28 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



The researches of Gallesio go to prove that the sweet 

 oranges were not known in Europe until early in the fif- 

 teenth century. They were, however, rapidly disseminated 

 after their introduction and in a comparatively short time 

 cultivated in all parts of southern Europe, suited to their 

 growth. Later their culture was still further extended, 

 the fruit being grown in houses, of which both Ferrari and 

 Volckainer give illustrations, so that by the end of the 

 seventeenth century they were grown under cover in many 

 parts of Europe, where their culture could not be success- 

 fully accomplished in the open air. 



The date of their introduction into America is, as 

 it is with nearly all the early introductions of citrus, 

 merely a matter of conjecture. The Spaniards were un- 

 doubtedly responsible for its being brought into many 

 parts of the New World. On the authority of Acosta 

 and Piso, who wrote concerning their travels in the West 

 Indies and Brazil respectively, we must conclude that 

 oranges of some sort were well established in those parts 

 of America, which they visited, prior to the years 1600 and 

 1648. In Florida the early settlers found sweet orange 

 trees growing in the hammocks in some places. That 

 whole strain of oranges now largely grown on the Indian 

 River had their origin in one of these wild groves. But the 

 fact remains that the sweet orange was not so widely dis- 

 tributed throughout Florida as the bigarade orange, at 

 least, it was not found so abundantly in the native woods. 

 This may be accounted for by the fact that the sweet 

 orange, being less hardy, was not as capable of making a 

 place for itself among the native trees as the bigarade. 

 It is not improbable the sweet orange was introduced at 

 a somewhat later date than the sour bigarade, which 

 might also, in a measure, account for its not being so 



