Aug, 2, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



93 



kets about the holidays command a very high price. 

 As the Florida mandarin and tangerine begin to disap- 

 pear about the middle of March, their place is taken by 

 the same variety from Sicily, lasting until the summer 

 months. Jamaica also raises the tangerine to some ex- 

 tent, the fruit being larger than that grown in Florida 

 or Sicily. In the early season they lack the rich, spicy 

 flavor of those grown in Florida. Within the last few 

 years a new variety of orange has made its appearance 

 in our market ; it is called the navel orange, deriving 

 that name from the curious formation on the bloesom 

 end of the fruit. For many years this orange has been 

 a great favorite in the Bahia district of Brazil, where, 

 it is claimed, by long and careful cultivation it has 

 become entirely seedless, thus preventing its propag- 

 ation only by grafts and buds. AVhen grown in Florida, 

 where it was introduced from Brazil a few years ago, a 

 few seeds .sometimes appear. The orange is unusually 

 heavy, sweet and juicy. .On the Pacific slope in Southern 

 California, the navel orange is e.xtensively cultivated, 

 but as the stock buds or grafts were introduced from 

 Australia, the orange differs somewhat from the Brazil 

 navel, as the blossom end is not so broken and the orange 

 is more of the oval or egg shape. The other variety 

 grown in Colifornia is the plain seedling. The best 

 varieties are known as the Riverside. California is fast 

 coming into prominence as a competitor for the orange 

 trade, it supplying all the markets west of the Kocky 

 Mountains. It bids fair to demand a good share of the 

 trade east of the Rockies even as far as Buffalo, thus 

 interfering quite materially with the Mediteiranean 

 orange trade, as the supply from both points appear in 

 our market at about the same time. 



THE BLOOD ORANGE. 



Another very curious and popular orange is the 

 blood. The general appearance of the tree, leaf and 

 flower differs only from other orange trees in its 

 absence from thorns. Its fruit is distinguished by a 

 color of blood which develops itself gradually as the 

 fruit begins to ripen, little by little the blood-colored 

 spots appearing in its pulp as it advances to maturity 

 these enlarge, becoming a deeper blood color, finally 

 embracing all the pulp and spreading to the skin, 

 which becomes a brighter blood color, the longer it 

 is allowed to hang on the tree. This variety of orange 

 has provoked much discussion, and many theories have 

 been advanced as to its origin, some claiming it 

 was produced by grafting the orange into the 

 pomegranate tree; others that it was simply a 

 freak of nature. From conversation with Mr. Rose, 

 manager of the New York Fruit Exchange, who spent 

 twelve years in orange culture on the island of Sicily, 

 and from Mr. G. Amoroso, one of the most experi- 

 enced grocers in Sicily, and other orange importers 

 and growers, I am positively assured that the blood 

 orange is as distinct a variety as is the Baldwin 

 apple from the Greening, and as a graft from a Baldwin 

 apple tree upon a Greening tree, will produce a red 

 Baldwin apple, so the product of a bud or graft from 

 the blood-orauge tree, when grafted or budded into 

 any other variety will surely be a blood orange, thus 

 proving beyond a doubt that the blood orange is not 

 a freak of nature, but a distinct and separate variety, 

 produced hybridizing the orange with the pomegran- 

 ate. In the start the blood-orange is grafted from 

 the orange to the pomegranate tree, and in two years 

 time is again grafted from the pomegranate to the 

 orange, so as to secure a regular supply of bloods, 

 which otherwise would soon die out, the pomegran- 

 ate being short-lived. I have given this species 

 special attention owing to the various opinions — 

 purely guesswork or theory — expressed both upon the 

 street, among the fruit trade, and in the newspaper 

 columns ; for that reason I have interviewed the 

 above-named gentleman, whose opinions I accept and 

 present by permission as indisputable authority. An- 

 other variety of curious formation is the oval or egg- 

 shaped orange, coming mostly from Sicily. In flavor 

 it is no better than the round orange, but from its 

 odd formation is eagerly sought for by the fancy 

 fruit dealers of our large cities and commands a high 

 price, 



"While we are considering the smaller varieties most 

 familiar to us we should not omit a passing glance 

 at the largest species of orange grown in the world. 

