HOCKINGS' GARDEN MANUAL. 



109 



elevated country or in cold aspects. The pure white, 

 odorous blossoms are produced in great abundance in 

 spring, attracting the bees from all directions to pre- 

 pare from them their choicest honey. The old trees 

 frequently bloom at intervals throughout the year ; 

 and it is no uncommon thing to see ripe and green 

 fruit and blossoms on the same tree at one time. 



The orange is used with advantage in fevers ] it is 

 also manufactured into marmalade, and the rind, when 

 prepared, is known as candied peel. The Seville orange 

 is esteemed as preferable for medicinal purposes ; and 

 it is from the highly odoriferous flowers of this kind 

 that the orange flower water is distilled. The outer 

 part of the rind is a grateful, warm, aromatic bitter, 

 often used as a stomachic and corroborant. Seville 

 oranges also produce the best marmalade and the 

 richest wine, and, preserved whole, are a fine sweet- 

 meat, and are justly admired. 



It is to be regretted that so little success has hitherto 

 attended the cultivation of this valuable fruit in Queens- 

 land, possessing as it does a climate at least as favorable 

 for its growth as New South Wales. The inducements 

 to renewed efforts are very great, as — in addition to the 

 large home consumption, which at present necessitates 

 its importation to the extent of several thousand pounds 

 sterling per annum — it is a fruit capable of being ex- 

 ported, and there is likely to be a good market in the 

 northern ports for many years. 



In the majority of instances this want of success 

 appears attributable to the nature of the plant not 

 being understood, and thus it has been put in places 

 where it could not possibly thrive. 



To insure the profitable cultivation of the orange, 

 two facts must be kept prominently in view : first — 

 that a small quantity of water in the soil will rot the 

 bark off its roots, and cause the tree to sicken and die 

 back ; and second — that the most important of the 

 roots are "surface roots."' The extreme tenderness of 



