402 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES 



on an average every three months. Oranges are gathered daring the 

 months of December and January. After gathering they are placed 

 in baskets and sent to the different markets in Tuscany either by rail 

 or by wagon ; none are exported. 



Propagation. Plants are propagated from the seed of the bitter 

 oranges or lemons, and are after grafted by the usual process. For 

 the oranges the sweet seed is preferred, it giving finer plants, bearing 

 better fruit; these, however, bear much later and are more liable to be 

 attacked by the disease called "gommosi" or "gummy." 



Maturity. The plants bear fruit when about seven to ten years old 

 and live for many years some plants have record of one hundred years. 



Insect pests. The only insect which damages the orange plant is a 

 sort of black ant, which breeds an insect that sucks the juice of the 

 tender sprigs, thereby impoverishing the parent plant. 



WILLIAM T. RICE, 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Consul. 



Leghorn, May 23, 1890. 



GENOA. 



REPORT BY CONSUL FLETCHER. 



[Reprinted from Consular Reports No. 41^.] 



ORANGES AND LEMONS. 



The genus Citrus for economical cultivation is divided into three 

 classes the orange, citron, and lemon. 



Varieties. The varieties of oranges generally cultivated in this prov- 

 ince are : 



(1) Citrus Bigaradia dulcis, or sweet orange. 



(2) The Melangolo of China, or Citrus Bigarradia cenensis. 



(3) Citrus deliciosa, or Mandarin orange, aromatic and saccharine. 

 Two kinds of citron are cultivated : 



A, Citrus medica rugosa, wrinkled fruit, very good candied or other- 

 wise preserved. 



B. Citrus medica cedrato, a very precious and aromatic fruit, the 

 shell of which is also candied. 4 



The following are the varieties of lemon raised here : 



A. Citrus limonum j a lemon very good for its acid and medicinal 

 virtues. 



B. Citrus limonum tenno, a lemon of gentle rind, fruit rich in acid, 

 but too tender to stand transportation. 



C. Citrus limonum oblongum, an oblong lemon, considered very val- 

 uable on account of the quantity of acid it contains. 



These three varieties are ranked as the best, and therefore are cul- 

 tivated the most in this vicinity. 



Productive age. Sharp fruit trees gives full crops when about, say, 

 from sixteen to twenty years old, and they keep yielding excellent crops 



