GIFT OF MAIN L-iBRAKY-AQRiCUt_THlTpr TIFP.T CULTIVATION AND DISEASES OHBtiiT TBSS IN THE MALTESE ISLANDS BY J BORG, M A , M.D. Professor of Natural History mid Superintendent of Agriculture. MALTA GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1922. [Price 41.} printed bg Government -Bntboritg Gift MAIN TO HIS COMRADES THE NOBL1L TOILERS OF THE SOIL THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR 52276] CONTENTS. F> Introduction , ... . .1 Citrus Fruits . /• . . 19 The Citron &>#$ • . v .34 The Lemon "^« , "!l.f ' . 35 The Lime « . . .39 TheBergamot . . h«>>. >. ,/^iU 41 The Common Orange . . .44 The Kumquat or Kin-Kan . ., .49 The Shaddock and the Pomelo .. . .50 The Mandarin Orange . . .52 Diseases of Citrus trees . . 53 The Olive-tree . . . .98 Diseases of the Olive-tree . . .113 The Carob tree , .• . .119 Diseases of the Carob tree . . ' . 123 The Fig-tree . . . .'t.^- 120 Diseases of the Fig-tree .. . . 148 The White Mulberry . ^,/r |jif/<{ . 155 Diseases of the Mulberry . . . 163 The Black Mulberry . . r: . . r; • i*>79 Diseases caused by Fungi j^ - f;- . 580 Diseases caused by Animal Pests ... 4 . . 594 The Small Fruits •; ; • leitS J . .607 The Gooseberry ? , .' ' ,. .607 The Black Currant or Quinsy Berry . -v.: . 608 The Red Currant ,.,, ,. . .609 The Raspberry •. . . . 610, The Strawberry . . . .612 Diseases of Small Fruits .' (,17 ' INTRODUCTION The cultivation of fruit trees represents a more advanced stage of civilization than the mere cultivation of field crops, and could -be taken up only by a people which has settled down and occupied the land for good, and has given up definitely its original nomadic habits. Half-savage tribes with ill-defined ideas of property, and therefore with no notion of continuity, may have their herds of domestic animals, and may grow field crops or even such perennials, as the banana, which are likely to yield an early and abundant food, but have no fruit groves or orchards, and rely chiefly on the produce of the trees of their native forests. Hence the idea of property or continuity is the first condition for the cultivation of fruit trees. Land held in common, belongs to nobody, and it requires an altruism altogether beyond human nature for the individual to go to the trouble of planting trees, the fruit of which others will gather who have no connection with the planter and no natural claim on the results of his labour. In the same manner the farmer who holds his land on short lease, — and our short lease is based on a brief period of a four years course of rotation, — can have no right of property on the fruits of his labour after the expiration of the term of lease, and if he improves the land by planting fruit trees, his rent is probably increased just when the trees are coming to fruit so that he is either ousted out of his land by some other farmer who is willing to pay more rent for improvements made by others, or he has to submit to pay the increase of rent demanded from him. In other words, the short-lease farmer who improves his land is made to pay interest on his own capital and on the value of his own labour. Thus, our system of land tenure by short leases is a serious obstacle to the planting of fruit trees, and generally speaking to any other improvement of the land. This antiquated system originated in times when only the rights of the capitalist or landlord were duly recognized and safeguarded, and the rights of labour were not supposed to exist or to deserve consideration. Therefore we find that the planting of fruit trees is done only when the land is owned by the planter, or when his rights are protected by a long lease or emphytheusis. Unfortunately landowners are unwilling to part with their land on long leases, although the payment of rent is thereby better secured than in the case of short leases. This reluctance on the part of the landowner is due in great measure to the existence of the antiquated system above mentioned, but should the tenant be allowed the full enjoyment of his rights and of the fruits of his labour, so long as a fair rent is paid and the soil properly cultivated, it will not be long before both Islands become covered with fruit trees to the advantage of agriculture and of the entire community. The cultivation of fruit trees in these Islands must have dated from the early Phoenician days. The fig-tree is probably the oldest tree in cultivation but the olive-tree and the vine were also cultivated extensively. The olive-groves furnished the oil which was a useful article of commerce and was carried to Iberia (Spain) and there exchanged for silver. The ancient trench-like excavations in the rock all over the western part of the Island, similar to those which are occasionally constructed even at present for the planting of vines, testify to the extent and importance of our ancient vineyards. It does not appear that our fruit-culture and agriculture generally have suffered much during the struggle for supremacy between Carthage and Rome, in fact in the last period of the Roman republic when the Maltese Islands were governed as a semi-autonomous municipality, the opulence of the Islands which then as now depended mainly on agriculture, was such as to induce Verres to commit those notorious acts of rapacity for which he was brought to task by Cicero in the Roman Senate. With the partition of the Roman Empire the Maltese Islands passed under the sovereignty of the Eastern Emperors, but even then it could not be said that our agriculture was neglected and that poverty had followed in the wake of this neglect With the advent of the Arabs in AD. 870 the Greek garrison was captured and the soldiers sold as slaves to the Maltese for a good round sum in gold. The Arabs were keen cultivators of fruit trees, and to them is probably due the introduction of the Bitter or Seville Orange, the Common Orange and the Lemon. The Arabs were also good administrators, but it appears that in the eleventh century an antagonism had sprung between the Arabs and the Maltese population which culminated in the eventual overthrow of the rule of the Arabs in 1090. This was effected under the auspices of the famous Count Roger who had already cleared the Arabs out of Sicily, and henceforth the Maltese Islands formed part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In the long period which followed between 1090 and 1530 when the Islands passed to the Order of St. John as a fief of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Maltese Islands were exposed to occasional invasions of Arabs from the mainland of Africa, and still more to frequent visits of pirates from the semi-independent Islamitic states of that region. These incursions brought about a great deal of harm, the cultivation of lands along the easily accessible coast line was abandoned, and the impoverished and dwindling population concentrated in the central parts of the Islands. Commercial inter- course with Sicily, Italy and Spain was greatly interfered with by these pirates and was often stopped altogether for long periods. The extensive plantations of olive trees, vines etc. were gradually destroyed, and the rich alluvial and agricultural soils of Burmarrad, Puales, Chain Tuffieha, Gneina and Marsa were neglected and became hotbeds of malarial fevers which further decimated the population, and were consequently