The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-11-26

culture. The fruit from the Seeding
orchards thus planted served the pur
poses of the early settlers very well,
and found local market while the
country was new. But Improvement
in the art of fruit culture has kept pace
with the development of the country,
superior varieties were introduced
which drove the Seeding fruit from
the market, and the owners of the
orchards planted by Johnny Apple
seed were obliged to consign their
fruit to the cider press and pig-pen,
or to graft their trees with some ap-
proved varieties. In examining the
history of other cultivated fruits we
find they have passed through the
same phases of development, nor is
the orange an exception to the rule.
Are the orange growers of Florida
to profit by the progress made in the
art Of fruit culture, or shall we re-
main content with the crazy methods
and unsatisfactory results Of the age
of Johnny Appleseed ?
In defending the Seeding theory
DIR. u. H. Mason, OF Apopka, says:
During the hundreds of years
that the orange has been cultivated,
there have been but few deviations
from the original stock, or new varie-
ties produced, and these deviations
are caused principally by climate and
soil manures proving that the seed
planted in Florida does not often
fail, but generally comes true to the
original"
| think the doctor is mistaken in
his premises and consequently the
theories he deduces from them are
erroneous.
In the first place, there have been
innumerable deviations from the orig
inal stock. Wherever propagation
from the seed is allowed the different
species have been so crossed and con-
founded that new races have original
ed bearing many of the characteris-
tics of distinct species, and hybrids
and mongrels without number have
been produced. This has been the
case in Florida during the compare
lively short time the citrus has been
grown here resulting in the many
crosses between the orange, lemon,
lime, citron, ETC., in those groves
where these different species have
been grown. In Europe and those
countries where the orange has been
long grown we find numerous cases
OF this character in the lumies and
poncires, the bergamot, sweet lime
pomolo, hermaphrodite orange, ETC..
and also in the numberless hybrids
differing in the characteristics OF the
fruit, foliage or flowers from the orig
inal stock. We have also the many
ornamental and useful plants OF this
genus which have originated i'll the
East, some of which have been intro.
duced into Europe and America.
Again, the number OF varieties ex.
ceed, perhaps, those Of any other
cultivated fruit. Gallesio, speaking
OF the citron, lemon, sweet and bitter
orange, says:
"These four species have been al.
most infinitely multiplied by a chain
of varieties, aud have been crossed
and confounded in such manner
that at the present time they are so
united one to the other by an insensi
BILE and continuous gradatlon that it is
difficult to distinguish them" Risso
! and Paiteau, who prepared All elabor-
ate work on this subject, under the
patf onage Of the French government,
represent hundred and sixty-five
varieties as worthy OF special notice
in series OF full sized colored plates.
An American nurserymau, whose
plants were propagated entirely in
pots tor greenhouse culture, has a
collection OF over one hundred and
sixty varieties. Mr.. Moore, in his
Hand book on Orange Culture, just.
ly remarks:
''But if the species and varieties
are so confused in Europe where the
classification of the citrus family has
been principally discussed and where
multiplication of the varieties has
been somewhat held in check by
their method of propagating the or.
ange, mainly by graft or bud, what
must be the number of different
races which are to be found in Flori-