CITROS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA — POLLLNATION. 33 



not have fulfilled her purpose in perpetuating its life better 

 than she has with the disagreeable qualities and outside aids 

 with which she has surrounded it. 



The tree habits and fruit-growth differ from other varieties 

 in many particulars. The tree is low for a standard, rarely 

 reaching over thirty feet in height. This habit guards it from 

 the etlects of high winds and allows it to get the greatest 

 benefit from the radiated heat, when the direct rays of the sun 

 are spent. By its low, conelike growth the lower fruit is pro- 

 duced having great strength and character, allowing a small 

 compact cell to do an immense work, in the leaf and root. The 

 leaf is winged; the large petioles below the articulation act as 

 a protection and help, in case of injury to the blade of the leaf 

 by degrees of beat or cold, or lack of nutrition and moisture. 

 The flowers are shortened, thick petaled, and diffused with color 

 ranging from white to pink. The little investigation that has 

 been given to the study of the nectaries, and their sweet con- 

 tents, of the orange forbids a comparison with other varieties. 

 As in this family of plants this characteristic is a staminal or 

 male development, and by analogy with the known habits of 

 wild flowers it is certain that the sour orange lias large, well- 

 filled nectaries, aiding, as does the color of its petals, the dis- 

 tribution of its pollen by insect agencies. While these organs 

 may not be regarded as protecting the individual, as the thorns 

 and bitter of the fruit, yet to the species and staminal varieties 

 it is one of the essential means of self-protection in pollination 

 by the aid of insects. The fruit is unsightly and rough, bitter 

 and acrid. The oil is pungent and the fragrance heavy, as 

 are the oils of the leaves and flowers. The pulp is sour and 

 partakes of the bitterness of the rind. The oil cells are con- 

 cave. The tree carries well-formed thorns distributed to the 

 ends of the branches, and the fruit when ripe has strong 

 germinating seeds for reproduction. Every quality and develop- 

 ment of the tree is protective, and these staminal qualities have 

 guarded its life, under adverse conditions, for centuries from 

 destruction by birds, animals, and mankind. 



The characteristics of the bitter orange are given in detail, 

 as this orange, highly sexualized, and strong in its staminate 

 and pistillate power, is a type for all, and has imparted some 

 of its qualities to all the varieties of our orchards. How has 



