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THE TROPICAL AGRrCtJttURlST. 



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ORANGES. 



Practical information for busy, practical men is the 

 demand of the times. We have been constantly in 

 receipt of letters asking fcv information relative to 

 tropical fruits, especially regarding the diferent vari- 

 ties of oranges familiar to this market. Mr. J. H. 

 Wright, the well-known fruit dealer, who has already 

 contributed through our columns the best articles 

 extent relative to bananas and coconuts, has kindly 

 given us a third article of exceptional value relating 

 to oranges. The original paper was read on April 

 16 before, the Bayoniie (N. J.) Scientific Club, and 

 illustrated by an exhibition of twenty-five different 

 varieties of oranges ; the orange tree in full bloom, 

 leaves and blossoms from the Government gardens, 

 contributed by Mr. Wm. Saunders, Superintendent; 

 microscopical exliibit of the orange blossoms and the 

 living mites which live beneath the scales, so fre- 

 quently seen on the outside of the orange, and various 

 products made from oranges. INIr. Wright has since 

 revised his paper and added thereto, and now places 

 every reader under obligations to him for specific 

 trade information, the result of the life study of one 

 possessed of exceptional power of observation and the 

 faculty of gathering information and making it tell 

 for the benefit of others. 



The orange, one of the most popular members of 

 the citrus family (or as it was called by the r.ncients, 

 the "Clolden apple,") is probably the oldest known 

 fruit in existence. Zealous enthusiasts trace it back 

 even to the garden of Eden, and insist that the 

 grape cr forbidden fruit was the original golden apple 

 which Eve plucked from the forbidden tree and gave 

 to Adam; hence the name "forbidden" or "grape" 

 fruit by which this species of the orange is known 

 to commerce. Some ignorant and superstitious people 

 still claim that tiie dark spots usually found on the 

 stem end of " grape " fruit are the imprints of Eve's 

 fingers which have appeared upon this species of the 

 orange ever since the fall of Adam. And from this 

 species of the citrus family it is claimed by some, 

 sprang what is now known to us, as the orange. 

 This fruit is now imported under the name of •' grape" 

 or "forbidden" fruit, deriving that name from its 

 growing in clusters similar to grapes, and the dark 

 bpots, alluded to as the imprint of sin, lieing occasioned 

 by one fruit pressing tightly against the other. The 

 orange now ll')urishing so extensively from the tropics 

 to the 43ad p.uallel of north latitude would lead many 

 to suppose that it was indigenous to th<^)se parts wh'ire 

 now found growing ; but ancient historians and ponio- 

 logists tell us that the true and original homo of the 

 bitter orange was India, and Ohina ot the sweet orange. 

 Galessio, wlu was the first to trace the history of 

 the orange, asserts that the Arabs penetrating farther 

 into the interior of India than any other foreign nation 

 had done before, discovered the orange nourishing 

 there and held in high esteem by the natives. So, 

 from the jungles of India the Arabs conveyed the 

 8weet orange into Persia and Syria, and the bitter 

 orange (now called the Seville) found its way into 

 Arabia and Spain. And although the orange made 

 its appearance in Europe in the fourth century, it 

 WHS not until the fourteenth century that it became 

 widely diffused, and spread through Portugal, Sicily, 

 St. Michel, and the islands of the Mediterratieanaml 

 West Indies, and not until the Spanish and Portugue.'se 

 lauded and penetrated into this country did the or- 

 ange find a home in the semitropical portion of 

 America. And while the orange was so highly esteemed 

 by the ancients for its medicinal qualities, it is sur- 

 prising how little attention the present generation 

 gives to the many virtues enclosed in this little 

 ffolden ball of fruit. A prominent physician once 

 remarked that were his patients to eat an orange 

 or two every morning they would require but little 

 medical atteiition ; for throughout the entire range 

 of fruits that have attracted the attention of the 

 medical profession as a me:ins of alleviating many of 

 the ills of mankind, there has been found none that 

 has so many diversifiel uses as the luscious orange, 

 particularly in cases of l"w fyvers ftnd malarial 

 12 



complaints, and it should more largely take the place 

 of the unpleasant drugs so extensively used, to 

 the great disgust of the patient. No fruit compares 

 in cheapness with the beautiful and luscious orange, 

 and paiticularly so now that our own country is 

 raising the finest oranges in the world, the fruit selling 

 at a price within the reach of the most moderate purse. 

