The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-03

came a synonym for the best. while for
years the famous St Michael oranges from
the Azores were accounted the most de-
hcious. long after their culture ceased.
A curious question viii now arise as TO
the connection between the bitter and the
sweet orange. Are they such distinct
fruits or plants as TO amount TO distinct
species; or are they descendants from a
common stock2 Is there any sign Of inter
change. or of reversion2 Galiesio. who is
looked upon as most careful observer of
the orange family, SAYS that during a long
series OF years he sowed pips of sweet
oranges taken some times from the natural
tree. sometimes from sweet oranges graft
ed on bitter orange stocks ana lemon
stocks. and the result always was trees
bearing sweet oranges. He declares that
for sixty wears. around his town Of Finale
the same result had been observed. and
he says. There Is no instance Of a bitter
orange tree from seed Of sweet oranges
nor OF a sweet-orange tree from the seed
Of bitter oranges. In 1909. the orange
trees of Finale having been killed by frost.
the practice of raising sWeet-orange trees
from seed was introduced. and every one
of these plants produced the sweet-juiced
fruit"
These statements of a competent su-
thority would appear to be conclusive.
but such Us not the case. Mr. AIacfay-
den. the author Of the Flora of Jamaica.
another competent observer. saws that '.it
is a well-established fact. familiar TO
every one who has been any length OF
time In the island. that the seed Of the
sweet orange very frequently grows tip
into a tree bearing the bitter fruit nu-
merous wcll-attested instances Of which
have come TO my knowledge. / am aware
however. that the seed OF the bitter or
ange has ever grown up into the sweet
fruited variety. He. therefore, con-
cludes that the bitter orange is the orig
inal stock. and points out that i'm GER
tain soils the sweet orange may be raised
uom seed, but in other soils the fruit
of the tree so raised is more or less Bit
ter. This fully accords with the .beha-
Vior sof other dOmesticated plants. i'm
which we find that under some circum-
stances, heredity- is very strong, while
under others it is very weak The con-
clusion is then forced upon us that the
sweet orange and the bitter orange are
only varieties Of wild stock. which there
is every reason to believe is a native of
Southern China and Burmah
Two alternatives seem to be perfectly
feasible with respect to the introduction
of the sweet orange into Europe: as Cal
lesio says, it may have followed the bit
ter orange from China, being brought
into the Mediterranean region about the
beginning of the fourteenth century. Or
partly domesticated further culture by
the peoples Of the different countries may
have induced different varieties indie
pendently of each other. one has only
to stand by a fruit store and pick out
orange after orange, varying in size,
color shape and flavor to be ready to
accept this.
AS the orange fiourishes i'm any moder-
atcv good soil. well-drained but moist
there are many regions suitable for IT'S
culture China and Japan come first,
next the islands Of the Indian ocean, next
perhaps, the Mediterranean region. Portu-
sal, the Azores. When Capt Cook visited
the Pacific islands the orange was but
little known. Now it's range embraces
not only those islands, but the continent
and The Spanish brought the orange to
the West Indies, and thence it reached the
mainland, where il dourishes, except for
such catastrophes as the recent one in
Florida. California has also become
an important center of its cultivation, so
tina. North America. which formerly de-
pended on West Indian fruit, ordinarily
has enough grown within it's own bounds
to supply its wants.
Looking back 1t the history thus briefly
given. it may be said that the orange as a
domesticated plant is in its infancy COM
pared with many Others found ia our gar
dens. What il may become under mans
careful selection we can scarcely fore
shadow. but perfectly seedless varieties,
and one i'm which the seeds are collected
in capsule at the apex show an amenabil-
ity to human selection and culture which
may result in the production of a fruit
surprising even the best existing speci-
mems.