0- 



I 



'-4' 





r 



► 



s 



1. 



^ 



« 



u 



175 



pulpy rind and abundance of seed, but as the vigor of the tree 

 decHnes, the peel becomes thinner and the seeds gradually dimin- 

 I ish in number till they disappear altogether. Browne' says the 



I 



' St. Michael orange, one of the most delicious of all varieties, is 



^ known by Its small seedless fruit. London^ says this variety is 



generally without seed and Downing^ says the pulp is often seed- 

 less, juicy and lusciously sweet. 



Seedless oranges were known several centuries ago. Bauhin-*, 

 y in 1623, refers to the ''ma/us aitrantia major * * * alia 



absqite seniine swit^' and Ferrarius\ in 1646, describes and 

 figures a seedless orange as does also Aldrovandus in 1668. The 

 Navel or Bahia, with synonyms Washington Navel and Riverside 

 Navel, certainly ranks as the most delicious sort. In a wild 

 orange grove near Matanzas Inlet, Florida, in 1869, I found one 

 wild orange tree bearing fruit with a sweet pulp and bitter rind ; 

 this contained fewer seed than did the bitter oranges adjoining. 

 In counting the seed of some oranges in 1881 and 1882, the 

 varieties were sorted according to quality before the counting 

 was concluded. The following figures were obtained : 



(t 



No. 



0/ Spec. 



] 



Av. 



. A^o. Good 





1 





Seed. 



* 



tender 



5 





6.2 



tough 



2 





11. 



AzK No. Aborilve IV i. of Seed 



Seed, Grs. 



0.8 18.6 



^■5 47.7 



Valencia Orange, tender 15 8.8 1.6 29.8 



tough TO 12.8 1.5 . 40.0 



it <( 



Messina Orange, good i 4. 2. 19 



Otaiieite Apple. Spondtas dulcis, Forst. 



(Anacardiace^). 



The Otaheite apple, says Forster*", which contains a hard cap- 



1 Trees of Am., 59. 



2 Hort. p. 608. 



3 Fruits, p. 694. 



4Bauhin, Pinax, 1623, 436. 



! 5 Hesperides, 1646, lib. 4, c. 4, p. 3S3. Aldrovandus, Dend. 1668. 488 



6Forster, obs. p. 179. 



