THE MANDARIN ORANGES. 39 



had their origin in Cochin China. From that center they 

 have been carried into many portions of the world. 



Several gaps occur in the history of these oranges, and 

 yet it has been possible to trace it with a fair degree of 

 accuracy. The first mention of an orange which is believed 

 to belong to this group is in Steerbeck's Citricultura, 

 where it is mentioned as the "Muscat apple."* It is well 

 within the limits of probability that some member or mem- 

 bers of the group were known to Rumphius and indeed 

 Lourerio, in his original description of Citrus nobilis in 

 1790, refers to this possibility. Referring to the 

 same dates and cuts, Bonavia comes to the con- 

 clusion that the Aurantium sinense of Rumphius 

 must be grouped with the suntara oranges of India. Hav- 

 ing carefully read the description written by Rumphius, 

 both in the original and as translated by Bonavia, and 

 after comparing it with specimens of the Rangpur lime, 

 grown by Reason er Bros., by Bonavia said to be a suntara 

 orange, I must say that any attempt to decide this ques- 

 tion places one on exceedingly debatable ground. 



In 1805 two varieties of mandarin oranges were intro- 

 duced into England from Canton by Sir Abraham Hume 

 and fruit produced from these trees was illustrated in 1817 

 (1) and 1824 (2). According to du Breuil (3), the man- 

 darin orange was introduced into Europe (continental) 

 about 1828. In the vicinity of Parma it was cultivated on 

 a large scale as early as 1842 and its culture in the county 

 of Niza and the region surrounding Genoa dates back to 

 1849 or 1850. The conclusions reached by du Breuil are 

 further substantiated by the fact that Gallesio appears not 



*Steerbeck, F. Van. Citricultura. 27. 1682. 



(1.) Bot. Reg., 3:211. 1817. 



(2.) Bot. Reposit., 9:608. 1824. 



(3.) Hist. Cult. Orang., Risso & Poiteau. 49. 1872. 



