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ORANGE (Citrus Aurantium)
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See also:ORANGE (Citrus Aurantium) . The plant that produces the See also:familiar See also:fruit of See also:commerce is closely allied to the citron, See also:lemon and See also:lime, all the cultivated forms of the genus Citrus being so nearly related that their specific demarcation must be regarded as somewhat doubtful and indefinite. The numerous kinds of orange chiefly differing in the See also:external shape, See also:size and flavour of the fruit may all probably be traced to two well-marked varieties or sub-See also:species—the sweet or See also:China orange, See also:var. sinensis, and the See also:bitter orange or bigarade, var. amara.
The BITTER See also:SEVILLE Or BIGARADE ORANGE, C. Aurantium,
var. amara (C. vulgaris of Risso), is a rather small See also:tree, rarely exceeding 30 ft. in height. The See also:green shoots See also:bear See also:sharp axillary spines, and alternate See also:evergreen oblong leaves, pointed at the extremity, and with the margins entire or very slightly serrated; they are of a See also:bright glossy green tint, the stalks distinctly winged and, as in the other species, articulated with the See also:leaf. The fragrant
See also: See also:diffusion of the orange has taken See also:place in comparatively See also:recent See also:historical periods. To See also:ancient Mediterranean See also:agriculture it was unknown; and, though the later Greeks and See also:Romans were familiar with the citron as an See also:exotic fruit, their " median See also:apple " appears to have been the only See also:form of the citrine genus, with which they were acquainted. The careful researches of Gallesio have proved that See also:India was the See also:country from which the orange spread to western See also:Asia and eventually to See also:Europe. Oranges are at See also:present found See also:wild in the jungles along the See also:lower See also:mountain slopes of See also:Sylhet, See also:Kumaon, See also:Sikkim and other parts of See also:northern India, and, according to See also:Royle, even in the Nilgiri Hills; the See also:plants are generally thorny, and present the other characters of the bitter variety, but occasionally wild oranges occur with sweet fruit; it is, however, doubtful whether either sub-species is really indigenous to Hindustan, and De See also:Candolle is probably correct in regarding the Burmese See also:peninsula and See also:southern China as the See also:original See also:home of the orange. Cultivated from a remote See also:period in Hindustan, it was carried to See also:south-western Asia by the See also:Arabs, probably before the 9th See also:century, towards the See also:close of which the bitter orange seems to have been well known to that See also:people; though, according to Mas`udi, it was not cultivated in See also:Arabia itself until the beginning of the loth century, when it was first planted in `See also:Oman, and afterwards carried to See also:Mesopotamia and See also:Syria. It spread ultimately, through the agency of the same See also:race, to See also:Africa and See also:Spain, and perhaps to See also:Sicily, following everywhere the See also:tide of Mohammedan See also:conquest and See also:civilization. In the 12th century the bigarade was abundantly cultivated in all the See also:Levant countries, and the returning soldiers of the See also:Cross brought it from See also:Palestine to See also:Italy and See also:Provence. An orange tree of this variety is said to have been planted by St See also:Dominic in the See also:year 1200, though the identity of the one still See also:standing in the See also:garden of the monastery of St Sabina at See also:Rome, and now attributed to the energetic See also:friar, may be somewhat doubtful. No allusion to the sweet orange occurs in contemporary literature at this See also:early date, and its introduction to Europe took place at a considerably' later period, though the exact time is unknown. It was commonly cultivated in Italy early in the 16th century, and seems to have been known there previously to the expedition of Da Gama (1497), as a Florentine narrator of that voyage appears to have been familiar with the fruit. The importation of this tree into Europe, though often attributed to the Portuguese, is with more See also:probability referred to the enterprise of the Genoese merchants of the 15th century, who must have found it growing abundantly then in the Levant. The prevailing See also:European name of the orange is sufficient See also:evidence of its origin and of the See also:line taken in its See also:migration westward. The See also:Sanskrit designation nagrungo, becoming narungee in Hindustani, and corrupted by the Arabs into ndranj (See also:Spanish naranja), passed by easy transitions into the See also:Italian arancia (Latinized aurantium), the See also:Romance arangi, and the later Provencal orange. The true See also:Chinese variety, however, was undoubtedly brought by the Portuguese navigators See also:direct from the See also:East both to their own country and to the See also:Azores, where now luxuriant groves of the See also:golden-fruited tree give a See also:modern realization to the old myth of the gardens of the See also:Hesperides .l Throughout China and in See also:Japan the orange has been grown from very ancient times, and it was found diffused widely when the See also:Indian See also:Archipelago was first visited by Europeans. In more recent days its cultivation has extended over most of the warmer regions of the globe, the tree growing freely and producing fruit abundantly wherever See also:heat is sufficient and enough moisture can be supplied to the roots; where See also:night-frosts occur in See also:winter or spring the culture becomes more difficult and the See also:crop See also:precarious.
