The Florida agriculturist., 1884-12-10

when we consider their commercial po-
sition at the time when this event must
have taken place; but / think shall
, be able to present data still more deci-
sive for establishing this opinion.
The sweet orange tree was not yet in
Europe at the end of the fourteenth CEN
tury; at the beginning of the sixteenth
it was already very much spread there;
it should then have appeared early in
the fifteenth century. 1t was precisely
at this epoch that taste for botany re-
vived in Italy; and at this time the trade
and agriculture OF Genoa were at the
climax of their prosperity. But during
all this interval we find no trace of this
culture, except solely in Liguria. This
fact is attested by two important docu-
ments which am about to make known.
The first is an account of expenses by
the treasurer of Savonia, dated 1471.
The second is a bill Of sale, made in
1472, at Savona, by master of a ship
of st. Reno, of his vessel laden with or
anges.
Let us examine these two papers.
The city of Savona had, in 1471, an
ambassador at Milan. Wishing to make
him present, she sent to him citron and
lemon comfits, and, afterward citruli
This double expedition, of which we
find the account in the books of admin
istration of Savona, dated, 1471, is
spoken of in way to prove that the
citruE were sweet oranges.
1t is sufficient to know that the lemons
and citrons, sent to Milan, were comtits,
/ and that the citruli, on the contrary,
were in their natural state.
This plainly shows that the citrali
were edible, whilst citrons and lemons
were not used in commerce, except after
a modification by the confectioner,
which brought out their aroma, and cor
rected their bitterness. Il owe the
knowledge of this gift, just spoken of, to
Nj. de Belloro, one of the most learned
/ persons of Savona, who kindly made in
vestigations upon this subject, in the
archives of that city. Here is the pas
sage, copied by myself, from the book Of
administration, bearing this mark
st146S, FL. under the date OF May ~
l147I, D. 327 4" stDe mandate s. ID. anti
anoram pro cit,utis, misiss Medioldnun
| pro Ldzdro Fec, Ell distis pro Jacobo dc
Diego, GdJelLotto, Gdbelle forndcum anna
preseatis, grOssos decemnoren, cum d.
midio librds tres, solid0s 0ctO, CT denori0s
tres" Below--'Die primG junii, pro
.fructibas nissis nedioldRuna, Uidelicet IL
monibus confectis, ct citris, f. Z, H."
The difference in price, and even the ex-
pressions indicate that the citfuE were
fruits in their natural state.) This fact
is still more strengthened by contract
of sale of cotemporaneous date, found
in the archives of the same city. This
contract contained sale made by a
4 master of a. st. Reno vessel, to another
of the same, of barque then at Savona,
loaded with $1,000 citranguli, or citroni.
| eve find inthe archive Of the notaries
of Savona, a bill of sale received by the
notary Pierre Corsaro, dated February
~, 1872, by which Dominique Asconzio,
family Antoine, of St. Reno, sells to
Jean Baptiste Mulo, family Etienne, of
same place, one Iembo, cum citrangnlis,
size cetroais, qatindecim mile, now on
board said vessel, for the consideration
of two pounds per thousand-Genoese
money-the. whole for the sumiof fifty
pounds. The lemb0 is aname for kind
of vessel used at that time, which was
valued, as we see, at twenty pounds.
This price seems very small, but on
i comparing the value of the money of that
day with that of the present, it will be
found to be a very considerable sum.
am indebted for these facts to the SON
in-law of NJ Belloro-M. Nervi-Secre-
of the Mayoralty of Savona, where his
talents and knowledge are well known.)
The number, $4,000, of these fruits, is
sufficient ground for concluding, First,
that the culture of orange trees at st.
Reno had reached "a high point of pros
perity; secondly, that these could not
have been bigarades, but were sweet
oranges for whatwould they dowith so
many bigarades?
The confectioners were supplied bv
citrons and lemons. The bigarades
also might be confected, but one could
use for this purpose only the skin, which
is thin; and it being impossible to put
them into commerce for any other use,
it would be extraordinary to find SO large
an expectation.
1t is therefore natural to suppose that
the $4,000 citrdngaii, or cetrCni, were
sweet oranges, of which the consumption
is more considerable, and of which the
sale would consequently be more easy
and more profitable.
These conjectures seem to me reason
able enough for our deducing that Ligu-
ria, at the middle of the fifteenth centu-
ry, had carried this sort of culture and
commerce much further than all the rest
of Europe, which could scarcely have
occurred in so short an interval had not
the Ligurians been, the first to know
and to cultivate the sweet orange tree.