From the Manual Of
Tropical And Subtropical Fruits
by Wilson Popenoe
The Mango
History And
Distribution
Alphonse DeCandolle considered it probable that the mango could be
included among the fruits which have been cultivated by man for 4000
years. Its prominence in Hindu mythology and religious observance
leaves no doubt as to its antiquity, while its economic importance in
ancient times is suggested by one of the Sanskrit names, am, which has
an alternative meaning of provisions or victuals.
Dymock,
Warden, and Hooper (Pharmacographia
Indica) give the following resume
of its position in the intellectual life of the Hindus:
"The
mango, in Sanskrit Amra, Chuta and Sahakara, is said to be a
transformation of Prajapati (lord of creatures), an epithet in the Veda
originally applied to Savitri, Soma, Tvashtri, Hirangagarbha, Indra,
and Agni, but afterwards the name of a separate god presiding over
procreation. (Manu. xii, 121.) In more recent hymns and Brahmanas
Prajapati is identified with the universe.
"The tree provides
one of the pancha-pallava or aggregate of five sprigs used in Hindu
ceremonial, and its flowers are used in Shiva worship on the
Shivaratri. It is also a favorite of the Indian poets. The flower is
invoked in the sixth act of Sakuntala as one of the five arrows of
Kamadeva. In the travels of the Buddhist pilgrims Fah-hien and Sung-yun
(translated by Beal) a mango grove (Amravana) is mentioned which was
presented by Amradarika to Buddha in order that he might use it as a
place of repose. This Amradarika, a kind of Buddhic Magdalen, was the
daughter of the mango tree. In the Indian story of Surya Bai (see Cox,
Myth. of the Arian Nations) the daughter of the sun is represented as
persecuted by a sorceress, to escape from whom she became a golden
Lotus. The king fell in love with the flower, which was then burnt by
the sorceress. From its ashes grew a mango tree, and the king fell in
love first with its flower, and then with its fruit; when ripe the
fruit fell to the ground, and from it emerged the daughter of the sun
(Surya Bai), who was recognized by the prince as his long lost wife."
When
introduced into regions where climatic conditions are favorable, the
mango rapidly becomes naturalized and takes on the appearance of a wild
plant. This fact, together with the long period of time during which it
has been cultivated throughout India, makes it difficult to determine
the original home of the species.
Sir Joseph Hooker (Flora of
British India) considered the mango to be indigenous in the tropical
Himalayan region, from Kumaon to the Bhutan hills and the valleys of
Behar, the Khasia mountains, Burma, Oudh, and the Western peninsula
from Kandeish southwards. He adds, "It is difficult to say whether so
common a tree is wild or not in a given locality, but there seems to be
little doubt that it is indigenous in the localities enumerated."
Dietrich Brandis (Indian Trees) says it is indigenous in Burma, the
Western Ghats, in the Khasia hills, Sikkim, and in the ravines of the
Satpuras. R. S. Hole, of the Imperial Forest Research Institute at
Dehra Dun, considers that the so-called wild mangos which are found in
many parts of India are mostly forms escaped from cultivation, as shown
by the fact that they are always near streams or foot-paths in the
jungle, where seeds have been thrown by passing natives.
Alphonse
DeCandolle says: "It is impossible to doubt that it is a native of the
south of Asia and of the Malay Archipelago, when we see the multitude
of varieties cultivated in those countries, the number of ancient
names, in particular a Sanskrit name, its abundance in the gardens of
Bengal, of the Dekkan peninsula, and of Ceylon, even in Rheede's time.
. . . The true mango is indicated by modern authors as wild in the
forests of Ceylon, the regions at the base of the Himalayas, especially
towards the east, in Arracan, Pegu, and the Andaman Isles. Miquel does
not mention it as wild in any of the islands of the Malay Archipelago.
In spite of its growing in Ceylon, and the indications, less positive
certainly, of Sir Joseph Hooker in the Flora of British India, the
species is probably rare or only naturalized in the Indian peninsula."
Most species of Mangifera
are natives of the Malayan region. Sumatra in particular is the home of
several. While it is known that the mango has been cultivated in
western India since a remote day, and we find it to-day naturalized in
many places, it seems probable that its native home is to be sought in
eastern India, Assam, Burma, or possibly farther in the Malayan region.
The
Chinese traveler Hwen T'sang, who visited Hindustan between 632 and 645
a.d., was the first person, so far as known, to bring the mango to the
notice of the outside world. He speaks of it as an-mo-lo, which Yule
and Burnell consider a phonetization of the Sanskrit name amra. Several
centuries later, in 1328, Friar Jordanus, who had visited the Konkan
and learned to appreciate the progenitors of the Goa and Bombay mangos,
wrote, "There is another tree which bears a fruit the size of a large
plum, which they call aniba." He found it "sweet and pleasant." The
common name which he used is a variation of the north Indian am or
amba. Six years later (1334) Ibn Batuta wrote that "the mango tree
('anba) resembles an orange tree, but is larger and more leafy; no
other tree gives so much shade." John de Marignolli, in 1349, says,
"They also have another tree called amburan, having a fruit of
excellent fragrance and flavor, somewhat like a peach." Var-thema, in
1510, mentioned the mango briefly, using the name amba. Sultan Baber,
who wrote in 1526, is the first to distinguish between choice and
inferior varieties. He says, "Of the vegetable productions peculiar to
Hindustan one is the mango, (ambeh). . . . Such mangos as are good are
excellent."
