120 



JO0BNAL OF HOKTICUIiTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ February u, 1867. 



TanjieriTie. One iieeil not, however; talk of the true Sort, fdr 

 there are many varieties in oxistenoe ilil'foring slightly in the 

 nhapo of their fruit and the liabit uf the trees. 



I saw hove what is oaUed the true Mauihuin Omw^e ilirect 

 from China. In liabit tuo trees are more erect than the Tuu- 

 gieriuo; thoir fruit, is eompreaseil and of the Bume iSi/.e as that 

 sort, but so acid as to bo uneatable. The trees are motit pro- 

 lifio, and are pretty objects', eommencing to bear when only 

 't iuoh'js in height. Tansiei'ine Oranf;ef,' evidently seedling 

 varieties, vary in shape. My neighbour thought those small 

 and spherical in shape, with very smooth rinds, the most de- 

 licious. I tasted only those rather large and much compre.s.sed, 

 such as I have bought in London as Mandarins, and found 

 them full of rich juice, iuid the essential oil in their rinds so 

 abundant as to spurt forth and perfume the air of the house. 



The most remarkable variety of tlie Tnngierino Orange has 

 been received from the Ar.ores. Its leaves are narrow and 

 pointed ; its liabit more rigid and fasligiiite than that of other 

 varieties. Its fruit, hearly globular, is small, with a thin 

 smooth rind, and its rich juice most libnndant and refreshing. 

 A fruit of this sort, divested of its rind, and talien whole into 

 the mouth, i.; what the Eomans would have called a gift from 

 the g^dSj and Horace would have written a volume in its praise. 

 Thi^ sort has doubtless been originated trora seed in the Azores, 

 and there are in all parts of the Oianse-growiug world varieties 

 of this race, in some places called jfandarin, and in others 

 Tangierine Granges. Thei'o is no doubt about its being a race, 

 for if thousands are raised from seed they 'all retain the habifc 

 of the type, and, lilte seedling Clreen Gage Phirtis, vary from' 

 stems covered with small h'aves and thorns to others thornlesfi, 

 still with a strong family likeness. , ''• 



After much tasting and a long discussion about TangierjncSv^ 

 we turned our attention to the Oranges called St. Micbaers,. 

 many of , which were growing ou, young trees not more tlian 

 18 inches and 2 feet in h&ight. It did, indeed, look intere.sting 

 to see these little fellows staggering under' the weight of three 

 or four large Oranges. Like the Tangierines the St. Michael's 

 vary much in shape, size, and thickness «f rind, and, as may 

 be found in foreign Orange gardens, no two trees bear fruit 

 exactly ahke, unless they are under a careful grower, who 

 plants grafted trees. In the course of time, when dessert 

 Orange culture shall be an established luxury in England, the 

 thin-rinded and sweetest sorts of St. Michael's will be carefully 

 selected and cultivated. Those I partook of with my neighbour 

 wore full of juice, and crisp and rich, very unlike imported 

 frait. One of the finest varieties of this race is the Silver 

 Orange, au oval fruit, net large, with a smooth pale rind, and 

 with firm crisp flesh, remarkably full of jniee, of a high flavour, 

 and without pips. The Egg Orange, another variety of St. 

 Michael's, is a large sort, of a very loose texture, sweet, and very 

 juicy : this sort is a great bearer. Tlie '^Vhite Orange is also a 

 very large fruit with pale flesh, very juicy and good, but npt so 

 rich as some cf the above. 



One of the most ornamental sorts of the St. Michael's is the 

 Variegated Orange with white-edged leaves, bearing oval fruit, 

 below the medium size, of a pale lemon colour striped with 

 f^een. This sort retains its fine brisk flavour all through April, 

 and when fully ripe is most delicious. In looking through the 

 house I foimd fruit of the Sweet Lemon and S'veet Lime quite 

 ripe ; their flavour is sweet but Cat, with a powerful aroma 

 seemingly like musk. A very beautiful tree of a sort culled 

 the Prolihc Oran.go was loaded with fruit, which was rather 

 small, with a thick rind. This is a very late kind, and hangs 

 through a great part of the summer. The tree is very orna- 

 mental, its fruit juicv, very sweet, and slightly bitter. Trees 

 of the Bilelma and Embigero Oranges were in the house, and 

 described as giving fruit of line quality, but they were fruitless. 



A curious fact connected with dessert Orange culture was 

 mentioned by my friend: if in midwinter the trees witlr ripe 

 fruit on them are cx))Osed to a low temperature, the fruit to a 

 great extent lose their juice ; on the approach of warm weather, 

 or if the trees be placed for a week or two in a high tempera- 

 ture, they recover it. 



I confess that I could now realise the facts before me, I 

 mean the tasting and trying so many kinds of Ortinges gathered 

 from trees growing in our own country ; and I was told that 

 many other kinds that have not yet borne fruit are likely to 

 prove interesting. 



