RUTACE^. 81 



The peel of the sweet orange yields by jji-ossure au essential oil of great 

 value for perfumers' use anil for flavoring confectionery. It is known in 

 Europe as Essence de Portugal, and iu the United States as Oil of Sweet 

 Orange. All that reaches this country is tlie product of the island of Sicily. It 

 is shipped from Messina in coj)per canisters of twenty and forty pounds each. 



Essential oils, etc., from C. vulgaris, Kiss. (Bitter Orange). The fruit of 

 this tree is the bitter, or Seville orange. From the peel is extracted the 

 Essence of Bigaradia, called, in America, ( )il of Bitter Orange. It is used for 

 flavoring li(|ueurs and bitters. From the flowers, the Oil of Neroli Bigaradia 

 is obtained. The best is made at Grasse, in the southeast corner of France. 

 It is the chief ingredient of Eau de Cologne. This distilled Oil of Orange- 

 flowers was known to Porta in the sixteenth century. It obtained its present 

 name from the Princess of Neroli, who used it for perfuming gloves towards 

 the end of the seventeenth century. 



Orange-flower Water is consumed very largely in Europe in cookery, and 

 sugar saturated with it is eaten by the French and Italians. It is obtained by 

 distilling the flowers with water. 



Oil of Petit-Grain, as its name signifies, was originally made by distilling 

 the immature oranges when about the size of large peas, but the oil now 

 known by that name is obtained from the leaves by distillation. It is used as 

 a cheap substitute for Neroli. 



The sweet orange yields from the flowers and leaves Oils of Neroli and Petit- 

 Grain, but they are scant in quantity and poor in quality. They are known 

 commercially as Neroli Portugal and Petit-Grain Portugal. 



The fruit of a variety of the C. aurantium, known as Cura^oa orange, 

 yields an essential oil of a peculiar flavor ; the fruit of C. rayrtifolius, the 

 mandarin orange, another. 



Statistics. — North America is largely supplied with oranges from Jamaica, 

 the Bahamas, and from the Mediterranean ; but the extensive and rapidly 

 increasing cultivation of the tree iu Florida and southern California is begin- 

 ning to supersede the foreign importation. 



The climate of Florida is remarkably adapted for orange culture, and 

 orangeries are becoming yearly more numerous and more extensive. In the 

 other Gulf States this industry is pursued to some extent, and in California 

 the orange groves are very productive. 



Oil of orange-peel and oil of orange-flower are imported into the United 

 States in great quantities. 



Large numbers of oranges are exported to Great Britain from the Azores, 

 from Portugal, and from Spain, Sicily, and other Mediterranean countries. 



France consumes great quantities of oranges, a large percentage of them 

 being exported from Algeria. 



The loss by decay on European oranges is 37 in each 100; on those from 

 American ports 33 in each 100 (the voyage being shorter). 



2. C. decumana. (Shaddock.) Tree from 15 to 20 feet in height, forming 

 spreading head , branches armed with prickles. Leaves downy underneath, 

 ovate, somewhat acute, occasionally blunt ; wings of the petioles as broad 

 as the leaves and heart-shaped at the base. Flower white; stamens 10- 

 30; petals 5; sepals 5. Fruit a berry of a dull greenish-yellow, form an 

 oblate spheroid, from 4 to 8 inches in diameter. It is said that in Jajiau 

 it grows to tlie size of a child's head, weighing 14 pounds. The pulp of those 

 brought to the American market is bitter, tliuugli in th? varieties grown in 

 Pr. Fi - ' 