avoided by the farmer, as dangerous, for a long period afterwards. However, even then extensive plantations of olive- trees, fig-trees, vines and almonds, and also of oranges and lemons were yet in existence in many parts of the Island, such as at Sceb-ir-ras and Xaghret Neuia (the promontory now occupied by Valletta and Floriana), the Marsa (which like Xaghret Neuia belonged to the ancient Maltese family of Neua or Nava, which on the coming of the Order of St. John left the Island and became established at Catania), at Zeitun and Zabbar, at Kormi, at Lia, Balzan and Attard, at Zebbug and Siggieui, at Chain Mula, Uardia and Selmun, and at the head of the various valleys where spring water was available, and although in reduced circumstances, the cultivation of the land was on a sufficiently extensive scale to support the population. Moreover, it is probable that at that time there were still considerable remnants of the woods and small forests with which both Islands must have abounded in ancient days. The holly-oak or evergreen oak (Quercus Ilex L.) must have been common all over the Island and probably formed a considerable proportion of the holy groves at Imtarfa and Rabat. Remnants of such groves or woods of the evergreen oak (Maltese — baltuta) still exist on a hill near Boschetto, at Died Hazrun near " ta Baldu ", at Uardia, at Ballut ta Chain Tuffieha and at Imgiebah near Selmun, the gigantic evergreen oaks at Uardia and at Imgiebah being particularly beautiful and are a national monument of no mean importance. Another constituent of the holy groves was undoubtedly the Sandarac tree, Callitris quadrivalvis Vent. (Maltese^ gkargkar], a conifer which flourished in many places and remnants of which still exist at Makluba near Krendi, at Uied Filep close to Musta, and at Chain Rihana. The Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis L.) flourished at Mellieha and in all probability the Aleppo pines now so often planted for the purposes of ornament, are the descendants of the aboriginal trees which existed at Uied Znuber down to comparatively recent times. The un- wieldy but useful Carob tree \Ceratonia Siliqua L.) was then as now the principal tree in both Islands, the fig- tree was planted and grew self-sown everywhere; and the wild pear, the hawthorn and the pomegranate abounded in the valleys, where the white poplar, the willow and the elm also flourished these last being reduced now to a few survivals at Bahria, Gnien ta 1'Iskof, Chain il Gbira, Ghirghenti etc. and seem destined before long to disappear altogether. In the sixteenth und seventeenth centuries the Islands had recovered so far from former devastations, that plantations of fruits, particularly of olive-trees and vines again became numerous and extensive, and olive oil was produced in quantity for local consumption and also for export. Orange-groves and plantations of almond trees increased in importance, and there was every ap- pearance that the cultivation of fruit trees would even- tually become the main branch of local agriculture. However, in the latter half of the eighteenth century there arose a large demand of cotton from Spain, and vast olive groves and vineyards were sacrificed to make room for the cotton plant. It is stated that in the last decade of the eighteenth century over 80,000 olive trees were destroyed, and the plains around Zebbug where this tree flourished became practically treeless. During 6 the first half of the nineteenth century important vine yards were planted especially in the neighbourhood of Rabat and Notabile, at Imriehel, at " ta Bria " near Siggieui etc., but a fresh impulse to cotton growing was created by the shortage of cotton during the American war of Secession, and the vineyards were destroyed once more, and the number of olive groves was still further reduced. The production of olive oil and of wine had ceased altogether in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the produce of the remaining olive trees being consumed pickled or salted, and only a few table grapes were henceforth planted, although the manufacture of wine in small quantities was again resumed about the middle of the nineteenth century to be discontinued soon after when the vines were removed again to make room for cotton. In the nineteenth century the cultivation of the carob tree was extended on rocky and shallow soils all over the Island ; the hill sides around Gargur, Naxaro, Birchircara, Maghtab, St. Julians, Halluka, Zabbar, Krendi, Rabat, Siggieui etc., became clad with the dark glossy foliage of this evergreen tree, but unfortunately the high cost of fuel during the Great War 1914-18 and afterwards, induced many owners to fell their carob trees, until the Government stepped in and by Government Notice No. 378 of the 22nd November, 1917, put an end to this ruinous practice, but many carob trees had been felled in the meantime, and some olive-trees, almond-trees etc., were also sacrificed. The cultivation of Citrus trees, particularly of the orange, in enclosed or walled-in groves began to assume importance early in the eighteenth century when many groves were planted at Lia, Balzan, Attard, Siggieui, Zebbug, Curmi, and wherever it was possible to make provision for the storage of water required for irrigation. The cultivation of the orange continued in favour until the decline of the nineteenth century ; at that time however, the cultivation of the vine began to rise rapidly in favour and large areas in both Islands were quickly transformed into vineyards, so that it is questionable whether there were ever more extensive vineyards at any other period of the history of the Islands, nor has the advent of the Phylloxera in the least affected the ardour of the vine-growers. The cultivation of fruit trees in these Islands is greatly handicapped by the import duty on wheat. This duty at the rate of 10 shillings per quarter, amounts in normal times to an ad valorem tax of 25 to 33 per cent, on the value of the imported article and is therefore a powerful incentive to the cultivation of wheat and of other field crops which form part of the usual courses of rotation. The import duty on wines has of course, the same effect on the cultivation of the vine for the production of ordinary table wines, and the present popularity of vine culture is no doubt due mainly to the protection afforded by this import duty. The cultivation of other fruit trees is not in the same fortunate circumstances as regards protection, indeed it has to compete with field crops which are directly or indirectly protected by import duties and has often to stand the severe competition of the foreign produce which is imported free of duty. Without entering into a discussion on the merits of these import duties either from the social or from the agricultural standpoint, it is enough here to repeat that the detection of Phylloxera in various localities in Gozo in July 1919, has hardly damped the enthusiasm of wine growers, who are keen to start planting American vines for grafting stock, so as to secure immunity for the newly planted vineyards ; and it is not improbable that, at no distant date, wine will eventually replace wheat as the staple produce in both Islands. The change will not be for the worse, as the cultivation of the vine will offer more scope for employment than that of field