The method of cultivation seems very simple ; the four sur- 

 face-pipes are alone used from May till October. Early in the 

 list-named month the water in the foirr border-heating pipes 

 u turned on and continued till the end of May. The extra 



heat in aiihimn and winter is required to ripen the fruit and 

 bring on the l)Io8soniing time, which ia in February, although 

 many trees produce thiir flowers in Pecember and January. A 

 constant gentle artilicial heat is rcquijred during summer, and 

 stronger heat in winter, to keep the temperature as much as 

 possible like that in which Oranges ripen perfectly in the open 

 air. In winter, in the house I have been inspecting, the tem- 

 perature varies from iS' and 50' by night to 70° in sunny days ; 

 in summer it often rises to 90° or 95°, even with alpundauce of 

 air. 



The scale, that great pest to Orange trees, 5s killed by using 

 methylated spirits of wine, containing 4 ozs. of shfeU-lac to 

 the gallon, now called by Act of ParUament " methylated 

 finish." This is cheap, being sold wholesale at from 5.s'. to 6s. 

 per gallon. It is perfectly innocuous, and a certain destroyer 

 of scale. The black fungus on ithe leaves, which often appears 

 in winter, is washed oft with a sponge and warm water; and 

 aphides, which in spring often infest the young shoots of 

 Orange trees, are destroyed by tobacco smoke. On inquiring 

 if bottom heat was absolutely necessary, and if four pipes ar- 

 ranged on each side of the house, as usual with forcing-houses, 

 would answer the purpose, I leirnt that Oranges would ripen 

 well without it. bjit that constant artificial heat was required 

 to make the climate of the propfer ripening temperature. 



I have been tempted to give j'ott an account of all I hare 

 seen and learned about dessert Orange culture — 1st, Because 

 I was much delighted with all that I saw ; 2nd, I do not re- 

 member that it has been treated of in your columns; and, 

 Urd, it seems to open, a new and agreeable path of pleasure to 

 those who love gardening. — Ci'xr.na. 





-olli! 9V8ll 3081 toi -i'trrr- 11^ _< 'j-O'i 'nnlo-jq ii-Iy: 



ANNUAL GKNERAL MEETING. 



" Titeee's life in the old dog yet !" shouted the stalwart Bigt- 

 lander from the bottom of the precipice over which he had 

 been slung to recover his faithful hound ; and " there's life in 

 the old Society yet !" shouts many a stalwart horticulturist who 

 has been waiting with patient anxiety the result of this last 

 Anniversary Meeting. 'Who would have ventured to predict four 

 years ago — yea, one year ago — that at the Annual Meeting of 

 18C7 the Council would announce that by care and economy 

 the expenditure of the Society had all but been met by the in- 

 come '? Let those who are constitutionally haunted with evil 

 forebodings read attentively the Eeport of the Council which we 

 this day reproduce in our columns, and consider if the time has 

 not arrived when they may take courage and look cheerful. 

 We cau quite believe that is not au easy thing for some to 

 do. The Society has been long in the state that everybody 

 attempted to nurse it, though having no qualification for 

 the office, and what with neglect during one part of its ex- 

 istence, and mismanagement during the other, it could not he 

 otherwise than in the worst possible position. Those, therefore, 

 who had an interest in its welfare had become accustomed to 

 look upon it as a weakly-constitutioued body that was ever in 

 imminent danger of falling ; and hence they have sufi'ered so 

 long from chronic nervousness and anxiety, that one can easily 

 imagine they will have some diiEculty in realising the present 

 favourable change in the condition of the Society. 



■We quite believe we have seen the worst. The direction haa 

 fahen into the hands of a Secretary who has a clear perception 

 of the power and value of the respective sides of the ledger, 

 and who is applying that faculty to work out the Society's regene- 

 ration. The first paragraph of the Eeport is reassuring, when 

 it stales that the income arising from Fellows' subscriptions is 

 over .£'200 move than last year. Then the rent arising from 

 letting sjjaco in the ai cades is ^>0 per 'cent, more than was de- 

 rived from the same source in 18G5. The Sivles of garden pro- 

 duce from Cbiiwick are also much in advance of last year, and 

 would certainly have been very much more had the fruit crop 

 not been almost an entire failure. 



The most perfect harmony pervaded the Meeting, and aU 

 who were present expressed themselves highly gratified by the 

 improved aspect of atlairs. There was only one circumstance 

 which gave rise to a feeling of regret, and that was the conver- 

 sation which took place in reference to the relation existing 

 between the Society and the Committee of the International 

 Horticultural Exhibition. So as fully to understand all the 

 circumstances we must refer our readers to the report of the 

 meeting, which will be found below. Sir Wentworth Dilke has 

 clearly been under the impression that no such arrangement 



