The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1884-09-10


boughs, to which Persian apples had
been fastened. (Pommes de Perse.)
This expression shows that the apples
/ had been attached to the palm tree by a
i sort of voluntary usage, and not in con-
sequence of the precept. 49,
The citron tree, then, was still UNI
known i'll Palestine in the time of Moses.
At that period the Asia les were not suf-
ficiently civilized to Ii nix of transport
ing the plants OF one G. hntry to another ;
neither their wants nor their habits of
luxury had, as yet, made close ties be-
tween nations. But it is surprising, that
the Jews did not know of this tree after
the Babylonish captivity; and we are
still more astonished to find that they
knew nothing of it at the commencement
of the Christian era.
The Seventy, who translated the Scrip
lures into Greek two hundred and sixty
six years after the return of the Hebrews
to Palestine, rendered the word hadGr
by the same paraphrase used in the
Latin version-''the fruit of the finest
tree" And the gospel, which contains
so many illusions to the palm. the fig,
and many other trees, says not word
of the citron.
This tree, however, was already known
to the Greeks and Romans. Theophras-
tus gives very truthful and exact de-
scription of it. This philosopher wrote
after the death of Alexander, whose
conquests had greatly extended the
knowledge of the Greeks concerning the
region of Asia, situated this side OF the
Indus, where this plant was indigenous.
These are his words ON the matter:
"All the country situated east and
south of us produces peculiar plants and
animals. Thus one sees in Media and
Persia, among many other productions,
the tree called Persian or Median apple.
This tree has a leaf as large as and re-
sembling the pOurpier; 1t has thorIs
like those of the pear tree and hawthorn
but which are more slender, pointed and
stubborn. Its fruit is not edible, but il
has an exquisite odor, as also have the
4 leaves, which are used as protection
from moths i'll clothing. A decoction 0
the pulp Of this fruit is thought to b
"A an antideke - poisen. and Will ais
stTlley'as0sv the seeds in the spring i
burrows carefully prepared, and water
for four or five days after.
! When the small plant has gotten
little strength, it is transplanted, Away
in the spring, into moist and mellow
soil, not too light. ~
"The citron bears fruit continuously
while some fruit is falling with ripenes'
other fruit is but starting, and still othel
approaching muturity. Fruit is giver
only by the flowers which have in the
middle sort of straight spindle; those
which do not have this fall off, produ
cling nothing. They seed it also, as the
palm, rim perforated earthern vases
This, tree, as we have said, is common il
Persia and in Media th.s3 & ~
Virgil is the first among Latin writer
to speak of the citron, not, however
calling it by this name, but, like Theo
phrastus, giving it, the appellation o
Median apple. E8
He says tits a large tree resembling
the laurel, whose leaves are odoriferous
and never fall. whose flower sets easily
and whose precious fruit, though its juice
is sour and bitter, serves among the
Modes as cure for poison and is alsC
used to correct fetid breath, and as {
relief to asthmatic old men.
Pliny begins to give it several names
he calls it mdlus medicG, minus aSsyriG
and citrus. He says its leaf, which car
ries thorn at its side, and is of an eX
cellent odor, is used by the Modes tt
perfume clothes; that it's branches arr
always covered with fruit some green
others scarcely developed, others quite
but that no one eats it, and that i
is only used to protect clothing from
moths. He says the Parthians eat thu
seed for pertaining the mouth, and adds
it is the only plant boosted of in Media
and vain attempts had been made tt
transport it hence to Italy. This de
scription, which appears as if drawn from
Theophrastus, would imply that thu
citron was at that point of time, but ;
foreign production known only by name
: but many other passages from Pin.
4 teach us that this fruit had been car
ried from Persia to Rome, where i
served in medicine, chiefly as an anti
dote to poison, and was in common us,
as a perfume for apparel, and protection
from moths.
\ This naturalist reports that they founC
in the tomb of King Numa books of pa
pyrus, which We're uninjured, though
entombed for five hundred and thirty
five years, and that the preservation
was attributed to the virtue of the cit
ron.
Such was the use of this fruit anon,
the Romans for two centuries, and i
was not until the time of Plutarch tina
they began to use it as food. We know
not whether it was eaten raw, or made
4 into CONNECTIONS with honey, which wa
SO greatly used among the Romans.
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