 There are two varieties, the " Shaddock " and " Pum- 

 alos," which differ only in outward formation, the 

 Shaddock being round and the Pumalos pear-shaped. 

 Both have a skin of a golden colour, while the pulp of 

 both is pink. They are used only for attraction or made 

 into marmalades. The pulp is eaten by some and is 

 said to be palatable, but care must be used in .separating 

 the flesh from the skin that separates the compartments 

 of the Shaddock, the Pumalos and the grape, or forbidden 

 fruit, as it is very bitter. This fruit is of Chinese origin, 

 but was brought from Asia by a Captain Shaddock', 

 whence its name. 



.SUMMER ORANGES. 



The question has been frequently asked: "Why are 

 Rodi oranges called summer oranges?" If the reader 

 will refer to a map of Italy he will find that Rodi is 

 situated on the Eastern shore, in the province of Foggia, 

 about 160 miles southeast of Rome. It lies at the mouth 

 of Gargano Bay, between the 42nd and 4.3rd degree of 

 north latitude. That is a point so far north as to prevent 

 the orange from ripening before March and April. It 

 reaches our market in June, or the early summer months, 

 hence the name " summer oranges." 



In variety they are the same as those grown at Messina 

 and Palermo. Owing to the heavy foliage of the trees 

 the fruit is lighter in color than that grown in Sicily. 

 Rod! is frequently visited with cold wind and hailstorm. 

 At the season when the orange is reaching maturity the 

 result being the injury of the fruit to such an extent 

 as to cause large black scars to appear on the skin of the 

 orange when ripe, thus greatly depreciating its commer- 

 cial value. Coming into this market, however, when 

 most other varieties have disappeared, they usually 

 command a high price. 



Much might be profitably said about the different 

 diseases that affect the oranges and tree as well as 

 facts relating to articles manufactured from the orange, 

 such as the oil that is made from the skin for flavoring 

 purposes, which sells for about two dollars a pound, and 

 the oil that is distilled from the orange blossom, which 

 sells for fifty dollars a pound and is used for makin" 

 perfumery. In foreign countries the skin of the orange 

 is used quite extensively, being dried for fuel, as the oil 

 it contains causes it to burn fiercely, making a very hot 

 fire. 



You have already followed me, in imagination, over 

 25,000 miles, through the principal orange districts of 

 the world, and 1 land you safely in our own happy land, 

 where a kind Providence has favored a portion of our 

 country with a climate suitable for growing this golden 

 fruit. To the orange grower in that favored portion we 

 say : " Go on with your good work. Blultiply your 

 groves and scatter your health-giving fruit over our 

 land until the orange shall be a familiar fruit in every 

 home from the lakes to the gulf, and from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific." — American Grocer. 



CocoNTT PcDDiNG. — One large cup bread-crumbs ; 

 one coconut, pared and grated; one tablespoonful 

 corn-starch, wet with cold water ; half cup of butters 

 one cup of sugar ; two cups of milk ; five ec»s • 

 nutmeg and rose-water to taste. Soak the crumb 

 in the milk, cream, butter and sugar, and beat in 

 the yolks, then add to the soaked crumbs. Stir 

 in corn-starch, beaten whites and flavoring — at last, 

 coconut. Beat hard and bake forty-five minutes in 

 a buttered pudding-dish. Eat cold. — American Grocer. 



The Austealian Feksh Fi'.rix is now regularly on 

 the market here, and, I am pleased to add, is very 

 appreciated. Tasmanian apples at 4d a pound arc 

 naturally acceptable at a time when the market is all 

 but denuded of home prooduce. The Ceylon tea, too, 

 meets with much approval, and sells at the Exhibitiofi 

 at iid a cup. This should be a hint to some of our 

 Queensland planters, for I have always myself been of 

 the opinion that tea may be profitably and exten- 

 sively cultivated in that Colony.— Atujlo-Australian 

 in European Mail, 



