508 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Orange continued. 



Azores, are of various degrees of excellence, and are all 

 worthy of a place in an English Orange Garden. 



" The following descriptive list of the dessert Oranges 

 may be useful to the amateur : Botelha and Dulcissima : 

 Both thin rinded and very rich. Egg : Very large ; rind 

 thick ; remarkably juicy, but not rich ; a great bearer. 

 Embiguo, or Navel Orange : Very large, with a curious, 

 depressed calyx; remarkably rich and juicy. Exquisite: 

 A thin-rinded, rich and juicy fruit. Maltese Blood : 

 Large, oval, with a dark red pulp; exceedingly rich, 

 good, and distinct; fruits from the same tree vary in 

 colour from deep red to the usual pale yellow colour, 

 with faint streaks of red. St. Michael's : Several varieties 

 under this name vary in size and thickness of rind ; 

 they are all good. Silver Orange: Colour of rind pale 

 yellow ; flesh pale ; rind very thin ; flavour piquant and 

 delicious. Sustain : Large, and remarkable for its rich, 

 sweet juice. St. Michael's Tangierine : A very distinct 

 variety, differing from the common sort in being deeper 

 in colour, smaller, and more rich in flavour ; a charming 

 little Orange. Tangierine (often incorrectly called the 

 Mandarin) : Now a well-known sort, varying in shape 

 from fruit much compressed, with rind rough and thick, 

 to oval, with a smooth rind. Variegated Orange : This 

 has a broad margin of white round its leaves, and forms 

 a very ornamental tree ; its fruits are oval, of medium 

 size, with a pale yellow rind, striped with green; very 

 juicy, and remarkably brisk and piquant in flavour. 

 White Orange : Large ; rind pale yellow, flesh very pale ; 

 flavour rich and good." 



ORANGE GOURD. See Cncorbita Fepo au- 

 rantia. 



ORANGE, OSAGE. See Madura aurantiaca. 

 ORANGE ROOT. See Hydrastis canadense. 



ORANIA (so called in honour of the Prince of 

 Orange Oranien). SYK. Macrodadus. OBD. Palmece. 

 A small genus (three or four species) of tall stove palms, 

 with robust, unarmed, closely-ringed stems, crowned with 

 a dense head of large leaves; they are natives of the 

 Malayan Archipelago and Papua. Flowers minute, uni- 

 sexual, the spikes inclosed in double spathes, the inner 

 of which is woody. Fruit globose, rather large. Leaf- 

 segments linear, oblique at apex, white, scaly, and 

 irregularly toothed or jagged at their tips. Oranias 

 thrive in a sandy loam, and require an abundance of 

 water when growing ; good drainage is essential. They 

 are raised from imported seeds, sown in bottom heat. 

 O. macrocladus (large-branched), fl., spike pendulous, fr. a 



one-seeded drupe. 1. pinnate, h. 40ft. Malacca, 1847. A stately 



tree. 

 O. regalis (Royal), fr. red, smooth, the form and size of a small 



Oli 



beneath 

 Java 



B. I. 6ft. to 7ft long ; leaflets panduriform-siniiated, white 

 ath ; primary nerves solitary. Trunk low, terete, annulate. 



,, 1847. 



ORBEA. Included under Stapelia (which see). 



ORBICULAR, ORBICULATE. Circular or 

 spherical. 



ORCHARD. There are few gardens connected with 

 private mansions that are of sufficient size for accom- 

 modating enough fruit-trees such as Apples, Pears, 

 Plums, &c. to maintain a supply of fruits equal to the 

 demands usually made. Orchards have, therefore, to be 

 formed and established; sometimes for the special pur- 

 pose of meeting such deficiencies, at others for cultivating 

 to supply the market in addition; and again, in some 

 parts, for the main object of procuring Apples to make, 

 or convert into, cider. Those only required for cultivating 

 fruits to supplement the garden crops are naturally best 

 to be situated near the garden, and placed under the gar- 

 dener's charge. They might contain, if the soil were 

 tilled, small fruits of all descriptions that succeed, in 



Orchard continued. 



addition to those above-named, and also many trees in 

 size, shape, and variety that would be inadmissible in 

 an Orchard where cattle were allowed. Various cir- 

 cumstances, such as the want of a proper site, or 

 a suitable soil, may, however, render this arrange- 

 ment much akin to market gardening, although the 

 produce need not be grown for sale undesirable, and 

 the best alternative is usually that of utilising a portion 

 of farm land, varying in size according to requirements 

 or the space available. The best of the produce in 

 Orchards connected with private gardens has annually 

 to be stored in the garden fruit-room, and the possibility 

 of gathering and storing it at once in fine weather, 

 without the fruits getting bruised, also the general over- 

 looking of the crop throughout the season, are points 

 greatly in favour of having the Orchard in near proximity. 

 The farm Orchard is best to be laid down in grass, as 

 the cost in the first place, and also subsequent manage- 

 ment, will be much less than if the land were tilled. 

 Grass should not, however, be grown for haymaking if 

 it can be avoided, as this affects fruit-trees consider- 

 ably, and most unfavourably; it should be kept short, 

 preferably by being eaten off by cattle, such as sheep, 

 or young stock that are being fattened. Horses should 

 on no account be allowed if any branches are within 

 their reach. As a general rule, fruit-trees in Orchards 

 have, of necessity, to withstand, or at least be subjected 

 to, more exposure than others situated inside a garden, 

 unless the position of the latter is a most unfavourable 

 one in respect of shelter. Only sorts of proved hardi- 

 ness in the locality must, therefore, be selected for 

 planting, and such as are calculated to withstand a more 

 or less open situation, and produce crops with tolerable 

 certainty when once established. It is well known that 

 various localities materially affect different sorts of fruit, 

 particularly Pears ; in fact, there are but few good varie- 

 ties of these latter that succeed at all as standards, 

 except in most favoured parts. In the Midland and 

 Northern counties, the number would be extremely 

 limited if it were restricted to those only which are 

 really suitable. The chief Orchard fruit-tree is, of 

 course, that of the Apple, and as varieties of hardy con- 

 stitution, which produce large, handsome fruits, suitable 

 both for kitchen use or dessert, are now so numerous, 

 none of an inferior character need be included. Still, 

 it is almost certain that all will not succeed alike under 

 similar treatment, and selection will also have to be 

 made in accordance with the purpose for which crops 

 are required, whether they are supplementary to those 

 of the garden, and intended for private use, or grown 

 more especially with a view to supplying the market. 

 Orchards on a large scale are mainly planted with a 

 view to disposing of the greater portion of fruit in the 

 local, or in that of one of the great central, markets, 

 and it will, in such cases, be advisable to know, at the 

 outset, the sorts of fruits that are most in demand, 

 as well as those which succeed best. Where the land 

 is laid down in grass, and cattle admitted, the form of 

 tree is limited to standards, unless provision is made for 

 protecting the lower parts of any of another descrip- 

 tion. If the soil is tilled, and a sort of market garden 

 system introduced, standards may, if desired, still occupy 

 similar positions though they would be better at greater 

 distances apart and the intervening spaces planted with 

 trees of another shape, and such bush fruits as Goose- 

 berries Currants, Raspberries, <fcc. A considerable amount 

 more labour is involved, as before stated, in attending 

 to a tilled Orchard, than is requisite for one laid in 

 grass ; and this, with the character of the soil, and the 

 value and possible demand for fruit of various sorts 

 when grown, must be considered when an Orchard of 

 either description is in course of formation. Besides the 

 fruits :drc?.dy named, Cherries and Plums are largely 



