The Florida agriculturist., 1907-10-16
MARCHING VS.. GRATING
MANGOES.
Turning Old Common Mango Trees
Into Choice Varieties.

Rev. Elbridge Gale still believes
that he is correct in advocating graft
ing the mango in preference to bud
ding or marching. In the last num-
Der Of the Tropical Sun, he says:
Mango culture is in the interest Of
the entire tropical world.
[ am not a nurSeryman | am not
seeking to. work in the interest of the
few nurserymen scattered over the
world, but to work in the interest of
the millions who are to plant and en-
JOY this best of fruit throughout all
the tropical world 1t is true the
old nursery1nan will have to change
his tactics. For ages. he has been
trying an impossible thing in India,
and he has failed. For one hundred
and twenty-five years, he has been
trying the same thing in Jamaica.
For thirty-six years, the Government
has been doing a nurseryman's work
in Jamaica and has got far enough
to recomemnd the planting of seeding
afterwards changed to choice varie-
ties. Must we go on for one hundred
and twenty-five years before we here
in Florida will stop to ask, why? I
think not The. experience of others
should teach us something.
marching is a specific name for
special form of grating and is not
applicable to my method Of grating at
all. We owe it to ourselves, if not
to others not to use such terms loose
ly, for it surely leads to deception. A
hint in this direction ought to be suf-
fcient
If any one is in doubt, please look
I'D the term "inarch" in the Century
Dictionary and Cyclopedia, and you
will be sure to put just estimate
on the use Of the term.
About forty years ago, it was dis
covered that a long scion was more
available in propagation than a short
one when properly handled. And
though this was not of practical inn
portance in northern nursery,
strangely and most unexpectedly, it
became the very central idea in the
propagation of the mango here in the
South.
We have now simple expeditions
and almost costless method Of pro-
pagating the mangO-suited to the re-
gion of cold waves and windstorms Of
the entire tropics. My neighbors trees
will testify as to the results here It
is folly to ignore or to misrepresent
the facts. This common sense method
can first Of all be aplied directly to
all thoroughly established trees in the
onen and can in like manner be ap-
Dlied to old fruiting trees, so as to
insure immunity from occasional frosts.
I wish to impress upon my readers
the fact that there is not anywhere a
corner of the whole tropical world
where this simple common sense
method'' Of grating cannot be directly
applied to either young or old mango
trees without the slow and expensive
intervention Of marching.
Personally, [ have twenty old seed
ling mango trees grated low down
so as to be immune from the effect Of
cold waves. Many Of these trees have
borne seeding fruit for several years.
They now show the condition Of
gratis from two years old down to :,
few weeks old
These twenty trees as far as I know
are the first to offer a positive and di-
rect answer to the question how to
practically utilize in the interests of
humanity the millions of Jungle mango
trees growing everywhere over the
entire tropical world.
That this can be done directly, with
out the intervention Of any slow and
costly method of marching or budding
there is not a shadow Of doubt. It
now remains for Interested nar+;ac