The orange flourishes in any moderately fertile See also:soil, if it is well drained and sufficiently moist; but a rather stiff See also:loam or calcareous See also:marl, intermingled with some See also:vegetable humus, is most favourable to its growth. Grafting or budding on See also:stocks raised from the seed of some vigorous variety is the See also:plan usually adopted by the See also:cultivator. The seeds, carefully selected, are sown in well-prepared ground, and the seedlings removed to a nursery-See also:bed in the See also:fourth or fifth year, and, sometimes after a second trans-See also:plantation, grafted in the seventh or eighth year with the desired variety. When the grafts have acquired sufficient vigour, the trees are placed in rows in the permanent orangery. See also:Propagation by layers is occasionally adopted; cuttings do not readily See also:root, and multiplication directly by seed is always doubtful in result, though recommended by some authorities. The distance See also:left between the trees in the permanent plantation or See also: The trees require See also:regular and careful pruning, the heads being trained as nearly as possible to a spherical form. Between the rows melons, pumpkins and other See also:annual vegetables are frequently raised. In garden culture the orange is often trained as an See also:espalier, and with careful See also:attention yields fruit in See also:great profusion when thus grown. In favourable seasons the oranges are produced in great abundance, from 400 to See also:I000 being The modern Arabic name, Bortukan (that is, Portuguese), shows that the China apple reached the Levant from the West.commonly See also:borne on a single plant in full bearing, while on large trees the latter number is often vastly exceeded. The trees will continue to bear abundantly from fifty to eighty years, or even more; and some old orange trees, whose See also:age must be reckoned by centuries, still produce their golden crop; these very ancient trees are, however, generally of the bitter variety. Oranges intended for export to colder climates are gathered See also:long before the deep tint that indicates maturity is attained, the fruit ripening rapidly after picking; but the delicious See also:taste of, the mature China orange is never thus acquired, and those who have not eaten the fruit in a perfectly ripe See also:state have little See also:idea of its flavour when in that See also:condition. Carefully gathered, the oranges are packed in boxes, each orange being wrapped in See also:paper, or with dry See also:maize husks or leaves placed between them. The immense quantities of this valuable fruit imported into See also:Britain are derived from various See also:sources, the Azores (" St See also:Michael's" oranges), Sicily, Portugal, Spain and other Mediterranean countries, See also:Jamaica, the See also:Bahamas and See also:Florida, See also:California, &c. In Florida the bitter orange has grown, from an unknown period, in a wild condition, and some of the earlier botanical explorers regarded it as an indigenous tree; but it was undoubtedly brought by the Spanish colonists to the West India Islands, and was probably soon afterwards transplanted to Florida by them or their buccaneering enemies; its See also:chief use in See also:America is for stocks on which to See also:graft sweet orange and other species of Citrus. Orange cultivation has been attempted with success in several parts of See also:Australia, especially in New South See also:Wales, where the orange groves near Paramatta yield an abundant colonial See also:supply. The orangeries of See also:Queensland and South Australia likewise produce well. In many of the Pacific Islands the plant has been long established. There are numerous varieties of the sweet orange, a few of which deserve mention on See also:account of some striking peculiarity. Maltese or See also:Blood oranges are characterized by the deep-red tint of the pulp, and comprise some of the best varieties. Gallesio refers to the blood orange as cultivated extensively in Malta and Provence; they are largely grown in the Mediterranean region in the present See also:day, and have been introduced into America. So-called See also:navel oranges have an umbilical See also:mark on the apex of the fruit due to the See also:production of an incipient second whorl of carpels. See also:Baptiste See also:Ferrari, a Jesuit See also: 
A fungus, Fusarium limonis is found associated with the disease, which is also fostered by faulty drainage, a shaded condition of the soil, the use of See also:rank manures and other conditions. For treatment the soil should be removed from the See also:base of the trunk, the diseased patches cut away and the See also:wound treated with a fungicide. Decay of oranges in transit often causes serious losses; this has been shown to be due to a species of Penicillium, of which the germinating spores penetrate the skin of damaged fruits. Careful picking, handling and packing have much reduced the amount of loss from this cause. Another fungus disease, scab, has been very injurious to the lemon and bitter orange in Florida. It is caused by a species of Cladosporium, which forms numerous small warts on the