;
The form of tho fruit, although not quite constant, may also serve for a distinction. In
the orange and shaddock, it is spherical, or rather an oblate spheroid, with a red or
orange-coloured rind; in the lime, spherical, tvith a pale rind; in the lemon, oblong,
rough, with a nipple-like protuberance at the end; in the citron, oblong, with a very
thick rind. Tho Howers of the citron and lemon have ten stamens, and those of the
orange more. Professor Martyn observes, that it is very^ difficult to determine what is
a variety, and what is a species, in this genus. The trees in the eastern countries, where
they are natives, vary in the size and shape of the fruit and leaves ; and many of those
considered varieties in Europe, appear to be species in their native woods. Ho has no
doubt that any one who wonld pursue this subject in the native countries of these fruits,
would detect v.arietics connecting nil those generally considered as species. This opimon
appears liighly probable when we examine the catalogues of the continental writers on
this fruit, who, in general, finding it difficult to make botanical distinctions, are obliged
to rest satisfied with popular descriptions. In N ouveau C ours, &c. art. Granger, those
cultivated in France, and in Dr. Sickler’s work, and that of Gallesio, those of Italy, are
so described.
4813. D r . Sickler, who spent several years in Italy, and paid great attention to the kinds and culture of
the orange, published, in 1815, D e r VoUkommcn O ra n g e r ie -G a r tn e r ( The Complete Orange Gardene r),
in which he describes above seventy sorts of Citrus, including all the species above mentioned. He
.arranges the whole in two classes, and these classes into divisions and subdivisions, w ithout regard to their
botanic distinctions or species, thus: —
Lemons.
Ccdratea or)
C itro n s .. / ......................................................................
f Uound-sliapcd lem o n s...........................
' npfir-sh.apcd
L em o n s . . .
Cedrate lemo
The
Z).
4 sorts.
............................. 6 ditto.
d i tto .............................. 11 ditto.
Cylindrical d i t t o .............................
Gourd-shaped d i t t o ........................... .
Wax lemons.................. ................. .........
cidronatcs.....................
4 ditto.
12 ditto.
5 ditto.
6 ditto.
Lemons.
Lumios or fLnmies........................................
^ L om e s ..\A p p le lu m i c s ......................... .
Bitte r o ran g e s.
Sour oranges .
Sweet oranges .
. 6 ditto.
, 6 ditto.
, 12 ditto.
he names and some descriptive traits of these eighty-four sorts of citrus will be found in A Short
48u “S t o b synoptitofrec (Jig. 823.), ia
I \ I f
. \ I t r ...
\ % % I i i J f f
\ \ \ \ \ I H i I / ,
V /'‘" -.VO
hi*^itTl¥ ramifications which display an arraiiifement of the forty prmcipal sorts cultivated
Z n Z 7 1 / ^ P ^ f i ^ d w o r k on o ranges which has yet appeared is the H istoire N a tu re lle des Orangers,
by Kisso of Nice, and^ Poiteau of Versailles. (P a ris , foi. 1818.) Here 169 sorts are described, and H).5of
Îira Îré J f are oranges, of \riiich they describe 43 sorts ; bitter and sour oranges, 32 sorts ; bergamoartsr,a n5g seodrt sa s; lsiwmeeest,
824
shaddocks, 6 sorts; lûmes, 12 sorts; lemons, 46 sorts; citrons, 17sorts.
4816. A ll the species o f C itru s en d u re ik e open a ir a t Nice, Genoa, a n d N a p le s ; b u t at Florence and
iVliJan, and olten a t Rome, they require protection during the winter, and are generally placed in con-
seryatories and sheds. The largest conservatory in Italy is th a t of Prince Antonio Borghese, a t Rome
which contains seventy select sorts o f agi-umi. In the north of Italy, as we have seen % 130., where the
orange tribe are not grown in conservatories, they are covered with temporary houses of boards during
SIX months o fth e year. The largest trees are at Sorenta, Terracina, Gabta, and Naples; but the most
regular and garden- like culture ot the orange i.s in th e orange orchards a t Nervi, Monaco, and other
places m the n e ig h b o u r^ o d of Genoa. At Nervi are also the orange nurseries which may be said to
supply all Europe with trees ; they are, m general, wretchedly cultivated, and the stocks inoculated in
th e most unscientific manner ; hut the line climate, strong clayey soil, and abundant manurings, supply
in a great degree the want qf the nicer practices of gardening. There the names of varieties vary ès much
as those 01 gooseberries do m England ; but from upwards of one hundred names, not above forty distinct
sorts can be purchased. Good plants of the Maltese and other varieties of orange mav be nrocured from
Malta; and some sorts also from Lisbon. From the nurseries a t Paris about thirty ■ sorts may be
obtained, much smaller plants than those from the other places named, but more scientificallv grafted or
inoculated. At Vallet s nursery at Rouen is acollection of very large plants of thecommon kinds. The
catalogues ot London nurserymen enumerate above thirty varieties of orange, twelve of lemon, and
several varieties of the other species ; the plants are generally inoculated, and small, and are more calcu-
lated for pots than for planting m the soil for producing fruit. As being most useful for th e British
En land we shall place under each species the names of the varieties which may be procured in
4817. i'h e common orange is the C itru s A u r a n tiu m L. ; the orange of th e French ; p om e ra n z e of the
Germans; oj-rtwÿe appel of the Dutch ; a ranc io o fth e Italians; and n a r a n ja o fth e Spaniards ( û b . 824.).