crops, and if the wine produced could be standardized so as to have a product of good quality and uniform type, an export trade of fine wines might be created which would become a reliable and permanent source of agricultural prosperity. Besides the fruit trees mentioned and described in the following pages, others have been introduced now and then which did not agree either with the soil or the climate and therefore have proved a failure. The cultivation of the mango (Mangifera indica L.) has been attempted many times. Seeds saved from choice imported fruits have been sown and germinated quickly. The plants with their long leaves of metallic green at first made satisfactory growth, but generally succumbed during winter. Seedlings of mango grown in vegetable mould in sheltered situations have survived for three or four years, but were ultimately killed by the cold. The pine-apple (Bromelia Ananas L.), is not a tree, but its cultivation was successfully undertaken under glass by the late Mr. Bisazza in his villa at Rabato, and was frequently fruited to perfection. In summer the pine-apple thrives very well in the open air in full sunshine or in the shade of tall trees, but when the thermometer descends to i5°C. the growth is checked and the plant must have the shelter of a glass house, otherwise it will perish. Even under glass the growth suffers a severe check unless steps are taken to apply some artificial heating in the coldest months, December- February. The mangosteen (Garcinia Mangostend), Vangueria edulis, the bread fruit tree (Artocarpus incisa, A. integrifolid) , and other tropical fruits have been introduced in our gardens with negative results. Nephelium Litchi, the Litchi of South China, has been repeatedly introduced in the Island from Hong- Kong by the late Captain Worcester, local agent of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. The plants did fairly well, for a few years, and some of them fruited and matured their fruits, but they have all succumbed, chiefly owing to our calcareous soil, but also to occasional spells of severe weather. Monster a deliciosa Liebm., an Aroid from Mexico and Central America, better known to our gardeners as Philodendron pertusum, is commonly grown as an ornamental plant in gardens and country yards. It flowers in autumn, and the green fleshy spadix matures usually in the following autumn. It is highly perfumed and has a very sweet and delicate flavour, but leaves a burning or itching sensation on the tongue and lips, due to the minute needle-like crystals which adhere to the fruit beneath its outer coating. This fruit is usually seedless, but black seeds are sometimes produced which germinate well if sown at once before they get too dry. However, the Monstera is best propagated in spring or summer by cuttings of the stems, including two buds or eyes in each cutting, planted at a level with the soil. Another evergreen bush or small tree which is grown chiefly for ornament is the Barbadoes gooseberry \Malpighiaglabra, Order- Malpighiaceae). The plant is very ornamental on account of its opposite, small lanceolate shining green leaves. It has small inconspicuous whitish lilac flowers borne on long stalks, which are succeeded by small ribbed, tomato-like fruits of a shining cherry-red colour, hanging by a long stalk. The fruit contains one large, round, soft seed, by which the plant is propagated. The pulp or flesh is orange red, and has a sweetish flavour with a pleasant acidity. The fruit matures in autumn and keeps long on the tree, but is more valuable on account of its very pretty appearance on the tree or on the table. The Barbadoes cherry was introduced towards 1885 by the late Baron G. Uepiro Gourgion who has also introduced many other orna- mental or useful trees and shrubs. 10 The Key- Apple, Aberia caff r a Hook & Harv., of the Order Flacourtiaceae, is a deciduous thorny shrub native of Natal. The shrub is polygamous, that is indi- vidual plants produce only male flowers, and others only female flowers, while others have both sexes in the same flower. The plant is propagated easily by cuttings in winter or early spring, or by layers in summer. The small pinkish white flowers are succeeded by small fruits, more or less pear-shaped and not exceeding 3 c.m. in diameter, of an orange yellow colour, with several hard seeds. The fruit matures throughout the summer and the pulp of the fruit is sweetish and acidulous. This shrub thrives very well in our gardens, but is disliked on account of its thorny branches and the dull whitish green colour of its foliage. Another shrub sometimes classed with fruit trees, but grown chiefly for its highly ornamental qualities is the Strawberry-tree (Arbutus Unedo L., Ericaceae) This small tree or shrub is native of Europe and thrives best in temperate regions and in siliceous soils, but does well in these Islands if planted in a deep red soil and in a cool situation. It is an evergreen shrub with alternate, elliptical, acutely toothed leaves of a dark lustrous green, and the pretty bell-shaped wax-like flowers are produced in small bunches in winter and early spring, and are succeeded by round fruits like strawberries of a reddish colour. A large strawberry tree formerly existed at San Antonio which must have been more than a hundred years old and was in fruit almost every year. Young trees of fruiting size exist in several well known gardens. This shrub is of slow growth and is propagated by seed or by rooted suckers. The Tomato- tree (Cyfihomandra betacea Order- So- lanaceae) is cultivated in gardens as an ornamental shrub for its large heart-like leaves and for its egg-shaped orange red fruits, which hang in small clusters through- out the autumn and winter. The fruits are eatable and may be used as tomatoes. This shrub is propagated by 11 seed, and requires a sheltered situation, as it is liable to suffer severely from cold in winter. In good situations it assumes a beatiful umbrella shaped habit, but never loses its herbaceous character. Sizigium jambolana which produces fruits shaped like an olive, suitable for pickling, and Achras Sapota have been recently introduced in the Island but have not yet fruited. Feijoa Sellowiana, an evergreen Myrtaceous shrub from South America, nearly allied to the Guava, has been introduced in 1903 and fruits abundantly every year. The shrub is ornamental on account of its pink flowers with long red stamens. The fruit is highly per- fumed and is said to be good for pickling. This shrub is easily propagated by seed or by layers. Various species of Eugenia have been introduced in our gardens during the last twenty years, but they all failed to agree with our calcareous soil. Attempts to grow the coco-nut (Cocos nucifera L.