The island of Ormuz, in the mouth of the Persian
Gulf, was settled in early days by the Portuguese and became one of the
great emporiums of the East. Garcia de Orta, a Portuguese from Goa,
wrote in 1563 that the mangos of Ormuz were the finest in the Orient,
surpassing those of India. It is probable, however, that the mangos
known at Ormuz were not grown on the island itself, since it has very
little arable land and water is exceedingly scarce. The Cronica dos
Reys Dormuz (1569) says that mangos were brought to Ormuz from Arabia
and Persia. Later, in 1622, P. della Valle speaks of the mangos grown
on the Persian mainland at Minao, only a few miles from Ormuz.
The
Ain-i-Akbari, an encyclopedic work written during the reign of Akbar
(about 1590), contains a lengthy account of the mango. Akbar, it may be
remembered, was the Mughal emperor who planted the Lakh Bagh at
Darbhanga, and in other ways stimulated the cultivation of fruit-trees
throughout northern India. Abu-1 Fazl-i-'Allami, author of the Ain
(translated by Blochmann), writes:
"The Persians call this fruit
Naghzak, as appears from a verse of Khusrau. This fruit is unrivalled
in color, smell, and taste; and some of the gourmands of Turan and Iran
place it above muskmelons and grapes. In shape it resembles an apricot,
or a quince, or a pear, or a melon, and weighs even one ser and
upwards. There are green, yellow, red, variegated, sweet and subacid
mangos. The tree looks well, especially when young; it is larger than a
nut tree, and its leaves resemble those of a willow, but are larger.
The new leaves appear soon after the fall of the old ones in the
autumn, and look green and yellow, orange, peach-colored, and bright
red. The flower, which opens in the spring, resembles that of the vine,
has a good smell, and looks very curious. . . . The fruit is generally
taken down when unripe, and kept in a particular manner. Mangos ripened
in this manner are much finer. They commence mostly to ripen during
summer and are fit to be eaten during the rains; others commence in the
rainy season and are ripe in the beginning of winter; the latter are
called Bhadiyyah. Some trees bloom and yield fruit the whole year; but
this is rare. Others commence to ripen, although they look unripe; they
must be quickly taken down, else the sweetness would produce worms.
Mangos are to be found everywhere in India, especially in Bengal,
Gujrat, Malwah, Khandesh, and the Dekhan. They are rarer in the Panjab,
where their cultivation has, however, increased since his Majesty made
Lahor his capital. A young tree will bear fruit after four years. They
also put milk and treacle around the tree, which makes the fruits
sweeter. Some trees yield in one year a rich harvest, and less in the
next; others yield for one year no fruit at all. . . ."
The name
mango, by which this fruit is known to English-speaking as well as
Spanish-speaking peoples, is derived from the Portuguese manga.
According to Yule and Burnell, the Tamil name man-kay or man-gay is the
original of the word, the Portuguese having formed manga from this when
they settled in western India. Skeat traces the origin of the name to
the Malayan manga, but other writers consider the latter to have been
introduced into the Malay Archipelago from India. The name mango is
used in German and Italian, while the Dutch have adopted manga or
mangga, and the French form is mangue.
In the Malay Archipelago
and in many parts of Polynesia mangos are plentiful. W. E. Safford l
writes, "The mango tree is not well established in Guam. There are few
trees on the Island, but these produce fruit of the finest quality.
Guam mangos are large, sweet, fleshy, juicy, and almost entirely free
from the fiber and flavor which so often characterize the fruit."
Excellent mangos were formerly shipped from the French island of Tahiti
to San Francisco. Many choice varieties have been planted in the
Hawaiian Islands. J. E. Higgins has written a bulletin on mango culture
in this region.
On the tropical coast of Africa, extending south
to the Cape of Good Hope, and in Madagascar, mangos are common. The
French island of Reunion is the original home of several varieties now
cultivated in the West Indies and Florida.
In Queensland,
Australia, attention has been given to the asexual propagation of this
fruit, and a limited number of choice Indian varieties have been
introduced.
In the Mediterranean region the species is not
entirely successful. Trees are reported to have produced fruit in
several localities, but nowhere have they become commonly grown. In
Madeira and the Canary Islands they are more at home; Captain Cook,
when on his first voyage of discovery, reported in 1768 that mangos
grew almost spontaneously in Madeira. C. H. Gable, who has recently
worked on the island, says there are now only a few trees to be found,
but that these bear profusely.
