From the Manual Of
Tropical And Subtropical Fruits
by Wilson Popenoe
The Mango
Akbar, the Mughal emperor who reigned in northern
India from 1556 to 1605, planted near Darbhanga the Lakh Bagh, an
orchard of a hundred thousand mango trees. Nothing, perhaps, more
eloquently attests the importance of this fruit and the esteem in which
it has long been held than this immense planting, made at a time when
large orchards of fruit-trees were almost unknown. Three hundred years
after they were set out, the English horticulturist Charles Maries
found some of these trees still in vigorous condition.
Few other fruits have the historic background of
the mango, and few others are so inextricably connected with the
folklore and religious ceremonies of a great people. Buddha himself
was presented with a mango grove, that he might find repose beneath its
grateful shade. The Turkoman poet Amir Khusrau, whose grass-covered
tomb is still venerated at Delhi, wrote to this effect in Persian verse
during the reign of Muhammad Tughlak Shah (1325-1351):
The mango is the pride of the Garden, The choicest
fruit of Hindustan. Other fruits we are content to eat when ripe, But
the mango is good in all stages of growth.
In more recent times, British authors have not
hesitated to lavish praise on this oriental King of Fruits. Fryer, in
1673, wrote regarding mangos that "The Apples of the Hesperides are but
Fables to them; for Taste, the Nectarine, Peach, and Apricot fall
short." Hamilton, who wrote in 1727, went even farther than this; he
declares "The Goa mango is reckoned the largest and most delicious to
the taste of any in the world, and I may add, the wholesomest and best
tasted of any Fruit in the World."
These few quotations will suffice to show the long
established prestige of the mango in its native home. After the
development of trade between India and the outside world, its
cultivation spread to other countries. At the present time the mango is
a fruit of greater importance to millions throughout the tropics than
is the apple to temperate North America.
In
the past twenty years choice budded or grafted varieties have been
planted in Florida and the West Indies, and the fruit has begun to
appear in the markets of the North. The rich spicy flavor of the mango,
its peculiarly tempting fragrance, and the beautiful shades of color
which characterize many varieties, make it one of the most attractive
dessert fruits on the American market.
In many instances
travelers have made the acquaintance of this fruit through some of the
fibrous seedlings which abound in all parts of the tropical world, and
as a result may have formed an aversion for it difficult to overcome.
It is only in the superb grafted varieties of the Orient, the product
of centuries of improvement, that the mango exhibits its best
qualities. There is more difference between an ordinary seedling and a
grafted Alphonse than there is between a crab-apple and a Gravenstein.
Since
the introduction of these choice varieties into tropical and
subtropical America, mango culture has there taken on a new aspect.
Previously limited to the production of seedling fruits usually of
inferior quality though valuable for local consumption, the industry is
now being developed with a view to supplying northern markets with
fancy fruit.
While many of the common seedlings yield abundantly
with no cultural attention, the production of fine grafted mangos is
attended by certain cultural difficulties, some of which are yet to be
overcome. Anthracnose, a fungous disease related to the wither-tip of
citrus fruits, is a serious pest in many regions. The greatest
difficulty, however, is the tendency of many of the choice Indian
varieties to bear irregularly. In some cases good crops are produced
not oftener than once in three or four years. Thorough investigation of
cultural requirements together with experimental planting of many
varieties is bringing to light the most productive kinds and the proper
methods to be employed in their cultivation.
The Mango
Botanical
Description
History and
Distribution
Composition
And Uses Of The Fruit
Climate
And Soil
Cultivation
Propagation
The Mango Flower
And Its Pollination
The
Crop
Pests And
Diseases
Races and
Varieties
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Mango Page
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