CITRUS FRUITS ] 33 



The MALTA BLOOD ORANGE is an old variety of 

 local origin. It is described and figured in Risso's work 

 " The Natural History of Orange- trees" published in 

 1747. The egg-blood orange is a sport of the egg-orange 

 and originated in a small orange-grove at Casal Balzan 

 towards 1850. The seedless, navel, or Bahia Orange 

 was introduced from Bahia, Brazil, in 1900 at the 

 request of the writer, by Lord Grenfell, then Governor 

 of Malta, and later on in 1907, Lt. Colonel Roupell 

 introduced from Washington U.S. America, three new 

 forms of the Navel Orange, viz: Thompson's Improved 

 Navel, Golden Nugget and Golden Buckeye. Other 

 forms of the orange, viz. Washington Navel Orange, 

 Navalencia and Valencia late were introduced by the 

 writer in 1914. 



The SWEET ORANGE OR CHINA ORANGE, often called 

 Malta Vanilla Orange was introduced early in the 

 eighteenth century. Most of the varieties of lemons 

 and limes now cultivated, must have been introduced 

 at an early date, with the exception of the large "Peru" 

 lemon or Ponderosa lemon and the diminutive China 

 lime which were introduced toward 1885. The Shaddock 

 was introduced towards the close of the eighteenth 

 century. The mandarin orange was introduced in 1811, 

 but its propagation on a large scale dates only from 

 1850. 



The CITRON (Citrus medico) and the LEMON (Citrus 

 Limonum) are botanically hardly distinguishable. They 

 both have blossoms of a more or less reddish hue on 

 the outside, and fruits with a persistent pistil or column, 

 which in most forms continues to grow with the fruit 

 and forms a well marked and prominent navel. The 

 colour of the peel is very generally of the peculiar lemon- 

 yellow, although there is a variety of the citron and 

 another of the lemon with an orange-coloured peel The 

 juice is sprightly acid and devoid of a special aroma, 

 although again there is a true lemon (the sweet lemon) 



