Tanaka: Citrus Fruits of Japan 



^45 



large summer orange about the size 

 and shape of a grapefruit; but it differs 

 from the grapefruit in its more pitted 

 skin, which is of a deep lemon-yellow, 

 and in its coarse-grained, slightly 

 bitter pulp, which matures in late 

 spring. It is inferior in quality to a 

 good grapefruit, but its extremely hardy 

 nature and its resistance to citrus 

 canker are appreciated b}^ growers, 

 as well as its admirable sturdiness 

 which enables it to withstand rough 

 treatment. 



THE WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE 



The third important variety of 

 orange is the Washington na\el orange 

 which was first imported into Japan in 

 1891. It was absolutely new to the 

 Japanese growers when it was first 

 introduced, and much attention has 

 been paid to the development of the 

 navel orange industry, but owing to the 

 humid atmosphere and lower temper- 

 ature, it was found not to do so well 

 as in southern California. Recently 

 Japanese farmers have learned a special 

 method of treating the plant, which 

 checks its vegetative overgrowth and 

 increases fruiting by means of severe 

 pruning or dwarfing, like the treatment 

 of lemon trees in Italy. The good 

 keeping quality of the fruit made it 

 especially desirable, and the Japanese 

 were loath to give up its cultivation. 



Other kinds of sweet oranges are 

 plentifully produced in the southern 

 part of the Kyushu Island ; but they do 

 not reach the central markets, from 

 which native pummelos and shaddocks 

 are also absent. Over two hundred 

 varieties of sweet oranges and pumme- 

 los are estimated to exist in Japan 

 proper, and a number of promising 

 shaddocks, like Hirado, Egami, or 

 Ogami, are of sufficient importance to 

 be multiplied for economic cultivation. 

 A very prolific mandarin called Yat- 

 sushiro is often found in cultivation 

 and the common China mandarin, 

 called Kishu Mikan, or Kinokuni in 

 this country, is more or less extensively 

 grown. Kunembo, a variety of the 

 King orange, is also commonly raised 

 in southern provinces. 



Besides these well-known kinds of 

 oranges, a number of local varieties or 

 fancy fruits are to be noticed, for in- 

 stance Anado and Tengu, attractive 

 for its red skin, but with rather insipid 

 soft pulp; Naruto and Sambo, yellow 

 skin oranges of late maturing, with 

 good flavor; Koji, and Suniga-yukd, 

 very early maturing small fruits of ex- 

 tremely smooth surface; Keraji Mikayi 

 of Kikai island, with very early matur- 

 ing and extremely fragrant yellow 

 fruit, Hyiiga Natsiimikan, with very 

 late-maturing and very juicy medium- 

 sized fruits. 



A MYSTERY SOLVED THROUGH A 

 PLANT INTRODUCTION 



Mention should be made of an orange 

 highly esteemed for seasoning cooked 

 food, that is Yiizu, first called Citrus 

 Jonos, by Siebold, in his Synopsis 

 Plantarum Oeconomicarum, published 

 in 1830. This plant grows semi-wild, 

 in southern Japan, but is commonly 

 planted in the yards of farm houses for 

 its fruit. The peel is highly aromatic, 

 and for flavoring cooked dishes and 

 soup or fish it is superior to lemons or 

 limes. The juice is used extensively in 

 the place of vinegar for seasoning raw 

 food and salads. Two hybrid varieties 

 of Yiizii, Yuko and Sudacki, are ex- 

 tensively cultivated in Shikoku Island 

 for vinegar substitutes and also for 

 manufacturing citric acid. 



In 1915, Frank N. Meyer, the great 

 agricultural explorer of the U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture, found a wild orange 

 in Kansu, China, which he imported 

 into this country under the provi- 

 sional name "Kansu Orange." After a 

 close comparison of a green house 

 plant of the Kansu orange with the 

 Ytizu, together with an examination of 

 Meyer's photographs and notes, the 

 writer found the two to be identical, 

 thereby proving this extremely useful 

 orange to be of Chinese origin. 



The seeds of Ynzu are sometimes 

 used for raising stock plants for the 

 Satsuma orange, and it is believed by 

 the farmers that plants grafted on 

 Yuzu stock live longer and behave 

 better than those grafted on Trifoliate 



