578 



THE ORANGE FAMILY. 



severely from tlie attacks of the scale insect ( Coccus hisperiduni), 

 which in some cases has spread over whole plantations, and gradually 

 destroyed all the trees. It is the same small, oval, brownish insect, so 

 common in our greenhouses, which adheres closely to the bark and 

 underside of the leaves. A wash of sal soda or potash water, applied with 

 a brush to the bodies and limbs of the trees, is the most certain and suro 

 remedy for destroying this insect that we have known. Repeating this 

 once or twice will probably effectually rid the trees of the scaled insect. 



Varieties. From among the great number of names that figure in 

 the European catalogues, we select a few of those really deserving atten- 

 tion in each class of this fruit. 



The Orange. 



The Orange ( Oranger, French ; Pomeranzenbaum, German ; Arancio, 

 Italian ; and JSTaranjo, Spanish) is, on the whole, the finest tree of the 

 genus. Its dark-green leaves have winged foot-stalks, its fruit is round, 

 with an orange-colored skin. It is one of the longest lived fruit-trees, 

 as an instance of which we may quote the celebrated tree at Versailles, 

 called "the Grand Bourbon," which was sown in 1421, and is at the 

 present time in existence, one of the largest and finest trees in France. 



The fruit of the orange is universally esteemed in its ripe state. 

 The bitter orange is used for marmalades ; the green fruits, even when 

 as small as peas, are preserved, and used in various ways in confection- 

 ery ; the rind and pulp are used in cooking ; and the orange flowers, dis- 

 tilled, give the orange-flower water, so highly esteemed as a perfume 

 and in cookery. 



Besides the Common Sweet Orange, the most esteemed sorts are 

 the Maltese and the Blood^Red, both of excellent flavor, with red 

 pulp. The Mandarin orange is a small, flattened fruit, with a thin rind 

 separating very easily from the pulp, frequently parting from it of itself, 

 and leaving a partially hollow space. It comes from China, and is 

 called there the Mandarin, or noble orange, from its excellent quality. 

 The flesh is dark orange-colored, juicy, and very rich. 



The Bergamot orange has small flowers and pear-shaped fruit. The 

 leaves, flowers, and fruit being peculiarly fragrant, it is highly esteemed 

 by the perfumer, and yields the bergamot essence. " The rind, first 

 dried and then moistened, is pressed in moulds into small boxes for hold- 

 ing sweetmeats, to which it communicates a bergamot flavor." 



The Havana or common sweet orange is a well-known fruit, of good 

 size and moderately rough rind, pulp well filled with delicious juice. 



The St. Augustine oranges are a large variety of the Havana, much 

 better than those brought from Cuba. 



The St. Michael's orange is a small fruit, the skin pale yellow, the 

 rind thin, the pulp often seedless, juicy, and lusciously sweet. It is 

 considered the most delicious of all oranges, and the tree is a most 

 abundant bearer. 



The Seville, or bitter orange, is the hardiest of all the varieties, en- 

 during very hard frosts without injury. It has the largest and most 

 fragrant flowers ; the pulp, however, is bitter and sharp, and is valued 

 chiefly for marmalades. The Double Bigarade is a French variety of 

 this species, with fine double blossoms. 