leaves and fruits; spraying with a weak 150 See also:solution of See also:Bordeaux mixture or with ammoniacal solution of carbonate of See also:copper is recommended. The sooty See also:mould of orange, which forms a See also:black incrustation on the leaves and also the fruit, probably occurs wherever the orange is cultivated. It is caused by species of Meliola; in Europe and the See also:United States, by M. Fenzigii and M. Camelliae. The fruit is often rendered unsaleable and the plant is also injured as the leaves are unable properly to perform their functions. The fungus is not a See also:parasite, but lives apparently upon the See also:honey-See also:dew secreted by See also:aphides, &c., and is therefore dependent on the presence of these insects. Spraying with See also:resin-See also:wash is an effective preventive, as it destroys the insects. Several See also:insect enemies attack the plant, of which the See also:scale insect Aspidiotus is the most injurious in Europe and the Azores. In Florida another species, Mytilaspis citricola (See also:purple scale), sometimes disfigures the fruit to such an extent as to make it unfit for See also:market. Several species of Aleyrodes are insect pests on leaves of the orange; A. citri, the white See also:fly of Florida, is described as the most important of all the insect pests of the crop in Florida at the present time, and another species, A. Howardi, is a very serious pest in See also:Cuba. See also:Cold See also:weather in winter has sometimes proved destructive in Provence, and many plantations were destroyed by the hard frosts of 1789 and 182o. Besides the widespread use of the fruit as an agreeable and wholesome See also:article of See also:diet, that of the sweet orange, abounding in citric acid, possesses in a high degree the antiscorbutic properties that render the lemon and lime so valuable in See also:medicine; and the See also:free See also:consumption of this fruit in the large towns of See also:England during the winter months has doubtless a very beneficial effect on the See also:health of the people. The juice is sometimes employed as a cooling drink in fevers, as well as for making a pleasant beverage in hot weather. The bitter orange is chiefly cultivated for the aromatic and tonic qualities of the rind, which render it a valuable stomachic. Planted long ago in See also:Andalusia by the Moorish conquerors, it is still extensively grown in southern Spain—deriving its See also:common See also:English name of " Seville " orange from the abundant groves that still exist around that See also:city, though the plant is now largely cultivated elsewhere. The fruit is imported into Great Britain and the United States in considerable quantities for the manufacture of orange See also:marmalade, which is prepared from the pulp and rind, usually more or less mingled with the pulp of the China orange. In medicine the fresh See also:peel is largely employed. as an aromatic tonic, and often, in See also:tincture and See also:syrup and " orange See also:wine," as a See also:mere vehicle to disguise the flavour of more nauseous remedies. The chief constituents are three glucosides, hesperidin, isohesperidin and aurantiamarin, the latter being the bitter principle; and an oil which mainly consists of a terpene known as limonene. The essential oil of the rind is collected for the use of the perfumer, being obtained either by the pressure of the fresh peel against a piece of sponge, or by the See also:process known as ecuelle, in which the skin of the ripe fruit is scraped against a See also:series of points or ridges arranged upon the See also:surface of a peculiarly-shaped dish or broad See also:funnel, when the oil flows freely from the broken cells. Another fragrant oil, called in France essence de See also:petit See also:grain, is procured by the See also:distillation of the leaves, from which also an aromatic water is prepared. The flowers of both sweet and bitter orange yield, when distilled with water, the "oil of Neroli" of the druggist and perfumer, and likewise the fragrant liquid known as " orange-flower water," which ,is a• saturated solution of the volatile oil of the fresh flowers. The candied peel is much in See also:request by See also:cook and confectioner; the favourite liqueur sold as "curacoa " derives its aromatic flavour from the rind of the bigarade. The See also:minute immature oranges that drop from the trees are manufactured into " issue-peas "; from those of the sweet orange in a fresh state a sweetmeat is sometimes prepared in France. Orange trees occasionally acquire a considerable See also:diameter; the trunk of one near See also:Nice, still standing in 1789, was so large that two men could scarcely embrace it; the tree was killed by the intense cold of the winter of that year. The wood of the orange is of a fine yellow tint, and, being hard and close-grained,is valued by the See also:turner and cabinetmaker for the manufacture of small. articles; it takes a See also:good See also:polish. Although the bitter " Poma de Orenge " were brought in small quantities from Spain to England as early as the year 1290, no See also:attempt appears to have been made to cultivate the tree in Britain until