The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1884-12-31
lCoPYRIGHTED.J
A Treatise on the Citrus Family.
BY NJ. GEORGE GALIEsIo.
Translated from the Frenck, earpressgy for The
Florida A0ricwsSuwiSg.
CHAPTER IN.

CHAPTER IN.
ART. NlI.-Of the Vdrieties and Hgbrios
Of the Citrus-History Of the Origin and
TrdnsmigrdtioYes- Their Multiplication.
Search for the etymology of these
names presents difficulties. 1t would be
useless to seek in Arabic or Persian lam
guage the origin OF ,esdDs0l., l0gsomo,t, or
sun,bou. Their physiognomy shows that
they belong to neither of those tongues,
but seems to prove that they will be
found only in the language Of China or
Of Tartary. The Portuguese have adop-
TED the word zdmhou, modifying it to
sGmbod. The word TORONTO, used by the
Spaniard for rendering that ofaavsGn0al,
has much affinity with narenGi, of which
1T may be a corruption. The word bes-
td8ibouW seems to Zoe composed of the
Arabic word bOustGn (garden,) and the
Persian word bonn Gutility, ornament).
In adopting this etymology bOstdmboua
might signify orneataeH Of the garden,
which would perfectly apply to orange
trees, and perhaps particularly to that
variety having frait of extraordinary
size.
Ebn-el-Awam describes afterwards
different varieties Of each species, and
we at once recognize the ordinary citron
in that which he calls citron diqre.
Our bigarade the Arabs have some
times called citron ro1ed, sometimes cit
ron aiqre, and finally nGreadj. Eben-
Beitsr says of it: sThenaronH lis a well
known tree, the leaf rs smooth and of a
deepgreen, the fruit lis round, and has
an acid Juice like the ,citron. The tree,
also, closely resembles the citron tree;
its flower is white and extremelysweetin
odor." Ar. MSS. OF EBNBEBTAR) We
also recognize the oren0ed ponosye, in that
which he call sweet fruit.
The two first varieties of the .yGsdaaOu
are related to our e3tasS deouaadnd, or
ADAM S apple; and the third, called to-
Tonjd ehinescd, appe@s'tobe ourC Chinese
citron, &c. NJ. G.. fructuan nO1sStritos0 durd1a-
tidnto,' GAL. SYM
know not how to determine what is
the oraagge doree, which he distinguishes
from the ordinary orange, and less s-still,
that called feur celeste but L clearly re-
cognize species of lime of Naples in
the "lemOn of smooth skin, the size of a
pigeon egg" and sort of large pom
cire in tine lemon duarNSodo.
The Authority of EtM7el-Awam, ap-
pears toGOrove that these varieties born,
in great part, in Syria &md Egypt, passed
soon intoSSpain, but not into France and
Italy until long afterwards.
One OF the causes rendering difficult
the recognition of ancient varieties, is
the vagueness of descriptions. In those
times of ignorance the Language of bot
anv was vet unfounded, consequently a
,person attempting to descnibe plant,
did not select the traits most constant
and certain, but each desoribedthe parts
land pecularities which most forcibly
Struck him, ,aaccording to his manner ot
seeing, and with terms and expressions
(which often only confused ideas.
The Arabs for example, have some
tiEle designated the orange blythe name
OF round citpOqo, and this expression ap-
plies equally ITO genuine eitron which
affects this fo@m. But nothing has been
mcee vague than the attempt to express
the.color of the orange, as 1T resembles
inrno degree any known color. st has
beer indicatedhy that which Masthought
to approach it Gearest-thus one calls it
jdetno (yellow), another speaks of it as
dOree, (golden), another as ssaat.ge 0red), /,
and, finally, some have well adopted the
iname.of orange color.
.Bntrto picture the idea by describing
she frrit, they have made use OF Very
indefinite expressions, causing great En-
certainty in these descriptions
The same incomMenience arises when
we try TO know the,Grange rouge.
st woikld appear "a suitable nanAe, yet
lhaing sometimes used for indicating or
tiiIlaryr oranges, we tpd ourselves Tn UNI
certainty when Wishing to interpret the
&nthors with exactness-
Some have attempted to picture the
color Of this fruit by the term rt@eDse
(wine-like). The Lignahans have named
it the orange of bloody juice (arGaeio
sallgedigaao(.
One dnds himself equally embarrassed
when trying ITO express the color OF the
flowers of the citron and lemon trees.
They are shaded with a mixed tint,
called by one md, by another. riolet, and
which is really, of both these colors, ~.
Perhaps it was but this peculiar color
that Ebn-el-Awaal, wished to designate
by the expression I7eur celeste. 4 .rlt fi.s.
In that case the variety. he speaks Of
is. probably, a hybrid Of the orange and
lemon, like the one in the JardeM des
Plantes at Paris, called riolet orange
tree.