26 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



tained an abiding place in botanical and horticultural 

 literature. 



If the bigarade orange has remained specifically dis- 

 tinct, even though the distinctions between it and the 

 sweet orange be slight, through a period of about eight cen- 

 turies, reproducing itself true to seed without the inter- 

 ference of man throughout that period, it certainly is 

 entitled to specific rank. The history of the group shows 

 that it has done so. 



The Spaniards brought the first bigarade oranges to 

 America. Fruit was obtained by the Indians and they 

 carried it about on their journeys. The seeds were 

 dropped where the fruit was eaten and finding in Florida 

 and other regions a soil and climate adapted to their 

 growth, grew up where they had been deposited. As a 

 result, wild groves were formed on the shores of lakes and 

 rivers. Natural groves, where four or five hundred trees 

 grew on an acre, were not uncommon at one time in many 

 parts of Florida, and even to this day, the sour orange 

 grows wild in many of the hammocks. By top-working 

 these natural groves, many of the early sweet orange 

 )ves were established. 



In America the bigarade oranges are unimportant 

 ffrom a commercial standpoint. The greatest use to which 

 the sour orange, the most important variety of the group, 

 ^is put is for stocks upon which to work other citrus fruits. 

 For the production of stocks, sour orange seed is in con- 

 siderable demand at a fair price. Orange marmalade of 

 the finest quality may be manufactured from the fruit, 

 while a refreshing drink, "orangeade," may be made from 

 the juice. 



