THE ORANGE-TREE 
87 
new fern-plant is not wrapped in a seed-ease to spend an indefinite time 
as an embryo plant; it sends up fronds directly from the prothallium 
and becomes a perennial plant, producing spores each year. 
From the vast number of spores produced yearly by one fern it 
might be expected that ferns would be exceedingly numerous. But, 
eighteen months are required from the germination, of the} spore to the 
appearance of the first leaf. This and the consequent struggle for ex¬ 
istence against animal and vegetable enemies account for the fact that 
ferns are not more numerous. 
There are about four thousand species of ferns, ranging in size 
and habits from those with delicate moss-like leaves to tree-like forms 
4 ‘ rising to a height of 35 to 45 feet and crowned by a rosette of leaves 
15 to 20 feet long.” The vast majority of species lave on land, but some 
are aquatic, even floating; while in the tropics many forms are epiphytic, 
growing upon other plants, but drawing the needed moisture and food 
from thei air. 
Few ferns have commercial value, their chief utility seeming to be 
that of decoration; though in the early geological ages ferns helped in a 
large measure to make the great deposits of coal which are so useful in 
the world today. —N. Grace Graham. 
THE ORANGE-TREE 
T HE orange, which we all know so well, is of the same family of 
fruits as the citron, the lemon, and the lime. There are many dif¬ 
ferent kinds of orange. The manderin oranges of China are small in 
size, but very fragrant and sweet; so are the tangerines, which are 
somewhat similar. The Maltese, or blood orange, is grown in southern 
Italy and derives its name from the deep red color of its pulp.. 
The original home of the orange seems to have been India, from 
whence it spread to Western Asia, and thence, about the fourteenth 
century, to Europe. Perhaps it was first introduced into southern 
Italy and passed on to Spain and Portugal and parts of France where 
the climate suits it. 
An orange-tree covered with fruit is a very beautiful sight, and 
when it is in bloom is most fragrant. Very often in' a large grove there 
will be trees in bloom, while others are bearing the most luscious fruit 
ready to be picked. In a twelve-acre grove ini the southeastern part of 