} have failed altogether, as all the imported plants died off in the first winter. The coffee shrub (Coffea arabica L.) was grown and fruited several times, and at one time there were hundreds of plants at San Antonio Gardens raised from seed brought over from Brazil, but the coffee shrub can be grown here only as an object of curiosity and at considerable trouble. It is not easy to give a proper definition of a "fruit tree". In the popular sense a fruit tree is a tree grown chiefly for the sake of its fruit, which is used as food in any way whatever or even as condiment. In this sense the bitter almond and the Seville or bitter orange are fruit trees, the uneatable seed or kernels of the one and the rind and juice of the fruit of the other being used as condiment. The carob-bean or locust is chiefly or entirely fed to animals, although it is also sometimes used as food, and it cannot be denied that it is a real fruit tree in the popular sense. On the other 12 hand the "small fruits" including the gooseberry, the blackberry, the raspberry, the currant and the strawberry, are low bushes or herbaceous perennials, and are certainly not fruit TREES in the accepted sense. So also the melon, the water-melon, the tomato, the pumpkin etc. are herbaceous annual plants grown for their fruits but of course are not trees. Certain fruits, such as the shad- dock, and certain apples and pears are placed on the table only for ornament, but they are grown for their fruits, and being nearly allied to eatable fruits are there- fore classed as fruit trees. Another difficulty lies in the distinction made by the law which regulates the planting of trees on adjoining property. It is not possible to say exactly what is a tree of "lofty trunk". A carob tree very commonly has a very short trunk which branches close to the ground, but if the distinction made by the law is insisted upon, it is hardly possible not to include the carob with trees of lofty trunk. On the other hand, an almond tree, a loquat tree or even an orange tree may have a trunk exceeding 4 metres in height, but these cannot be classed as lofty trees in the obvious sense of the law. Again, the ivy does not answer to the description of a tree of lofty trunk, but the roots of a full grown ivy may cause much more damage to an adjoining tenement than either a carob tree or a fig tree, and it is chiefly or solely on account of the possible injury which may be caused by the roots that it was thought necessary to regulate by law the planting of trees in adjoining lands. From the point of view of the cultivator all fruit trtes, and indeed all trees and shrubs, may be grouped into two main classes, viz : EVERGREEN and DECIDUOUS, the fundamental requirements of cultiva- tion being practically the same for all trees in each class. Thus evergreen trees such as the orange and lemon, the olive, the loquat, the carob, the avocado etc. are best pruned or planted during the growing season, March-October, and require to be transplanted with a ball of earth and during the same period ; but deciduous trees such as the fig, the pomegranate, the vine etc., should be pruned during the period of rest, November-February, are transplanted in the same season, and need not be taken up with a ball of earth. Propagation by cuttings of ripened wood, for all deciduous trees, is best made in the period of rest, but in the case of evergreen trees, whenever practicable, it is done at the resumption of vegetation in early spring. Again, under favourable conditions the growth of ever- green trees is continuous throughout spring summer and autumn. Deciduous trees start growth in spring with great vigour, but even in the best conditions, the growth is usually brought to a standstill early in summer. In both cases the activity of the root system is in close relation to that of the vegetation. Deciduous trees shed their foliage in autumn, but in the case of evergreen trees, apart from the effects of inclement wintry weather, the bulk of the annual shedding of foliage takes place in spring along with the resumed activity of vegetation or soon afterwards. Deciduous trees should be watered sparingly when the period of active growth is over, and only just enough to bring their fruit to maturity and to prevent them from starting fresh growth should the autumnal rains arrive too early, which would affect very seriously the crop for next year. Evergreen trees may be watered continuously, and indeed they make better growth if watered more liberally in the last period of summer and early in autumn. What is the depth of soil required for a plantation of fruit trees ? This question may seem unimportant for other countries, but it is of paramount importance in these Islands where the soil, though generally of good quality and naturally fertile, is too often very shallow. 14 However, a deep soil is not always an essential condition for a successful plantation. In connection with this question some reference must be made to the geological formations of these Islands from the cultivator's standpoint. The uppermost formation is the Upper Coralline Limestone, and consists of a hard rock, often semi-crystalline in character, but generally porous and moist, with many pockets and seams of bright red earth, rich in oxides of iron and phosphates, and made up of calcareous matter and clay in just proportions. The surface of the rock is more or less broken and permeable, and the soil is often less than half a metre in depth, except in places where a sort of alluvium has been made up in the course of time. The land on this formation is often levelled artificially, that is a layer of stones of variable depth, derived from the level- ling, is spread on the surface of the rock, and is covered over by a layer of stone chippings and fine material, also derived from the same operation. The red earth is then spread over to the depth of at least 30 c. m. if more earth is not available. Such land is suitable for trees which do not disagree with a calcareous soil, and the roots penetrating into the moist subsoil and spreading on the moist surface of the rock, will secure the tree very effectively from the ill effects of the prolonged summer drought. In places where the rock contains no such pockets of red earth, it is often very soft and friable, and presents very desirable conditions for the formation of a vineyard where wine grapes of superior quality can be produced. For this purpose, trough-like ditches are excavated with a pickaxe, which are i| to 2 metres long, i metre deep and about 50 c. m. wide, and are filled in with the same material which has been taken out, two vines planted in each trough, one at each end, with a basketful of red soil round each plant. The upper coralline limestone formation varies in thickness from 3 or 4 metres to 125 or more. It caps the summit of hills 15 in Gozo and covers the heights of the western part of Malta. This rock is called in Maltese Zonkor tas-seconda, or Zonkor tal fraglu or Zonkor gulglieni. The next layer consists of the greensand (Maltese = ramel hadrani} , so called from its greenish colour, and is made up of glauconite gravel and sand mixed up with lime. It varies in thickness from 5 to 30 c.m., and is often absent altogether. It is of no importance to the cultivator. Underneath this layer there is the clay or marl formation, more or less coloured yellow with iron oxides, or coloured bluish brown with manganese oxides, and is met with along the slopes of hills in the western part of Malta and Gozo, where it forms considerable tracts of cultivated land. This layer owing to the retentive nature of the clay (Maltese — tafal] acts as a natural reservoir of subsoil water, and to its presence are due the few natural high level springs which exist in both Islands. The soil resulting from the weathering of this layer has a greyish white or bluish brown appearance, is more or less stiff and retentive, and if it happens to be only slightly