 At this season of the year (April) most of the oranges 

 received in New York come from the islands in the 

 Mediterranean, while a liberal supply is received from 

 Jamaica, and a few from Cuba and Porto-Rico and 

 some from Florida and California. 



MEDITERRANEAN SUPPLY AND TRADE CTSTOMS, 



A few words in relation to the manner in which 

 the orange traffic is conducted in each of the above- 

 named places may not be amiss at this time. Prior 

 to 1830, the importation of oranges was quite limited ; 

 sailing vessels were exclusively employed in transport- 

 ing the fruit to this country until 1860, when the 

 experiment was made of substituting steamers in place 

 of the sailing vessels. Three cargoes of about 7,000 boxes 

 each were received direct from Sicily, but the experi- 

 ment proved a failure, the importers losing heavily 

 by the operation, the steamers not being adapted to 

 the carrying of fruit, and the cost of transporation 

 being too great. Sailing vessels continued to do the 

 orange traffic until 1870, when a regular line of 

 steamers with improved ventilation, was success- 

 fully established between New York and Palermo. 

 With the steady increase in demand for the orange, 

 new lines have been formed ; until now there is 

 scarcely a week during the spring months that New 

 York does nob receive from one to three cargoes of 

 oranges and lemons from the island of Sicily and other 

 parts of the Mediterranean, the total shipments to 

 the rnited States last season (1884-85) being 97,000 

 cases and 1,308,000 boxes. The little island of Sicily 

 with an area of about 11,000 square miles, has a 

 population of over three millions, or an average of 

 250 souls to the square mile, a large portion of whom 

 are engaged in orange culture. Lands from the 

 lowest valleys to the highest mountain, even to within 

 a few miles of the crater of Mount Etna, are covered 

 with orange trees, bearing annually their thousands 

 of golden balls. The average yield of an orange tree 

 varies as to its age and location, coming into bearing 

 when rai.'-ed from seed at about the eighth year, 

 or from graft or bud in 3 years. The first year's 

 yield is small, varying from 2.5 to 200 oranges, which 

 are apt to be coarse and large, having a heavy, rough 

 skin, with a dry and tasteless pulp. As the trie 

 matures, the fruit increases in quantity and improves 

 in quality, until it becomes of a desirable medium 

 size, with silky skin and full of juice. A tree well 

 advanced, yields from 500 to 2,000 oranges, but there 

 are trees, even in our own country, that have yielded 

 10,000 oranges annually. 



While in our imagination we are visiting this 

 wonderfully productive island of Sicily, let us follow 

 the orange from the grove, through the packing house 

 on board the steamer, thence to America. The 

 gathering of the orange is done by men and boys, 

 who are provided with light ladders, the fruit being 

 placed in baskets lined with cloth, and held by a strap 

 attached to and passed about their shoulders. The 

 fruit being picked from the trees, is left with the 

 st<>m on the orange, which is afterwards cut quite 

 short with a sharp knife or shears, hence the name, 

 " stem cut." The object in leaving a small portion 

 of the stem on the orange is to prevent the air from 

 reaching the nine to ten compartments that all centre 

 at a point immediately under the stem, which forms 

 nature's seal, excluding the air, which would cause 

 rapid decay. From the groves the oranges are earned to 



THE PACKING HOrSE OR MAGAZINE, 



where they are placed in trays to cure or sweat out 

 (as it is called) for a, few days. This is found necess- 

 ary to insure transportation, as an orange when re- 

 moved from the tree will soon become moist, small 

 '' drops of water appearing on the skin, and if wrnpped 

 in )iaprr at once would soon decay, hut if nllowed 



