152 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept,  i,  1896. 
so  isolated  from  inferior  varieties,  sour-fruited  Shad- 
dock, Grape-fruit,  Citron,  Lemon,  or  Lima  trees  as  to 
be  beyond  the  influence  of  the  fecundating  pollen  of 
the  latter.  It  is  iuferentially  chiefly  to  this  influence, 
rather  than  to  an  inherent  tendency  in  the  tissue,  that 
many  seedlings,  raised  from  sweet  Orange  seed,  exhibit 
what  may  be  termed  degenerate  or  unmarketable  fruits.” 
In  the  Reports  from  the  Consuls  of  the  United  States 
on  fruit  culture  in  their  several  districts,  in  answer 
to  a circular  from  the  Department  of  State,  sweet 
Oranges  are  reported  to  be  grown  wholly  or  largely 
from  seeds  in  the  following  places:  Morocco,  Guerrero 
(Mexico),  Ecuador,  Jamaica,  Guadeloupe,  Porto  Rico, 
Svria  Sidon,  Philippine  Islands,  Naples,  Azores 
Islands,  Spain,  &c.* 
Far  the  greater  portion  of  the  evidence,  it  will  pe 
seen  from  the  above  discussion,  supports  the  belief 
that  seeds  from  sweet  Oranges  coinmonly  produce 
sweet  fruits.  When  bitter  or  sour  fruits  result 
from  planting  sweet  Orange  seed,  it  is  probable  that 
other  seeds  have  been  accidentally  mixed  with  them 
or  that  they  are  the  results  of  accidental  hybridisation. 
Sweet  Oranges  are  almost  invariably  grown  near  sour 
Oranges,  Lemons,  Limes,  Pomelos,  Ac.,  and  it  is  not 
greatly  to  be  wondered  at  that  from  seeds  formed 
under  such  conditions  a hybrid  occasionally  arises. 
Both  Fawcett  and  Synie  tbink  this  is  what  misled 
Macfadyen.  Stubbs  and  Morgan  f also  mention  this 
as  one  of  the  main  causes  cf  the  variation  in  the 
quantity  of  seedling  Oranges.  That  perfectly  fertile 
seeds  may  be  obtained  by  hybridising  the  different 
snecies  of  Citrus  I have  incidently  proven  in  the 
course  of  pollination  experiments  which  I have  been 
conducting  under  the  direction  of  the  U.S.  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  The  following  instances  may 
be  cited — . . r., 
Parson  Navel  Orange  ( a local  variety  of  the  common 
sweet  Orange,  Citrus  aurantium),  which  is  commonly 
seedless,  crossed  with  pollen  from  the  acid  Lime 
(Citrus  liinetta),  produce  throe  full  seeds,  which  were 
planted,  and  gave  four  seedlings,  two  embryos  of  one 
seed  developing. 
St  Michael  Blood  Orange  (Citrus  aurantium),  crossed 
with  pollen  of  Grape-fruit  or  Pomelo  (Citrus  decumana) 
formed  fifteen  well-developed  seeds,  which  were  planted, 
and  gave  twenty-two  seedlings.  If  seeds  thus  artificially 
hybridised  are  fertile,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  S3cds  accidentally  hybridised  may  be  fertile.^ 
In  each  of  the  above  cases  the  number  of  seedlings 
resulting  is  in  excess  of  the  number  of  seeds  planted. 
This  introduces  an  interesting  feature  into  experi- 
ments of  nature.  It  is  a well-known  fact  that 
most  species  of  citrons  fruits  produce  several  embryos, 
some  seeds  producing  as  many  as  twenty-live  ; only 
from  one  to  three  of  these,  however,  commonly 
develop.  Criiger,  Schacht,  Hofmeister,  Strasburger 
and  others  have  carefully  studied  this  interesting 
polyembryonic  development ; and  it  appears,  so  far 
as  we  yet  know,  that  only  one  of  the  embryos  in  each 
seed  is  formed  by  the  act  of  fecundation,  the  others 
being  what  are  termed  adventive  embryos,  developing 
from  the  side  of  the  embryo  sac.  It  is  thus  probable 
that  only  the  sexually-developed  embryo  w'ill  bo 
influenced  by  the  hybridisation.  As  two  to  three 
•mbryos  frequently  develop  from  a seed,  even  in 
cases  of  hybridisation  some  of  the  seedlings,  those 
from  adventive  embryos,  will  probably  produce  true 
to  the  parent  bearing  the  fruit. 
While  seedlings  of  the  sweet  Orange  produce  sweet 
fruit  similar  to  those  produced  by  the  parent,  there 
is  yet  much  variation  in  the  fmit  from  such  seedlings. 
Commonly  it  can  hardly  be  distinguished  from  the 
parent,  but  many  are  of  much  inferior  quality,  and 
occasionally  one  producing  fruit  superior  to  that  of 
the  parent  tree  may  be  found.  This  uncertainty  in 
the  quality  of  the  fruit  is  what  renders  budding  or 
m-afting  desirable  in  this  industry  as  in  others. 
Tiiere  is  however,  by  no  means  so  great  a difference 
b tween’ the  fruit  of  the  common  seedling  and  that 
* Fndt  Culture  in  Foreign  Countries.  Special  Consular 
Reports  Washington,  1S9J. 