inclined, easily becomes water-logged in winter, requiring the construction of ditches to ensure a satisfactory drainage. These lands when properly tilled will retain a fair amount of subsoil moisture throughout the summer, and therefore give good results for dry farming. However, lands on the clay formation are little suitable for the cultivation of trees, unless special attention is givejn to deep trenching and drainage before proceeding to plant. The fruit usually is too watery and lacking in flavour, often with an increase of acidity. This formation varies in thickness from two or three metres to twenty or thirty, but extends for long distances along the slopes of hills, covering the surface of the underlying formation of Globigerina beds. The Globigerina formation is exposed all over the eastern part of the Island of Malta, for about two thirds of the total area of the Island, and is also exposed in 16 many parts of Gozo. It varies in thickness from 20 to 50 metres or more and is made up of a number of distinct layers with intervening beds of shells and coprolites, which are particularly rich in phosphates. This rock is made up of minute calcareous shells of Foraminifera, cemented together by carbonate of lime, and is naturally rather soft, porous and moist, but is almost everywhere glazed over by a thin seinicrystalline crust, which is prac- tically impermeable to water, formed in the course of time by the carbonate of lime dissolved by rain water and deposited again on evaporation. The upper layers of this formation contain pockets of red soil of good quality, suitable for most fruit trees. By 'levelling the irregular- ities and breaking up the thin hard crust which encases the rock, the natural moisture contained in the rock becomes available for the trees and therefore this opera- tion is generally performed whenever it is intended to transform a field into an orange grove or an orchard. The lowermost formation consists of the Lower Coralline which may be called the basement or pedestal of the Maltese Islands, but is only exposed over limited areas. This rock, like the preceding, and still more like the Upper Coralline, consists chiefly or almost entirely of carbonate of lime and is rich in fossils and therefore in phosphates. It is usually very hard, with a semicristalline or crystalline texture, and is often altogether imperme- able to water. It is particularly rich in pockets of deep red soil of excellent quality, often at considerable distance from the surface. This soil is always of a deep red colour, and is the best of the three types of red soil above mentioned. Trees growing on this formation have the advantage of the superior quality of the soil, but the rock is too dry, and in a prolonged drought the trees are apt to suffer severely unless watered. Where the soil is deep enough, and permits the growth of trees which ordinarily are not watered, such as figs, grapes and stone-fruits, the fruit may remain somewhat undersized, but the loss in Ml size is amply compensated by the superior quality and flavour. From the foregoing it is clear that a study of the geology of the district is of great importance to the culti- vator in general and to the fruitgrower in particular. In fact the amendment of the upper layer of the soil by the addition of ingredients, which may be missing, and are required either for their physical or for their chemical quality, or for both, will be generally sufficient for field crops, but such a superficial amendment will be found inadequate for trees whose roots penetrate deeply in the soil. In this case the amendment must be carried out simultaneously with deep trenching to a depth of about one metre. Again, certain fruit trees or even a particular variety of the same species may not thrive well in a calcareous soil, and therefore must be budded or grafted on stock which agrees with such soil, and on the other hand the physical quality and the loose or stiff nature of the soil and subsoil may require variations in the methods of tillage, manuring and watering, so that the grower may derive the full advantage with the least cost. Another important matter is the water-supply avail- able for irrigation. Hard wafir is injurious for most trees, and if the hardness is of permanent nature and is due to chloride of sodium or common salt, that is if the water is brackish, it is particularly injurious to vegetation. In such cases if the land is not thoroughly drained so that the excess of salt is washed off in winter and diluted by rain water, the chlorine may accumulate to a dangerous extent and the soil then becomes practically a salt pan and altogether unfit for the cultivation of fruit trees. If water of better quality is not available it is better to water sparingly, by watering liberally but at longer inter- vals. Even if the land is perfectly drained, it is always wise to follow this rule, and not to trust too much on the washing action of the winter rains, which in dry years may 18 fail, and then the accumulated salt remains in the soil to hamper vegetation in the following summer. Water pumped from deep wells in the Globigerina formation is always more or less hard owing to the car- bonate of lime held in solution by an excess of carbonic acid. Such water should be pumped into an * open reservoir where it is allowed to remain for two or three days to deposit the excess of carbonate of lime, and to become properly aerated by absorbing its full share of atmospheric oxygen. Freshly pumped water is also decidedly colder than the ground water, and if allowed to remain for some time in open reservoirs in summer, its temperature is raised and the roots will be spared a shock, which is sure to prove detrimental to the organism of the tree, at least momentarily. CITRUS FRUITS. The Citrus trees include the orange, the mandarin- orange, the citron, the lemon, the lime, the bergamot and the shaddock, besides numerous intermediary hybrids. Their cultivation originally limited to India, China, Persia and the Mediterranean region is now extended to all tropical and sub-tropical regions of both hemispheres. They are grown chiefly as fruit trees, and their vast economic and commercial importance is well known ; but on account of their evergreen foliage, their pretty sweet-scented flowers and their beautiful fruits which come to maturity at a time when the garden is bare and most trees are leafless, they are rightly con- sidered as very desirable trees in ornamental gardening, and at any rate in the sunny regions of the Mediterranean no garden is complete without its orange-grove or its avenue of citrus trees. To the Maltese cultivator they are known collectively by their Italian designation, — AGRUMI, so called no doubt owing to the acidity of the fruit, which is more or less marked in almost all species and varieties The original home of the orange-tree is supposed to be India, in the forests at the foot of the Himalayas, and it is probable that its cultivation was carried by the Arabs during the yth or 8th Century, through Persia and Egypt, to the shores of the Mediterranean. The Bitter or Seville Orange ( Citrus Bigaradia, Loisel ), was probably the first to attract the attention of the Arabs on account of the essential oil obtainable from the flowers and from the rind of the fruit, and of the highly perfumed orange- flower water which