people to be cultivated; but once acquired, it is like a taste for olives, and becomes almost a craving. The milder flavored

varieties, in which no taste of turpentine is to be detected, are usually enjoyed even by the novice, but after one becomes familiar with the fruit a slight taste of turpentine ceases to be disagreeable. The fiber, however, that exists in the poorer varieties is an unmitigated evil, and renders the eating of a mango a serious operation. Persons forming their opinion of the fruit from these poor varieties usually indorse the proverbial statement that the mango is " a mass of tow saturated with turpentine;" but those acquainted with the fruit at its best are almost unanimously enthusiastic in their praise. Elphinstone, the historian of India, says:

"The mango is the best fruit of India, at once rich and delicate, and all other fruits are comparatively insipid beside its intensity of taste. There is something in it that is nothing less than voluptuous.

Good mangoes are produced in America, but as yet in such small quantity that few persons have had an opportunity to taste any but inferior fruit. Sample lots of the more common and poorer varieties are frequently shipped to northern markets, and have doubtless done much to hinder the growth of the trade. A first impression is very lasting, and first impressions of the mango based on such fruit are likely to be anything but favorable. As an example, mangoes are frequently to be found in the Washington market, but we have never seen one that could be called good, even in comparison with the Porto Rican fruit.

This impression will doubtless be difficult to dispel; but if really good mangoes could be placed in the markets their increase in popular favor would be certain and the growing of mangoes might become a profitable pursuit.

In spite of the fact that in all mangoproducing countries the natives consider the fruit wholesome and perfectly safe, prejudice against it exists among some military officials and others, who con

easily cut with a knife. In the best varieties the fiber is almost entirely wanting and the entire fruit consists of a mass of juicy, usually orange-colored pulp.

The Anacardiaceæ, to which the mango belongs, include also the turpentine tree (Pistacia terebinthus), the original source of turpentine, and it seems not at all unlikely that the characteristic odor of the mango is in reality due to the presence of turpentine or some closely allied substance. udations of a transparent resinous substance similar to that of the turpentine tree are frequently to be noticed in the mango.

Ex

The mango (Mangifera indica) is said by De Candolle to be native in South Asia or the Malay Archipelago, and recent authors report it as wild in the forests of Ceylon and the regions at the base of the Himalayas, especially toward the east, at an altitude of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. Its culture is very ancient, as shown by references in Sanskrit mythology and ancient Hindu folklore.

For so old and so useful a plant, its distribution was comparatively limited until historic times. To the west it had not passed the Red Sea, being unknown in Egypt, while to the east it had apparently not reached the islands of the Pacific. The species is not well adapted for distribution by natural agencies, and man has probably been chiefly responsible for its dissemination.

In the New World it seems to have been first introduced into Brazil, although it is not known at what date.

The mango is now a common fruit throughout the Tropics of the world. It has been developed to the highest state of perfection in its home in India, where the number of well-marked varieties is enormous. Mr Maries, of Durbhungah, has collected over 500 varieties, 100 of which he characterizes as good.

Thirty-four of these varieties

he describes in Watt's Dictionary of Economic Products of India. Ceylon is also famous for its mangoes. Both the east and the west coasts of Africa have several good varieties. In Australia the culture is fast increasing, and it bids fair to become one of the most popular fruits. One very fine variety is said to exist in the island of St Helena. The mango is the most highly prized fruit of Guam, where there is a fine seedling variety. Its cultivation in that island is, however, not a success, owing probably to the thin soil, which affords such a shallow footing that the hurricanes uproot the trees in all exposed localities. In the Hawaiian Islands Mr William C. Stubbs* reports: "The mango is receiving perhaps more attention just now than any other fruit. As many as twelve or fifteen varieties have already been introduced. It is a delicious fruit, and decidedly ornamental in any ground." In the New World, Trinidad and Jamaica have the largest collections, although the drier regions of Central America and Mexico may be found to offer better seedling varieties.

In spite of the many discouraging frosts that have visited Florida, planters of that state are actively engaged in propagating good varieties by budding, grafting, and inarching, and, if visited with no further misfortune, will in a few years produce considerable quantities of high-grade fruit.

The mango will grow in a variety of conditions, and it seems to have little preference as to soil, the most important requirement being a deep soil that is well drained. As to climate, it is much more exacting, and the fact that the tree may thrive well in a given locality and yet fail to produce fruit should be kept always in mind. The mango will be prolific only in regions subjected to a

* Bull No. 95, Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Report on the Agricultural Resources and Capabilities of Hawaii, p. 40.