ORANGE CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 121 



bug (Dactylopius destructor), the brown Orange scale (Lecanium hesperi- 

 dum), and a mussel scale (Mytilaspis), a large aphis, pale-yellowish with 

 dark markings, sucks the juice of the young shoots, but does not seem 

 very abundant and is easily dealt with. Ants climb up the trees when 

 they are in bloom and bite off the stamens ; they also encourage the scale 

 insects, being very fond of the honeydew they distil, as too are wasps. 

 Ants are destroyed by pouring weed-killer into their nests if no tree-roots 

 are near enough to be affected ; if there is any chance of this, boiling 

 water should be used instead. They may be prevented from climbing up 

 pot trees by chalking the stems. 



The species of Citrus are so divergent in form and quality of fruit 

 that varieties in each group are well worthy of cultivation on this 

 account. The choice will naturally be chiefly confined to those having 

 the greatest value for dessert, the different sorts of the true Orange (C. 

 Aurantium). The ' St. Michael's ' is a free cropper and bears large juicy 

 fruits, as do several closely allied sorts : 1 Sustain,' • Bittencourt,' 1 Egg,' 

 1 Dom Louise,' ' Excelsior,' 1 Brown's Orange,' and others, more or less 

 distinct in flavour and giving the charm of variety to a collection. 1 Egg ' 

 is the earliest ; the two last named ripen late. 



The 1 White Orange,' which derives its name from its pale-coloured 

 pulp, is excellent ; the rind is of the ordinary orange colour, usually with 

 a narrow longitudinal stripe or stripes of lemon hue. ' Silver ' or 1 Plata,' 

 one of the sweetest and best pale-coloured with a curious weal-like orange 

 stripe and somewhat small, is a very heavy fruit, the thin and close- 

 textured skin of which does not peel very readily ; the tree is a compact 

 grower. 1 Embiguo,' or the ' Washington Navel Orange,' so well known 

 and popular, produces its splendid fruit in quantity under glass and does 

 not belie its reputation. The ' Jaffa,' with large curved and crinkled 

 leaves and big oblong fruit, seems rather shy-bearing, making up for this 

 in the size of the individual Oranges. Two Malta Oranges, the 4 Blood ' 

 and the ' Oval,' are similar in growth and outward appearance of the fruit ; 

 the pulp of the Maltese 1 Oval ' is, however, devoid of the blood-stains 

 which characterise that of the former. These stains are not constant ; 

 occasionally they are wanting altogether in a fruit, when others on the 

 same tree have deep-crimson pulp. 



In the aromatic little Tangerine (C. nobilis), we have a totally different 

 fruit, as distinct as is the slender graceful little tree itself, with its willow- 

 like foliage and its small flowers borne singly along the shoots. 



' Seville ' (G. Bigaradia), though bitter and used only for preserving and 

 marmalade, merits a place in the orangery on account of its handsome 

 round polished fruit and shiny leaves. Its flowers are borne in profusion. 



Citrus comiculata, the ' Horned Orange,' so called from the pointed 

 projections of the rind near the apex of the fruit, and the dwarf 1 Myrtle- 

 leaved Orange ' are curiosities only. The 1 Myrtle-leaved ' is very slow- 

 growing ; its little very dark leaves are closely clustered along the shoots. 

 It bears miniature Oranges about an inch in diameter. We have not yet 

 fruited the 1 Sun-tara,' a variety from India, said to be most excellent. 



Of Lemons (C. Limonum) the best are the 1 Imperial,' in shape oval, 

 and, like the common Lemon and the 'White,' roundish-flattened, with a 

 very large boss on the crown of the fruit. The numerous large oil-glands 



