A%Ie°Ci87h9arir'}       Orange  Flowers  and  Oranges,  69 
trees  are  transplanted  at  the  age  of  four  years  into  orchards.  At  the 
age  of  six,  flowers  first  appear,  and  at  ten  years  the  trees  are  called 
full  bearers. 
This  beautiful  evergreen  is  found  in  every  civilized  country  where 
the  climate  is  favorable,  and  in  colder  countries  it  is  the  cherished 
ornament  of  the  hot-house.  It  flourishes  in  our  most  southern  limits, 
largely  in  Florida,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Mississippi  and  Loui- 
siana, south  of  the  lakes.  In  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  they  are 
favored  by  the  lakes  tempering  the  cold  north  winds.  There  seems 
but  little  difference  between  these  States  in  their  favorable  localities. 
However,  the  tree  requires  delicate  cultivation  and  studied  treatment. 
About  the  year  1816  oranges  were  introduced  as  ornaments  to  this 
country  by  the  French.  In  1830  an  orange  tree  in  a  box,  in  bloom,- 
brought  400  francs,  and  about  this  time  some  attention  was  paid  by 
horticulturists,  and  blooming  trees  in  boxes  were  sold  at  from  50  to  100 
francs  in  New  Orleans.  The  beginning  of  the  cultivation  of  oranges 
for  fruit,  in  the  South,  dates  back  to  1848,  when  numbers  of  trees 
were  planted,  but  in  January,  1856,  a  cold  wave  from  Texas  brought 
the  temperature  down  to  190  F.  above  zero,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  trees  were  killed.  Not  much  attention  was  paid  to  the  cultivation 
afterwards  until  r 867  and  '68,  and  since  then  orange  growing  has  been 
quite  successful  and  assumed  commercial  importance. 
The  orange  family  afford  the  pharmacist  two  important  articles — 
flowers  and  fruit.  From  flowers  we  obtain  oil  of  neroli  and  orange 
flower  water,  and  from  the  fruit  we  have  the  volatile  oil  of  the  rind,  the 
juice  of  the  pulp  and,  last  but  not  least,  citric  acid. 
As  the  orange  tree  is  so  little  known  in  the  North,  a  brief  account 
will  not  be  out  of  place.  Owing  to  unfavorable  conditions  in  cold 
climates,  the  beauty  of  foliage,  the  very  grateful  odor  of  the  flowers  and 
the  delicious  fruits  are  very  imperfect  in  comparison  to  those  localities 
where  the  trees  attain  perfection.  The  fruit,  as  it  comes  from  Florida, 
is  a  good  representation.  The  oil  which  is  made  from  the  rind  is 
generally  less  agreeable.  The  oil  of  the  flowers  has  only  a  faint 
resemblance  to  the  odor  of  the  flowers,  and  the  orange-flower  waters, 
as  usually  sold,  have  but  little  of  the  delicate  odor  of  the  fresh  petals. 
Prof.  Remington  exhibited  a  specimen  of  oil  of  neroli  which,  after 
being  exposed  on  cloth  a  short  time,  gave  the  true  odor  of  the  petals, 
with  some  aridity.    This  was  considered,  and  doubtless  was,  a  choice 
