CHAPTER XVIII 



THE POMELO (OR "GRAPE-FRUIT"), LIME 



Tfingelo and Citrange 



TT is not strange that so many human beings con- 

 ■*■ sider the pomelo the acme of fruit perfection, or 

 that many who at first disHked and merely ate it to follow 

 "fashion" should in time have become extremely fond qf 

 it. Years before it had obtained proper recognition 

 among Americans or before its near relation to the so- 

 called "Forbidden Fruit" was generally known in this 

 country it was declared by fruit growers who appreciated 

 it that the pomelo must have been that jewel of the first 

 garden through which the wise serpent tempted Eve and 

 Adam. 



The Spaniards introduced the pomelo, like the Seville 

 orange and the lime, into Florida and, though full recog- 

 nition of its value came late, it has attained remarkable 

 development commercially and horticulturally and now, 

 though for years unsalable in the North, it is the favourite 

 though the highest-priced of breakfast fruits. 



The species Decumana, of the citrus family, includes both 

 the shaddock and the pomelo, the latter-^^pomelanus — 

 having been nicknamed " Grape-Fruit " because of the 

 clustering, grape-like groups in which it grows, but the 

 two fruits, while of the same species, are yet distinct as to 

 horticultural race. 



The name "pomelo" seems to have come direct from the 

 Dutch "pompelmoes," and that of "shaddock" was taken 

 from Capt. Shaddock, its godfather, the old sea-captain 



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