The Florida agriculturist., 1884-11-12


The Damascene (Abd-ulfeda) and Av-
icenna speak of the orange only as
sour fruit, of which may be made syr-
ups. 1cetositatis citri et dcetOyi-
tdtis citrdnguE.
EDn-Beitar, in his dictionary of sim
pie remedies, makes of this fruit de-
scription agreeing perfectly with what
is said of it by those two writers Just re-
ferred to, He says, ''the orange tree is
well known; its leaf is smooth, and of a
| deep green; the fruit is round, and the
interior encloses a sour juice similar to
that of the citron tree; its flower is
| white and of sweet odor. (Arabian
| MSS, No. 172.)
Massoudi, who is quoted by M. de Sa-
| cy in the notes of his translation of ADD
Allatif, distinguishes the fruit from the
citron only by its form, and calls it citron
rond. And Ebn-Al Awam, in his agri-
cultural book, says that the fruit of the
orange tree is round, and that its juice
has the acidity of the citron, from which
it comes Spanish translation, bk. /, p.
320.) But it is not only in Arabia, in
| Africa, and in Spain, that the orange
was known as a sour fruit. Italy pre-
serves some trees which date from the
| yOdlS 11OO anu 1-OOs puOAA 40 OAAC AeOAhoAA
! orange tree, already spoken of, and
which is said to have been planted by
| st. Dominic.
| Ferraris tells us that it has sour fruit,
| (dcrium pomorum,) and that the rejeton
or sprout of it, existing still, is of this
species; ''for have myself examined
and tasted the fruit"
This opinion, as to the acidity of the
orange, is also confirmed by all remain
ing to us of our ancient writers relating
| to this tree.
To the testimony. De Vitry is added
that Of Simon Januarius, Silvaticus,
/ Specials, Falcandus, and many others.
Nicolas Specials, in his history of the
siege of Palermo, calls it the the tree of
soar apples (dcrilJom0rum dbOres;) and
] Hugo Falcandus, in his history of Sicily,
describes it in the following manner
/ IidedS tbi, et lun.ids acetOsitate suG cop-
| diendis cibis idoaeas, ct drangias dcetosi
| niltilolniqaats hat,nope plends interiats, qQir
lnagis puIchritudine sud a,isugn oblectunt
guans dd ittuoIsttles rideanttsr.
Finally, from the tenth to the fifteenth
century, we find not single passage in
history which can relate to the sweet or
ange and writer's who have made men
ton of this tree, (the orange, directly
| or indirectly speak of it as kind of sour
! fruit more agreeable to sight by its beau
ty, than to taste, by its juice.
! Nevertheless, the sweet orange has
existed since many centuries in China.
All travellers certify to this fact; and the
large sylvan groves OF them found in
! Japan, Cochin-C China, in the vicinity of
Canton, and in the Pacific islands, prove
that this plant originated there.
| NO oo1nof roocoY,o bly holiovo fhaf fnic
species has been obtained by careful
culture in countries so little civilized,
and in savage isles where the vegetable
kingdom shows only the traces of sim
pie nature. Neither can we admit that
the sweet orange is type of species,
the degradation of which, by neglect,
has originated the bigarade or sour or
ange.
This phenomenon (of which no other
vegetable offers a single specimen
] should have had, necessarily, results
very different from those given to us by
history, and by the actual condition of
| these plants in various parts OF the world.
Extraordinary culture could effect only
individuals submitted to its action; but
in wild places the orange tree itself
would always be preserved in it's natural
state, and nothing could have caused the
type to disappear entirely. For, if in
dividual trees abandoned to nature had
degenerated to the point of presenting
difference so great as that existing be-
! tween the sweet and sour oranges, these
two species would surely have been
| found mingled in the fields, and show a
graduation of debasement, or ameliora-
| ton, proportionate to the state of cul-
ture, richness of soil, and inhence of
climate.
But, on the contrary, all data given us
by history upon this matter unite to con-
vince us that these two species of orange
trees, as well as the two species of citron
trees, created separately by Nature, have
existed long time isolated, and have
each had father-land. The citron is
found only in Media.
Travelling botanists have also recog-
nized the fact that in parts of India
where one meets the orange in an indig-
enous state, the citron is there only by
/ culture.
The lemon did not pass into Persia,
Syria and Egypt until after the Arabs
had extended their conquests beyond
the Indus the Ganges into regions be-
fore unknown, or seprated from Western
Asia by their political state, their man
ners, and their religion
IL The bigarade appeared shortly before
the lemon, and probably it was not found
indigenous by the side of the sweet or
ange, as in that case the sweet fruit
would surely have been preferred; at
! q .