ORANGE

The orange of general consumption, the Sweet Orange, was apparently unknown to Kurope prior to the fifteenth century but its fame is to-day universal and it is cultivated in every part of the world where the climate is subtropical or hotter. Its original home was, probably, in southern China and Burma. The tree is an evergreen of small to moderate height with white flowers of heavy. sweet fragrance and considerable beauty (see the color-page facing 360). The late varieties, as the Valencia, bear foliage, flowers, and fruit simultaneously, for their fruits require twelve months or more to beeome fully ripe. Mature California trees of good growth in well-managed groves generally give from four hundred to a you sand fruits annually—many of those in favorable locations greatly exceeding even the maximum figure. California oranges are in the market all the year round, the winter and early spring supplies being of Navels, and the summer and early fall of the Valencia Late. The Florida season extends from late October to June. The Louisiana crop commences arriving in the market a little earlier, and the Arizona navels a little later. There is an in ere a sing demand for fancy fruits of Citrus nobilis, the “tangerine’’ species—strongly aromatic, somewhat flattened in shape, with loose, easily removable, rather dark skins, and mild, sweet pulp. The most popular of the ’ numerous varieties are the small to medium Tangerine, the medium to large Mandarin, the medium-sized seedle or nearly seedle Satsuma, and the King of Siam, or ‘‘King’’—the last-named generally of fair to large size and of very rough skin (see the second color-page facing 360). The fruits imported from Japan are chiefly of a type a little larger than the Mandarin.;: The title of ‘‘tangerine’’ represents horticulturally only a special development of the Mandarin variety, but it has in layman parlance practically engulfed all Mandarin fruits, especially those of small to medium size. The fame of the California product has been much enhanced by the fine Navel, or seedle , oranges marketed in increasing quantities each year—handsome in appearance, good shippers, and good keepers. Contrary to general belief, navels are not the result of scientific development by horticulturists. They constitute a natural special variety. The real commencement of their rise to their present commercial importance is found in two young trees—propagated from a shipment that had reached Washington (D. C.) from Bahia, Brazil—that were presented in 1873 to a Mrs. Luther C. Tibbets, then about to join the infant colony at Riverside, California. It was only a few vears later that the excellence of their fruits created a great stir among California growers, and for a time Mrs. Tibbets secured a dollar for every grafting-bud she sold. | In 1880, the California navel crop was just one whole box! Within the few decades that have since elapsed, the industry has grown with such enormous strides that the annual harvest is now valued at many millions of dollars — and is steadily increasing as new groves are started and old ones extended. One of Mrs, Tibbets’ original navels still lives and bears in Riverside—carefully tended and highly prized as is its due. The Valencia Late is a Spanish variety. It is not as choice as the navel, but it offers the special advantage that it will remain on the trees for a full six months after ripening, unimpaired in appearance or quality, thus supplying the market during the summer months after the navel crop has been exhausted. California has pa ed Florida in the total of its crop but the comparative merits of the fruits themselves remain a matter of individual opinion. Some people give their preference to the California fruit; others maintain that the finest Florida orange—the Indian River, thin of skin and heavy with richly flavored, juicy pulp—is still unexcelled despite its seeds. The Florida orange is typically sweeter and le ‘‘sprightly’’ than the California. The best Louisiana oranges are upheld by many as of equal rank with the Florid as—they also are thin-skinned, sweet, and juicy, and altogether delicious. Oranges are gathered with the greatest of care, for the slightest abrasion of their fresh, growing skins—by the finger-nail, or otherwise—is almost sure to mean the destruction of the fruit by mold.: After gathering, they are allowed to rest for a day or so, sometimes several days, so that their skins a may shrink and become we. A le sensitive to abrasion. ie ae: Then comes their cleansp” EN ing, ee » brushing or washing mas ull chines (according to their ae condition)—to be fol- Rey lowed by hand sorting " into fancy, choice, stand ye: ard, ete.