The Portuguese are given the
credit for bringing the mango to America. It is believed to have been
first planted at Bahia, Brazil, at an uncertain date probably not
earlier than 1700. Captain Cook found in 1768 that the fruit was
produced in great abundance at Rio de Janeiro. In the West Indies it
was first introduced at Barbados in 1742 or thereabouts, the "tree or
its seed" having been brought from Rio de Janeiro. It did not reach
Jamaica until 1782. Its introduction into the latter island is
described by Bryan Edwards:1 "This plant, with
several
others, as well as different kinds of Seeds, were found on board a
French ship (bound from the Isle de France for Hispaniola) taken by
Captain Marshall of his Majesty's Ship Flora, one of Lord Rodney's
Squadron, in June, 1782, and sent as a Prize to this island. By Captain
Marshall, with Lord Rodney's approbation, the whole collection was
deposited in Mr. East's garden, where they have been cultivated with
great assiduity and success." Thirty-two years after its introduction,
John Lunan stated that the mango had become one of the commonest
fruit-trees of Jamaica.
1 Useful Plants of Guam.
It
is said to have been introduced into Mexico at the same time as the
coffee plant, early in the nineteenth century, the introducer having
been D. Juan Antonio Gomez of Cordoba. It is evident that Mexico has
received mangos from two sources; some from the West Indies, and others
from the Philippines, brought by the Spanish galleons which traded in
early times between Acapulco and Manila.
The cultivation of the
mango under glass in Europe was attempted at an early day. A writer in
Curtis' Botanical Magazine in 1850 says : "The mango is recorded to
have been grown in the hothouses of this country at least 160 years
ago, but it is only within the last twenty years that it has come into
notice as a fruit capable of being brought to perfection in England.
The first and, we believe, the most successful attempt was made by the
late Earl of Powis, in his garden at Walcot, where he had a lofty
hothouse 400 feet long and between 30 and 40 feet wide constructed for
the cultivation of the mango and other rare and tropical fruits; but
within these last few years we have known it to bear fruit in other
gardens."
In the United States, cultivation of the mango is
limited to southern Florida and southern California. It is believed the
species was first introduced into the former state by Henry Perrine,
who sent plants from Mexico to his grant of land below Miami in 1833.
These trees, however, perished from neglect after Perrine's death, and
many years passed before another introduction was made. According to P.
J. Wester, the second and successful introduction was in 1861 or 1862,
by Fletcher of Miami. The trees introduced in these early years were
seedlings. In 1885 Rev. D. G. Watt of Pinellas made an attempt to
introduce the choice grafted varieties of India. According to P. N.
Reasoner,1 Watt obtained from Calcutta eight
plants of the
two best sorts, Bombay and Malda. "They were nearly three months on the
passage, and when the case was opened five were dead; another died soon
after, and the two remaining plants were starting nicely, when the
freeze destroyed them entirely."
In 1888 Herbert Beck of St. Petersburg
obtained a shipment of thirty-five inarched trees from Calcutta. This
shipment included the following varieties: "Bombay No. 23, Bombay No.
24, Chuckchokia, Arbuthnot, Gopalbhog, Singapore, and Alphonse." In the
latter part of 1889 Beck reported to the Department of Agriculture that
all but seven of the trees had died. Further details regarding this
importation are lacking, but it is not believed that any of the trees
lived to produce fruit. On November 1, 1889, the Division of Pomology
at Washington received through Consul B. F. Farnham of Bombay, India, a
shipment of six varieties, as follows: "Alphonse, Banchore, Banchore of
Dhiren, Devarubria, Mulgoba, and Pirie." The trees were obtained from
G. Marshall Woodrow, at Poona. After their arrival in this country they
were forwarded to horticulturists on Lake Worth, Florida. Most of the
trees succumbed to successive freezes, but in 1898 Elbridge Gale
reported that one Alphonse sent to Brelsford Brothers was still alive,
but was not doing well; and that of the five trees sent to himself only
one, a Mulgoba, had survived. This tree began to bear in 1898, and is
still productive, although it has not borne large crops in recent
years. The superior quality of its fruit furnished the needed stimulus
to the development of mango culture in this country, and considerable
numbers of Mulgobas were soon propagated and planted along the lower
east coast of Florida. Recently, numerous other Indian varieties have
fruited in that state, some of them more valuable from a commercial
standpoint than Mulgoba, so that the latter probably will not retain
the prominent position which it has held. As regards California, the
exact date at which the mango was first introduced is not known, but it
is believed by F. Franceschi that it was first planted at Santa
Barbara, between 1880 and 1885.
1 History
of the West Indies, 1793.
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| Plate V. Left, inflorescence of the
Alphonse mango; right, a Cuban mango-vender. |
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
Back to
The Mango Page
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