THE COMMON ORANGE ] 45 



I. The ORDINARY ROUND ORANGE. (M.=/aimg 



ordinariu}. This is the old variety of the edible orange 

 cultivated by our gardeners. Most groves planted in 

 the i ;th and i8ch century consisted exclusively of this 

 variety, which is still met with everywhere in our groves. 

 It is now hardly ever propagated, and indeed many 

 groves were in the second half of the igth century, 

 headed back and budded with the blood-orange and the 

 egg-blood orange, and particularly with the mandarin 

 or tangerine which was then fetching fabulous prices. 

 However the ordinary round orange is a very heavy 

 cropper, and its high production more than makes up for 

 its comparatively low price. It is a long keeper, the fruit 

 beginning to ripen in December and continuing on the 

 tree in good condition well into May or June. 



2. The MALTA BLOOD-ORANGE. (M.laringfad- 

 demm) The tree is large or middling, slightly thorny, 

 and is very productive, with foliage similar to that of the 

 ordinary orange, but of a deepei green. The fruit is of 

 fair size, round or slightly flattened, with a deep orange 

 peel, which in December begins to take the characteristic 

 blood colouring, at the same time the pulp becoming 

 heavily streaked blood-red, and later on the colouring 

 pervades the whole pulp, particularly its lower half. The 

 juice has a delicious flavour and aroma, is sweet and grate- 

 fully acid. The fruit keeps well for a long time and 

 travels well. This is a good commercial orange, and to 

 it was due originally the fame of the Malta orange. The 

 Malta Blood Orange is in all probability a local seedling 

 sport of the ordinary orange, but its origin is wrapped 

 in mistery. It is described and figured in Risso's Natural 

 History of the Orange Tribe, and therefore was well 

 known and widely cultivated before Risso's time. The 

 opinion so often expressed by popular writers that it is 

 due to a cross with the pomegranate, is of course 

 altogether untenable. 



3. The LARGE OVAL ORANGE. (Nl. = laring fin, 