—and, mechanic a re Ny ally, by size, from those eal yo a/ 4) which run 360 to a box, to a 4 4; Hs big specimens of which ’ j only forty-eight are required. The ‘‘fancy’’ fruits are perfect in form.. and style and with unas marred skins of the typical orange color. Finally comes the z wrapping of the finer j ened fruits in paper, and packing in boxes. - — Ripe oranges should Sa: be stored in a cool, dry Pc e place with a temperature ‘ oy’ 4% | never much above 40° 7 Fahr. and never falling to the freezing point. If sub- E jected to careful sorting f J beforehand and properly ————— Copia /teiacwenaeunere, crated, they will ay diet Picking oranges, California temperature generally remain sound for from eight to twelve weeks. For a moderate length of time, they will stand warmth up to 80° or 85° Fahr., but anything beyond that will dry and shrive! them. In warm weather, a plentiful supply of fresh air is e ential to their proper keeping, whether in transportation or in store or home. Wrapping in soft paper and packing in sawdust is recommended. The thin-skinned varieties are especially Hable to absorb odors, so proximity to strong-smelling articles should be avoided. Oranges are probably the most wholesome and useful of all subacid fruits. Their free and regular consumption is beneficial to nearly everyone, and with many persons they are a real specific for ill health based on digestive disorders. Their antiscorbutic vitamin value is widely recognized (see Foop Vanves) and they share with other fruits (as grapefruits and lemons) the advantage that the human system oxidizes the greater part of their citric acid into a base—ie., instead of remaining an acid it becomes alkaline—and reduces, instead of increasing, general acidity. They differ from lemons chiefly in containing le citric acid and more sugar. A point to be remembered by the consumer is that many a choice fruit is concealed in a poor-looking or mottled skin! Weight for size, ripene , and soundne , are the principal points for consideration. All of these may be found equally in those of ‘*faney’’ and those of le pleasing appearance. For ordinary family purposes it is not nece ary to confine oneself to the more expensive fruits, cla ed as ‘‘fancy’’ because of their handsome exteriors. A small percentage of oranges retain green skins even when fully ripe and sweet, and Satsumas reach both ripene and their finest flavor some weeks before turning yellow—their flavor is inferior if full color is awaited before plucking. It is permi ible to give such fruits the typical orange color by ‘‘sweating.’’ The proce applied to an wrripe green orange signifies, however, a particularly pernicious attempt at fraud, for the sweating changes only the skin, and the unripe fruit thus disguised is not only an unpleasantly sour fruit which may forever kill all desire for oranges in its consumer, but also one which may cause serious digestive disturbances if eaten by a child. Seville Orange, or Bigarade Orange, or Sour Orange. Tlie foregoing article deals with the ordinary sweet orange, the one with which the general public is almost exclusively familiar. The first orange known to civilization was, however, the Seville, or Sour, the French bigarade, which was brought into Spain by the Moors early in the eighth century, nearly seven hundred years before the sweet orange made its appearance in Europe. The Seville tree is smaller than that bearing the ordinary orange, more inclined to be spiny, and with leaves more nearly elliptical in shape. The oil cells of the fruit are concave, and both the pulp and rind are heavier and coarser. Unle very ripe and considerably sweetened, the Seville is not to the average palate a pleasing fruit to be eaten raw—its juice is too acid and generally too bitter —Ilnut it is grown very largely throughout southern Kurope, and to some extent here, for use preserved and in other ways. In the preserved form it is best known as Marmanapge (which see). Quantities of the green fruit are also otherwise preserved and candied, and the peels, by distillation. furnish an e ential oi] which is utilized in flavoring sirups, by perfumers, ete. and medicinally as a stomachic. | The Spaniards brought the Seville to Florida, and there it found a soil and climate so well suited to its requirements that wild groves were soon to be found all over the state—to such an extent, indeed, that many authorities held for a long time that the tree must be native to the country. The wild groves have, however, almost entirely disappeared—many of them were killed by the severe freezing spells of a few decades ago, and a majority of the remainder have been budded to the ordinary sweet orange. The Sour-sweet is merely a local variety or adaptation of the Seville.