THE ORANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 171 



by Nature herself. The gathering of "both oranges and 

 lemons for the English market begins in October, and 

 does not continue beyond the end of December, while the 

 fruit would not be perfectly ripe until the following 

 spring. Another advantage gained from this premature 

 harvesting is, that the trees from which the fruit is ga- 

 thered green bear plentifully every year, while it is found 

 that where the fruit is suffered to ripen they afford abun- 

 dant crops only on alternate years. The productiveness 

 of the common orange is enormous, Dr. Lindley informing 

 us that a single tree at St. Michael's has been known to 

 produce 20,000 oranges fit for packing, exclusive of the 

 damaged fruit and the waste, which may be calculated at 

 one-third more. In hot countries the essential juice of the 

 ripe orange is reabsorbed by the tree during its blossom- 

 ing, after which period the fruit becomes sweeter and 

 more succulent than before. 



The fruit takes two years to mature, and as fresh blos- 

 soms are continually appearing, it may be seen upon the 

 same tree at once in every stage, from the little green 

 globule to the perfect golden globe shining luminous 

 among the rich glossy foliage, all enwreathed with clusters 

 of pearl and amber flowers, sending forth an odour that 

 never cloys. Grateful to every sense, no marvel that the 

 orange-tree is the chosen ornament of courtly halls and 

 palatial pleasaunces, and that, as Dr. Sickler observes, in 

 laying out royal or noble gardens an orangery is felt to be 

 the first necessity, and it is only when this is provided for 

 that even fountains and statues are thought of. 



The tree attains sometimes to a very great age; there 

 is one probably still in existence at Versailles which was 

 known by the name of " Erancis I.," having been taken 

 during the reign of that monarch from the Constable de 

 Bourbon, on the seizure of his property in 1523, after it 

 had been in the possession of his family for upwards of 

 80 years. There are some trees, too, at Cordova, which 

 are said to be 600 or 700 years old, but which have begun 

 to decay, and when diseased become encrusted with a 

 kind of lichen supposed to be peculiar to the orange. The 

 tree is liable, too, to take disease from other plants, as was 