is obtained by distilling the blossoms, and is still so much in use. The introduction of the ordinary commercial orange 20 [ CITRUS FRUITS (Citrus Aurantium Lin.) is probably due to Arabian travellers in the tenth century, while certain improved varieties of the common orange, such as the Portugal Orange, was probably introduced by enterprising Portuguese travellers returning home from India. The mandarin-orange (Citrus delicwsa, Ten.) is native of Southern China, and the Shaddock (Citriis decumana, Murr.) is native of India, and so also are the Lime (Citrus acida, Desf.) and the Bergamot (Citrus Bergamia Risso). The Lemon (Citrus Limonum, Risso) and the Citron (Citrus Medica, Lin.) are said to be natives of Persia and their introduction in the Mediterranean region has probably preceded that of the orange. From, a botanical point of view the distinctive characters of the species above mentioned are quite unimportant, and their specific value is often denied. The confusion is still further increased by the existence of numerous hybrids, natural and artificial, so that it is now generally understood that the various species or rather sub-species, have originated from a common stock, probably the wild citron of Persia and northern India (Citrus vulgaris, Lam.) The most interesting of these hybrids, is the so-called "Bizzarria," a hybrid between the orange and the lemon, often producing on the same branch and on the same twig, perfect oranges and perfect lemons, but generally bearing lemons perfect in shape and size, with a chrome-yellow rind, and a very acid pulp of a reddish hue, like that of an orange, or lemons with an orange-coloured rind and an orange-like, or even a lemon-like pulp. This classical hybrid was raised in Florence. Many other hybrids, chiefly of botanical interest, have been raised in recent years, among which the orange-citron which is a diminutive citron in all its parts, but the small round fruit has a deep orange rind, and a pulp of the same colour ; and the lemon-shaddock raised at San Antonio Gardens, Malta, in 1900, as a chance seedling, in which the habit of the CITRUS FRUITS ] 21 tree is that of a shaddock and the appearance of the fruit is that of a full-sized oblong shaddock, but the foliage, the colour of the blossoms and the pulp and juice of the fruit are those of a lemon. From a commercial standpoint the most important hybrids of comparatively recent origin are the grape-fruits or pomelos raised in America, which seem to be a direct descendant of the shaddock, but with smaller fruits, round or egg-shaped according to the variety, with smaller leaves like those of an orange, and with a colourless pulp and juice like that of a lemon, with a pleasant bitterish taste. Citrus fruits have been classified, in a popular way (E. Ferrari, U Agrumicoltura), into fruits with an orange- red peel {agrumi a pigmento rosso}, and fruits with a yellow peel (agrww a pigment o giallo) ; but this classification is decidedly inaccurate, as there are citrons and lemons with an orange-red peel, and bergamots (melarosa) with a reddish-yellow peel, as well as true oranges with a decidedly yellow peel or even with a cream-coloured peel. A better classification may be based on the colour of the blossoms, all true lemons and citrons producing blossoms with the petals tinted purplish red on the outside, and the young twigs and foliage are more or less purplish red, while all limes, bergamots, mandarins, oranges and shaddocks have pure white flowers. The value of this distinction will be found of real practical assistance in the classification of hybrids or varieties of doubtful parentage. Citrus trees can be propagated by seed, layers or cuttings, but by far the best method of propagation is by budding or grafting. In these Islands the only Citrus tree propagated directly by seed is the common Seville or Bitter Orange (Citrus Bigaradia) which comes true from seed or at least ig not liable to considerable variation, but all special forms or varieties of the Seville orange are propagated by budding or seedlings of the common type. Seedling lemons, mandarines and oranges 22 [ CITRUS FRUITS are met with, here and there, but although usually very productive, they are too full of thorns, and the fruits are usually undersized, or contain too many seeds. However, propagation by seed is always a ready way to obtain new and interesting varieties, which perhaps may be of commercial importance ; but of course all citrus trees are so variable, and so rarely come true to type, that direct propagation from seed is and must remain the pursuit of the amateur gardener. In certain countries it is the practice to grow seedling lemons as grafting and budding stock for all sorts of citrus trees, no doubt on account of their rapid growth, as seedling lemons are often strong enough to be budded in the first or second year of their life. Thus, the rough lemon is largely used as stock in Florida etc. The local custom of budding all Citrus trees on seedlings of the common Seville orange presents the great advantage of producing young trees which grow rapidly after budding, come soon to bearing condition, and are altogether of a stronger constitution and not so liable to suffer from gumming and other diseases, as those grown on own roots or budded on seedlings of the common orange or lemon. Propagation of citrus trees by cuttings is never resorted to by our gardeners, but in Sicily and Italy, and also in other countries, the citron, the lemon and other citrus trees are often propagated in this way. Cuttings are made from healthy growth not more than two years old, and are planted early in spring in lines in the nursery, the soil having been properly worked and manured. The cuttings are kept constantly moist until they are rooted, and are shaded off by a covering of reeds and dry foliage. After a year or two they are transferred to their destina- tion. The cuttings may be planted directly in site, but then they require considerable attention during the first two or three years, until they become properly established, and it is usual to plant two or three cuttings together CITRUS FRUITS ] 23 to make good against failures. Small cuttings made of ripened wood, with two or three leaves attached, root easily if planted early in summer in ordinary garden soil, in small pots, and placed under a hand-glass, or in a garden frame or greenhouse. In about six weeks they can be transferred to the open air in a shady corner of the garden. Our gardeners occasionally propagate the lemon tree by layers, when seedlings of the bitter .orange are not available as budding stock ; but all citrus trees can be propagated in this way. The layers are made early in spring and are watered regularly throughout the summer. Layers, of which the part under ground is not more than three years old, are preferred, but no particular system is followed in layering beyond bruising the interred stem to facilitate the formation of roots, and a heavy stone is placed on the soil above the layered branch in order to keep it down firmly and to prevent all movements by the wind. The layers as a rule are sufficiently well rooted at the end of a year, to be severed from the mother-plant, and to bear transplanting to their final destination, but they are often allowed to remain for two years or more to develop a strong