48 Oranges and Lemons of India. 



or less sub-acidity, according to the soil and climate 

 and amount of cultivation they may be subjected to, 

 and their degree of ripeness. Unripe, they are both 

 acid, the acidity decreasing and changing into sugar 

 as ripeness proceeds. 



The sweetest orange of the suntara type is that 

 known as the Butwal orange. Natives also call it 

 suntolah, or suntowrea. Butwal is the district on the 

 borders of Nepal, where it grows semi-wild. The 

 sourest varieties of this type are the acid szirkh 

 nimboo of the natives, and also the hazara, or qum- 

 qitat, orange. As I said, these never sweeten. 



Sir J. Hooker, under the heading of " Citrus auran- 

 tium," says it is found in the "Hot valleys along the 

 foot of the Himalayas, from Garwhal eastwards to 

 Sikkim, and in the Khasia mountains. A small, 

 slender tree, flowering in the rains and fruiting after 

 them, growing, where I found it, in the very bottom 

 of valleys, and where it did not occur to me to doubt 

 its being indigenous. The fruit was somewhat flat- 

 tened, or nearly globose, about two inches diameter, 

 high coloured, and uneatable, being (if I remember 

 aright) mawkish and bitter."* His stating that it was 

 " a small, slender tree " inclines me to think that he 

 was describing a sour orange of the suntara type, as 

 all the varieties are slender trees, with small flowers. 

 As to its flowering in the rains, all kinds flower more 

 or less in the rains, but their principal season of 

 flowering is spring. 



I shall endeavour to give a detailed description of 

 the suntara type of orange tree. A small, slender 

 tree, with slender lanceolate leaves, sometimes as small 

 as those of the common myrtle, and with a very dis- 

 tinct, strong scent ; flowers small, the main crop of 

 * I repeat this extract here for the sake of convenience. 



