The collection of Philippine citrus fruits of economic value or of botanical interest has been in progress since in 1911, but no systematized selection work in the mandarin district has been attempted until December, 1914, when Mr. B. Malvar was detailed to visit the citrus region in Batangas. Mr. Malvar returned with sample fruits of some twenty odd trees, a number of which were found to be of very good quality. These are being propagated for future distribution. Mr. Malvar also found another “Tizon” (Citrus nobilis var. papillaris) of excellent flavor and quality which has been added to the citrus collection at Lamao.
Petioled Vs. Nonpetioled Budwood.
The last three years’ experiments in shield budding tropical fruits which have been conducted by the writer at the Lamao experiment station indicate that for practical purposes in propagation work the tropical fruits may be divided into two groups: (1) Those species the budwood of which may be cut at the time of budding and the petioles cut off close to the bud—for instance, the citrus fruits, avocado, guava, and carambola; and (2) those species in which decay enters the bud from the adhering remnant of the petiole so frequently as to make impracticable budding from newly cut budwood from twigs with the leaves still adhering, such as the mango, hevi, and cacao. It has been found, however, that this trouble may be easily overcome by the simple method of cutting off the leaf blade about three weeks in advance of when the budding is to be done so as to induce the formation of a leaf scar. Then when the petioles have dropped and a well-healed scar has formed, the budwood may be cut and the buds inserted and tied as in ordinary shield budding.
In the case of some species, whether or not the bud is of the same age as the stock at the point of insertion is of little or no practical importance, but in other species this condition is one of the requirements for success. Therefore, two chances of failure are insured against in experimental work with species that hitherto have not been budded—(a) by defoliating the budwood previously to the budding operation, and using what may be termed nonpetioled or scarred budwood; and (b) by inserting the buds at a point in the stock which approximately is of the same age and appearance as the budwood.
NOTES BY CLEVE. W. HINES, M. S., Station Superintendent.
A New Sugar Industry.
The beginning of a tropical industry in what would be considered a semitropical climate was noted in 1914, when the Southwestern Sugar Company of Arizona milled their first crop of sugar cane and made it into sugar. The factory had been used previously for the manufacture of beet sugar only. It is a singular coincidence to find a region where both cane and beets will thrive well and where sugar is made from both sources in the same factory, and the sugar world is looking forward with great interest to the results of this new venture.