130 TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 
smooth and polished on the top and slightly seamed 
underneath ; the leaves are about three or four inches 
long and as many broad. The spines that cover the 
branches are straight and strong, and about two inches 
in length. 
The fruit is about the size and appearance of a large 
Seville orange. It consists of numerous small radiating 
fibres that meet and join a small ball-like centre of soft, 
woody fibre. The orange, when wounded, exudes a milk- 
like fluid that on exposure to the air turns to a white, co- 
agulated mass, but turns black when left to dry on the 
hands. It is found scattered all over the country, but is 
at its best in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mex- 
ico. There is a curious instance related by Browne, viz. : 
Two trees were planted by Mr. McMahon, of Philadel- 
phia, close together; one of them bore fruit in a perfect 
condition, and continued to do so for some years, while 
the other bore only fruit whose seed was abortive. Mr. 
McMahon was puzzled for a time to account for this, but 
after mature study he came to the conclusion that they 
were male and female; the female bearing the perfect 
fruit, while the male could only produce abortive fruit. 
Two other trees situated about four hundred yards away 
showed the same result. 
At Beaver Dam, in Virginia, a female tree of this 
species yielded fruit to the number of one hundred 
and fifty, many of which weighed eighteen or nineteen 
ounces each. 
From the wood of the Osage orange is obtained a 
yellow dye; the inner bark is very fine and white, and 
might be manufactured into fine linen. The chief use 
of the tree is for hedges. It has been tested as a food 
for silk-worms, but with poor success, most of the worms 
dying, and those that lived were weak and puny. 