It IS a middle-sized evergreen tree, w ith a greenish-brown bark ; f /
and, in its wild state, with prickly branches. T h e fruit is nearly
round, from 2 in. to 3 in. in diameter, and of a gold colour. It is
a native of India and Cliina, but now cuitivatcd in most countries
of Europe ; in the open air in Italy and Spain, and in
conservatones or greenhouses in Britain and the north of Eu rope.
1 he orange is supposed to have been introduced into Italy
m the fourteenth century, above a thousand years after the citron.
In England, the tree has been cultivated since J629. Par-
kiivson, writing a t th at time, says, “ it hath abideii with some
extraordinary looking and tending, w’hen neither citron nor
lemon trees could be preserved any length of time.”
4818. The ora n g e trees o f B eddington in S u r r e y , introduced
from Italy by a knight of the noble family of th e Carews (Gib-
.wn s edit, q f C am. B r i t . ) , were the first that were brought into
England ; they were planted in the open ground, placed under a
movable cover during the winter months, and they had been
growmg there before 1595. It has been said, that these trees
were raised by Sir Francis Carew, from seeds brought to England
by Sir Walter Raleigh : but as such trees would not have
readily borne fruit. Professor Martyn thinks it much m ore likely
that they were plants brought from Italy. Bradley says they
always bore fruit in great plenty and perfection ; th a t they grew
on the outside of a wall, not nailed against it, but a t full liberty
to spread ; they were 14 ft. high, the girth of the stem 29 in:,
and the spreading of the branches one way 9 ft and 12 ft
f e f S i t o i l f e f e e f e S n ï r f e t f e ï S fe sT ltoÄ Ä re ‘-re t e « «■« «"«»rity of their o .n e r ,
4819. D ui-ing the la tte r e n d o f the seventeenth a n d b eg in n in g o fth e eighteenth c eninriPi th« nmntr«
. was a very fashionable article of growth in conservatories, w hV there werTbfo^^^^
kept there. The plants were procured from Genoa, with stems generally from 4 ft to 6 ft in h ? iX •
they were planted m large boxes, and were set out during summer to deJorVt? the walk? nea i the S V
centu?v™/hraVra?V^f‘^^h^? Verrailles and tye Tuileries. About the middle o f th e eighteenth
S r é ré r for botany and forcing exotic fruits became general, th a t for superb o r S trees
fo®- through L g le c t ; and those which ™e®?ow S
be found m the greater number M greenhouses are generally dwarf plants bearing few fruit and those
»n some places, however, are still to be found large and flourishing trees Those S
Smorgony m Glamoiganshire are the largest in Britam ; they are planted in th e floor of an immense
l ! , ï " t e rere -rent« £««« pfecurad fr„™ a w / f e o\" i i T c S
W^rafoybury there IS a Madras citron, which, in 1825. measured 21 ft in height and 1 . 5 f ? 'K i d t h
,™bs. between three and four dozen of fruit, some of which weighed abovè
three trees in boxes, not surpassed by any
S | h t L ™ ? r a S d «t Isleworth, possesses a very fine collection ; and /arious other?
‘f e t a
m i l ? ; “ “i* "N k le eomhire , and particiilarly a t Saltcombe, one of the warmest spots in Kneland
Sriufnteirded years. TThÎee ffreui"t - i;s "a‘s“ tlaarg' e“ at nod *ftian‘e as any from P“o■rt«u gal Ttroe eths er oapiseend tafrro mnp wkptapHd oi-fn"A;
ISréi** réré réré *be cold better than trees imported.
4824. A t Coombe R o ya l, the seat of John Luscombe, Esq., citrons, oranges lemons ike are ffrnwn in
Vfrnh/oa lLf//?le™S ? rvé ld *h frsaummVmrée?r, and partially in the da'y‘" m" / tihfe wmter, as the treeosf ownoloyd r.e ’q uTihreè steo bfrea gmueasr daerde
ihe/ré t Z t l . n ^ "I®“'® C'-^nnot well be imagined, than that whi?h is presented bv
these trees on a sunny day m summer, when the open frames furnish a display of the richest fo lia g e ra S
m .