The horticulturist and plantbreeder, ever on the alert for new plant material that may enhance his profits, extend the cultivable area of his crop, or be used in making new cross combinations, will naturally ask himself of what value are these new plants and fruits. Briefly stated, it may be said that the “Tizon” is a dessert or breakfast fruit of high, if not perhaps the highest, order, its main defect being the unsightly basal projection. Then, as stated elsewhere, the best “limon real” is unsurpassed in quality for “ade” making. Perhaps third in importance are the better types of the alsem for the manufacture of citric acid, etc., and it might find a sale in competition with the lemon and lime, depending to a great extent upon its keeping qualities. The juicy, thin-skinned, and few-seeded talamisan may find lovers as a breakfast fruit and is also of the right size for an ade fruit. If cultivation would increase the juiciness of the panuban, this fruit may find favor with many. A good marmalade may be made of the calamondin. The above species or varieties have more or less of a future on account of their pomological merits, and the plant breeder, by crossing them and the cabuyao and canci with old cultivated species, might obtain valuable results.
There is also the prospective value of the new species as stocks. To determine the congeniality of these species and the old cultivated citrus fruits and their value as stocks under various soil conditions would of course require the labor and close observations of many years.
The calamondin is quite drought resistant and would probably dwarf the scion. One year old buds of the pomelo, lime, mandarin and orange at Lamao have made satisfactory growth, the buds taking without difficulty. The cabuyao is a very vigorous tree and is also drought resistant. It has recently been budded with the cultivated citrus fruits, the buds “taking” very well. The orange has been budded on the alsem, resulting in a good growth, being now (December, 1914) nine months old. During the trip to Bohol in May, the limao, growing in a coraline lime-stone formation overlaid with a little humus, the exact counterpart of the Bahama Islands or the “hammock lands” in southeast Florida, impressed the writer as one of the best examples of drought resistance among citrus fruits under such conditions. The talamisan also appeared quite drought resistant, and is furthermore of value as a live fence because of its large spines.
The “limon real” is of great vigor and hence may be a desirable stock for certain varieties and under certain conditions.
[1] Bureau of Agriculture Bulletin No. 27, Citriculture in the Philippines, 1913, contains illustrations of several unnamed citrus fruits described in this paper. Those readers who possess the above-mentioned bulletin may be interested to know that in accordance with the classification herein these fruits should be named as follows:
Bull. No. 27, Plate IV, Mandarin Lime = C. webberii; VIII, Lime (Mindanao type) = C. excelsa var. davaoensis; VIII, Lime, “Limon Real” = C. excelsa; X, Cabuyao = C. histrix; XI, Cabuyao = C. histrix var. torosa; XII, Biasong = C. micrantha; XII, Type from Bohol = C. histrix var. torosa; XII, Type from Bohol = C. histrix var. boholensis; XIV, Colo = C. macrophylla; XIV, Samuyao = C. micrantha var. microcarpa; XV, Talamisan = C. longispina; XV, Tizon = C. nobilis var. papillaris; XV, Tihi-tihi = C. medica var. odorata; XVIa = C. webberii var. montana; XVIb = C. southwickii.
[2] In the above description the pistil is said to be small. Citron flowers examined by the writer have been found to have large pistils similar to those in C. m. var. odorata and C. m. var. nanus.