root-system before shifting them. Citrus trees raised by layers are often weakly and misshapen, and present the same disadvantages as those grown from cuttings. There is no doubt that the most satisfactory way of propagating citrus trees on a large scale is to bud them on seedlings of the bitter or Seville Orange. The pips or seeds of the bitter orange are sown in March or April, at once on removal from the fruit or soon afterwards, as their germinating power is impaired if kept in a dry condition, even for a few weeks. The seed-bed should be made in a sunny situation, and the soil properly tilled and well manured, and afterwards kept quite free from weeds. The seeds germinate in April or May, 24 [ CITRUS FRUITS and with proper cultivation may be strong enough to transplant when they are a year old. Seedlings left in the nursery-beds for two years are stronger, and give a smaller percentage of failures. Transplanting is performed in May or June or in September. The seedlings are taken up with as many roots as possible. Then the tap-root is shortened to induce the formation of lateral roots evenly distributed ; all lateral shoots on the stem are removed to provide a clean, straight stock for budding, and the seedlings are planted in the nursery, in regular rows, disposing the seedlings alternately, or according to the quincuncial method, 60 c. m. to i m. apart, and are watered carefully. They soon commence to make fresh growth, and budding may be started in May or September, when the seedlings have been in the nursery for about one year and are strong enough to bear the operation. In about two years the budded plants will have formed a nice head, and may be transplanted with a ball of earth to their final destination. Transplant- ing from the open ground can be performed at any time between April and September, provided that the soil is dry enough to allow the plant or young tree to be lifted with a good ball of earth, which of course must vary in size according to the size of the plant. In performing this operation the soil is removed down to the first layer of roots> and then a trench is dug ail round the young tree, the roots are separated with a clean cut, until the lower roots are reached and cut in the same manner, when the young tree can be removed carefully with its ball of earth. Of course young trees are more easily transplanted, and establish themselves more readily in their new quarters ; but older trees, that is trees which have been allowed to remain for more than four years in the nursery, require to be pruned back a little when transplanted, in order to re-establish the balance between the growth above and that below the soil. The young trees should be planted deep enough so as to CITRUS FRUITS ] 25 have about 15 c. m. of soil above the first layer of roots, when the circular trough is made for watering. Adult trees with a stem up to 15 c. m. in diameter can be transplanted in the same way, but in their case the operation is laborious and not always successful. Their ball of earth should be very large, and they must be severely pruned back, and carefully attended to as regards watering for one or two years afterwards. If possible, the operation should be commenced a year before, by digging a trench 15 c. m. closer to the trunk than otherwise advisable, cutting asunder as cleanly as possible all the roots met with. The trench is then refilled with a mixture of soil and manure and watered frequently, in order to induce a free formation of rootlets from the stumps of the larger roots cut during the operation. When the final operation for removal is performed the trench is dug on the outer side of the former one, so as to spare the new rootlets which are meant to assist the tree in. overcoming the severe ordeal to which it has been subjected. SOIL. Citrus trees will grow in any soil except when too stiff or too poor in quality. They seem to delight in our calcareous red soils overlying the Globige- rina or the Coralline formations. When they are regularly watered, a moist subsoil is not necessary, but where it is not always possible to irrigate at regular intervals throughout the summer, a moist subsoil on a porous and humid rock is essential. Stagnant moisture is injurious, and in deep clayey soils liable to become water-logged, it is necessary to drain the land thoroughly at least to a depth of one metre. On a good porous subsoil, whether consisting of broken rock, or properly levelled material, a surfacing of good red soil 60 c. m. in thickness is generally considered sufficient, but a greater thickness of about i metre will afford better protection against the drought of summer, besides providing more space for the roots. 26 [ CITRUS FRUITS DISTANCE. Citrus trees are ordinarily planted about 4 metres apart, the Seville Orange requiring more space, and the sweet lime, the shaddock, the pomelo or grape- fruit and the seedless or navel oranges perhaps less space. Where the soil is rather poor or the place is exposed to winds and the trees are not expected to attain full size, it is advisable to plant closer, viz : 3 to 3^ metres. On good soils and very favourable situations with satisfactory arrangements for irrigation the distance should not be less than 5 metres. SHELTER. All Citrus trees require shelter from the cutting north and west winds. All our orange groves are surrounded by high stone walls, not only to protect them from marauders, but also as shelter against the cold winds. The lemon, the lime and the citron thrive better along a shady wall looking north or north-west, and are rather less liable to injury from these winds. All varieties of the edible orange, particularly the more delicate sorts, such as the* egg-oranges, become stunted and unproductive in similar situations. The protection of tall evergreen trees will be found useful, provided that their root system be not allowed to interfere with the normal development of the more delicate root system of Citrus trees. The terraced hillsides looking east or south, with rich red soils, are particularly suitable for the cultivation of the orange-tribe ; but a site exposed to the north or west, must be protected by a stone wall or other wind-screens, about 4 metres high, in parallel lines from 20 to 30 metres apart. IRRIGATION. Except in very favourable situations, •with abundance of moisture in the subsoil, Citrus trees require to be regularly watered during the dry season. Circular troughs are constructed, not less than locm. below the level of the ground, and extending from the trunk to nearly as far as the boundary of the crown or head, and water is led to these troughs by means of permanent stone conduits, or along furrows made in the CITRUS FRUITS ] 27 soil. The first watering usually takes place about the middle of June, and is repeated at intervals of two or three weeks until the soil is well soaked by the autumnal rains. The average quantity of water allowed to each tree is about i cubic metre, and as the trees are watered seven or eight times from June to October, the total quantity of water available for irrigation throughout the summer should not be less than 8 cubic metres per tree. The quantity of water required for young trees is less, but these must be watered earlier and oftener, in fact it is advisable to water young trees every week from the middle of August in order