ORANGE

The well-known fruit of the orange tree, the Citrus aurantium of botanists. India and China are the native countries of the orange; and the Portuguese are entitled to the honour of having transferred the plant to other countries. The principal varieties of the orange tree are the orange, the lime, the lemon, and the citron, fruits which have now become so common as to give a tropical character to the de ert. The orange is not considered to have been grown in Europe till the J 4th century; and in England they have been cultivated in conservatories since 1492. They are propagated either by seeds, by cuttings, by layers, by grafting, or by inoculation; but the plants grown from seeds require so long to come to perfection that they are seldom so propagated in England. Oranges are imported into this country in chests and boxes packed separately in paper. The best are brought from the Azores and Spain; but very good ones also come from Portugal, Italy, Malta, and other places. The orange trade carried on by this country is of considerable value and importance. Not only is the fruit held in high estimation, but, from the extreme productivene of the tree, it is sold at a price little more and sometimes even le expensive than our ordinary domestic fruits. The entries for home consumption at an average of the three years ending 1838 amounted to about 260.000 boxes; each box containing about 700 lemons and oranges: the duty amounted to about 60,000/. a-year The peel of the orange when preserved is a well-known article of confectionary; its flowers yield an e ential oil scarcely le esteemed as a perfume than the celebrated ottar of roses; while, as if nature had intended every part of it for the use of man, the wood of the tree is suscoptlble of the highest polish, and is extensively employed in the arts. [s. 863]