+ Stubbs  and  Morgan,  The  Or<mgn  an, I other  Citrous 
J<dits  from  Seed  to  Market.  Special  Bulletin,  Louisi- 
*ana  State  Experiment  Station,  18a3,  p.  19. 
of  the  best  budded  varieties  as  occurs  in  certain 
other  fruits,  such  as  the  Pear  and  Apple.  If  sweet 
seedlings  are  to  be  grown,  the  seed  should  betaken 
from  selected  seedling  trees,  known  to  produce  good 
fruit,  which  aro  isolated  from  trees  of  other  varieties 
and  species.  By  such  selection  one  would  avoid  the 
probability  of  obtaining  seeds  affected  by  crossing  or 
hybridising  with  other  varieties,  and  may  be  quite  sure 
that  the  trees  from  such  seeds  will  produce  good  fruit. 
The  various  improved  varieties  of  the  sweet  Orange, 
such  as  the  Hart’s  Late  (Tardive),  Jaffa,;Majorca.Ruby, 
&c.,  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  produce  true  through 
the  seed.  The  policy  of  budding  the  trees  to  selected 
varieties  cannot  be  too  strongly  recommended. 
Bitter  ok  Sour  Orange  (tknius  Big.abadia.) 
Whether  the  bitter  or  sour  Orange  be  classed  spe- 
cifically with  the  sweet  Orange,  or  is  considered  as  a 
distinct  species,  the  fact  remains  that  the  varieties 
n cultivation  are  totally  distinct  in  foliage,  fruits 
and  character  of  branching,  from  the  sweet  Orange, 
and  that  both  are  reproduced  true  through  the  seed. 
The  seed  of  sour  Oranges  invariably  produce  sour 
fruit  of  the  same  general  character.  It  is  true  the 
fruit  of  seedlings  vai'y  slightly  in  shape,  size,  taste, 
thickness  of  rind,  Ac.,  as  in  the  case  of  sweet  Oranges, 
but  they  are  neverthele.ss  distinctly  sour  Oranges. 
Gallesio  says,  “The  sour  Orange  produces  many  seeds 
w'hich  alwa3's  reproduce  sour  Oranges.” 
The  sour  Orange  was  introduced  into  Florida  very 
early,  probably  by  the  Spanish,  and  escaping  from 
cultivation,  spread  over  the  central  and  southern 
portions  of  the  State.  When  comparatively  recently 
— about  1870 — interest  was  awakened  here  in  the 
Orange  industry,  extensive  wild  sour  Orange  groves 
were  found  in  many  places.  One  of  these,  at  Citra, 
Florida,  contained  some  500  acres.  These  wild  groves 
have  mostly  been  cu:  off  and  budded,  so  that  now 
but  few  of  the  original  trees  can  be  found.  I have 
examined  a number  of  these  old  original  trees,  and 
have  always  found  them  to  produce  comparatively 
the  same  fruit.  The  fruit  from  those  old  wild  trees, 
furthermore,  does  not  noticeably  differ  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  determine,  from  the  fruit  of  numerous 
cultivated  sour  Orange  seedlings,  one  or  two  of  which 
are  found  in  almost  every  grove  in  the  State.  As 
these  seedlings  scattered  through  the  groves  of  the 
State  are  unquesti  mably  descendants  from  seeds  of 
the  wild  sour  Oranges  found  here,  the  identity  of 
the  fruit  is  significant  in  this  connection.  I have  made 
some  enquiry  of  pioneer  Orauge  growers  who  cut  off 
and  budded  many  of  the  wild  sour  Orange  trees, 
and  have  been  unable  to  learn  of  any  marked  difference 
having  been  observed  in  the  character  of  the  fruit 
on  different  wild  trees.  Orange  growers  here  invariably 
feel  sure  of  obtaining  sour  Oranges  when  sour  Orange- 
seed  is  planted.  Jferhert  J.  ITebbcr,  Special  Agent, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Subtropical 
Laboratonj,  Eustis,  Florida. — Gardeners'  Chronicle. 

FERTILIZER  5 FOR  SPECIAL  CROPS. 
Wo  are  frequently  asked  to  recommend  fertilizers  for 
particularcrops,  aud  in  doing  so  advise  for  one  a fertilizer 
rich  in  phosphates,  for  another  afertilizer  rich  in  potash, 
aud  for  another  one  rich  in  nitrogen.  Our  friends  fre- 
quently tell  us  that  they  find  a difficult}'  in  getting  the 
special  ingredient  they  need  for  the  particular  crop  in 
the  ordinary  brands  of  fertilizers  on  the  market,  and 
especially  is  this  so  in  the  matter  of  potash.  To  secure 
the  quantity  of  potash  needed,  they  have  to  buy  much 
more  phosphate  than  the  crop  requires.  As  a rule  this 
is  so.  The  average  fertilizer  does  not  contain  usually 
more  than  from  six  to  ten  per  cent,  of  potash.  Often,  in 
order  to  get  100  pounds  of  potash  to  the  acre,  it  wdl  be 
necessary  to  buy  nearly  a ton  and  a half  of  superphos- 
phate, which  will  contain  something  near  9.50  pounds  of 
available  phosphoric  acid,  which  is  about  200  pounds 
more  than  most  crops  need,  and  will  cost  from  $11  to 
$10.  'The  same  amount  of  potash  as  is  contained  in  this 
ton  and  a half  can  be  had  by  purchasing  200  pounds  of 
muriate  of  potash,  at  a cost  of  from  $1  to  $5.  If  a soil 
is  deficient  in  potash,  or  if  the  crop  to  be  raised  needs  a 
large  amount,  the  cheapest  and  best  way  to  supply  the 
need  is  to  buy  muriate  of  potash  or  kainit.  Grasses, 
clover,  corn,  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds  need  potash. 
— Southern  I’lanltr. 
