1 8 Oranges and Lemons of India. 



cannot be taken as specific characters, since the two 

 opposites can be produced on the same tree. It is not 

 improbable that two very distinct races of khatta might 

 be raised by selecting the seeds of only the one variety, 

 and keeping the trees separate. This might be readily 

 ascertained within five or six years in any of the horti- 

 cultural gardens of India. 



Unless seen on the tree, it would hardly be believed 

 that these two forms can be produced on the same tree. 

 It only shows how careful one must be not to take a 

 single character as indicating a specific distinction, and 

 how necessary it is to see the fruit on the tree at 

 different seasons, in order to come to a right con- 

 clusion. 



The two larger specimens on plates 32 and 35 have 

 their pulp like that of a lemon, or rather paler, with 

 only a slight tinge of orange. These large specimens 

 require to be studied further on the tree, in order to 

 determine whether they really belong to the khatta 

 group or not. That on pi. 35 was called kathairee 

 nimboo, from kathar, or kathal, a jack fruit, as in size 

 and shape it is not unlike one. It is also called rus 

 hanker. Although kunker means the lime nodules of 

 which roads are made, it also (pronounced differently) 

 means a kind of melon, and I am told that kunker, 

 kanker, or kankree, all mean kakree, a variety of 

 melon, and rus kanker is probably meant to indicate 

 a juicy melon, the size of many specimens approach- 

 ing that of a good-sized melon. 



The specimens mentioned in this chapter are shown 

 on plates 19 to 39. 