about 1595, when some plants were introduced by the Carews of Beddington in See also:Surrey, and placed in their garden, where, trained against a See also:wall, and sheltered in winter, they remained until destroyed by the great See also:frost of 1739-1740. In the 18th century the tree became a favourite See also:object of conservatory growth; in the open See also:air, planted against a wall, and covered with mats in winter, it has often stood the cold of many seasons in the southern counties, in such situations the trees occasionally bearing abundant fruit. The trees are usually imported from Italy, where, especially near Nervi, such plants are raised in great See also:numbers for exportation; they are generally budded on the stocks of some free-growing variety, often on the lemon or citron. The orange has been usually cultivated in England for the beauty of the plant and the fragrance of its blossoms, rather than for the purpose of affording a supply of edible fruit. The latter can, however, be easily grown in a hot-See also:house, some of the fruits thus grown, especially those of the See also:pretty little Tangerine variety, being See also:superior in quality to the imported fruit. The best form of orange house is the span-roofed, with See also:glass on both sides, the height and other conditions being similar to those recommended for See also:stove plants. The trees may be planted out, a See also:row on each See also:side a central path, in a house of moderate width. They will flourish in a compost of good, See also:light, turfy loam and well-decayed leaf-mould in equal proportions, to which a little broken See also:charcoal may be added. Each year the trees should be See also:top-dressed with a similar compost, removing some of the old soil beforehand. The trees, if intended to be permanent, should be placed 10 to 12 ft. apart. It will often be found more convenient to grow the plants in pots or tubs, and then bottom heat can be secured by placing them on or over a series of hot-water pipes kept near to or above the ground level. The pots or tubs should be thoroughly well drained, and should not be too large for the plants; and repotting should take place about every third year, the soil being top-dressed in intervening years. The temperature may be kept at about 50° or 550 in winter, under which treatment the trees will come into See also:bloom in See also:February; the heat must then be increased to 6o° or 65° in the day time, and later on to 8o° or 85°. Throughout the growing See also:season the trees should be liberally watered, and thoroughly syringed every day; this will materially assist in keeping down insects. When the trees are in bloom, however, they must not be syringed, but the house must be kept moist by throwing water on the pathways a few times during the day. When the flowers have fallen the See also:syringe may be used again daily in the early See also:morning and See also:late afternoon. The fruit may be expected to ripen from about the See also:middle of See also:October to See also:January, and if the sorts are good will be of excellent quality. ,When the trees are at See also:rest the soil must not be kept too wet, since this will produce a sickly condition, through the loss of the small feeding roots. The trees require little pruning or training. The tips of the stronger shoots are just pinched out when they have made about 6 in. of growth, but when a See also:branch appears to be robbing the rest, or growing ahead of them, it should be shortened back or tied down.
When grown for the production of flowers, which are always in great request, the plants must be treated in a similar manner to that already described, but may do without bottom heat.
For details of orange varieties, cultivation, &c., see Risso and Poiteau, Histoire et culture See also:des orangers (edited by A. Du Breuil, See also:Paris, 1872) ; for early See also:history and diffusion, G. Gallesio, Traite du citrus (Paris, 1811). A useful modern handbook is Citrus Fruits and their Culture,_by Harold See also:Hume (New See also:York, 1907).
There are many varieties of the sweet orange that may 'be • grown under glass in the See also:British Isles. Amongst the best for dessert is the St Michaels, a heavy cropper with large juicy fruits; and closely related are Bittencourt, See also:Egg, Dom See also:Louise, Sustain, Excelsior and See also: See also:Silver or See also:Plata is a sweet, pale-coloured variety with a curious weal-like orange stripe, the fruit being rather small but heavy. Embiguo, or the See also:Washington Navel Orange, produces splendid fruit under glass. The Jaffa, with large oblong fruits and large wavy crinkled leaves, although a shy See also:bearer, makes up for this in the size of its fruits. The Maltese Blood Orange is remarkable for the blood-like stains in the pulp, although these are not present in every fruit even on the same tree. Other kinds of oranges are the Tangerine with small aromatic fruits and See also:willow-like leaves. The Seville orange is a handsome free-flowering tree, but its fruits are bitter and used only for preserving and marmalade. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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