to induce them to make good growth in the latter part of summer and cause them to attain bearing condition and adult size in a few years. Trees newly transplanted are usually watered every week during the first summer. If a water-service under pres- sure is available, spraying the trees by means of a hose will be found very beneficial, if the spraying is done lightly and frequently, but regular watering by spraying is liable to provoke an excessive formation of superficial roots, which will cause the trees to suffer severely in a prolonged drought. After each watering it is advisable to till the surface of the soil, lightly, as soon as it tends to crack and become dry, not only to keep down weeds, but chiefly to check evaporation by establishing a finely powdered layer of soil between the moist lower layers and the dry atmosphere. TILLAGE AND MANURING. The ground should be kept well clean of weeds at all seasons, especially in spring and summer, and should be well tilled at least twice in winter, and once in spring (April). The hoeing of April should be deep, and afterwards the ground should be evenly levelled, and all sods well broken up so that the soil may retain its moisture as long as possible. The object of the deep hoeing in April is to open the soil to the action of the air, and at the same time to remove the superficial rootlets which may have developed 28 [ CITRUS FRUITS soon after the first rains of autumn. Deep tillage or trenching, usually associated with manuring is performed every sixth or eighth year, the best time for this operation being May or the early days of June, and is immediately followed by the first watering, but is sometimes done in autumn soon after the first rains, and before the soil becomes too wet to be worked properly. Manuring without trenching may be done at any time, but chiefly in autumn, when the circular trough used for irrigation, is deepened, the manure evenly distributed over the whole surface and the earth again drawn in and levelled. The operation is repeated every third or fourth year. When trenched the manure is given at the rate of 48 m. tons per hectare (20-22 m. tons per acre, of 25 viaggi per tumulo, Maltese measure), but when supplied in the circular trough above mentioned, one bag per tree, weighing on an average 50 kilog., will be sufficient. Trenching is of course much more expensive, but has the great advantage of tilling deeply and manur- ing the whole area, and the trees are benefited in proportion. Well-rotted manure from the cow-shed is the best for red soils, and stable-manure well matured is preferred for whitish and clayey soils. Young trees recently transplanted are induced to make vigorous growth by a supply of manure from the pig-sty. Chemical fertilizers, as a complementary dressing, particularly superphosphates may be given before commencing the operation of trenching. Superphosphates may be distri- buted on the surface of the land at the rate of 800 to 1 200 kilog. per hectare or 360 to 540 kilog. per acre, or ioo to 150 kilog. per tumolo; or they may be strewn on the surface when trenching is completed, before levelling the heaps of soil. It is not advisable to give superphos- phates in the trench, in direct contact with organic manure. A dressing of superphosphates may be given every second or third year, in the circular trough, before commencing watering, at the rate of three to five kilog. CITRUS FRUITS ] 29 per tree. Superphosphates are useful to provoke vigorous growth, particularly after a severe attack of scale, and materially assist in obtaining a better crop. Chloride of potassium (kaintt) or wood ashes are useful for sandy soils, and are best supplied late in spring before watering. They may be given at the rate of one or two kilog. per tree in the case of kainit, and of three to five kilog. in the case of wood-ashes. Nitrogenous fertilizers, (nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia), may be used whenever organic manure is not available, but as a rule Citrus trees are not much benefited by nitrogen- ous fertilizers, except when they are young. It would be certainly cheaper, and perhaps better, to resort to green-manuring, making use of some leguminous plant, such as the vetches, or the lucernes, which may be sown broadcast when the land is first weeded and digged in November or December, and the plants are digged in when they are in flower, in April. This operation repeat- ed every second year will enrich the soil in nitrogen, and also in humus or organic matter resulting from the decay of vegetation. PRUNING. All Citrus trees are pruned every second or third year, and the operation can be done at any time of the year, the best period being from May to September. The essentials for good pruning are ' (a) the removal of all dead wood, and sickly growth, (b) the removal of superfluous growth within the tree and also on the outside, (c) the disposing of the main branches to the required shape when the tree is young, and keeping the tree to the required shape, when adult. Careful gardeners trim their trees every year between one pruning and another, in order to remove all dead twigs, and to put down superfluous growth which may injure the bearing capacity of the tree. In fact it is known that most Citrus trees, particularly the orange, have a tendency to produce several shoots close together at the end of the twig, and the resulting distribution of energy provokes a 30 [ CITRUS FRUITS general weakness, owing to which the fruit is easily dropped off when it has reached the size of a pea or of a hazelnut The shedding of green fruit generally com- mences in May, but goes on more or less until the first days of August, and by that time an orange-grove which was most promising in May or June may have retained few fruits in the beginning of August, when no further danger is apprehended. Trimming is best done from the beginning of June to the middle of July. Small twigs are cut with the secateur and larger ones with the pruning knife. Thick branches are sawn off or cut with the pruning axe, or with chisel and mallet ; the surface is then levelled with the pruning knife, and besmeared with tar, or with a mixture of tar, wax, and clay, to keep it cool and favour cicatrisation, the process of healing being greatly aided by cutting in a slanting direction from below upwards towards the branch retained, thus leaving no stump to perpetuate the wound. This atten- tion is particularly insisted upon when cutting off the stump of the stem, which is reserved on budded plants in order to secure to it the tender shoot to give it a straight upward direction and to protect it from injury. Old trees which have become partly sterile, are sometimes rejuvenated by being headed off, all the main branches being lopped off at an equal distance from the trunk. This operation is best done in February or March and the strong shoots which are soon formed are allowed to ripen until September, when the superfluous twigs are removed and those retained are trimmed to shape. In about two years the tree forms a new crown of healthy foliage and enters into a new period of productiveness. As a rule the lemon and the mandarin dislike heavy pruning, and the seedless or navel oranges are found to have their productiveness markedly impaired if they are not allowed to retain a dense crown of foliage. At any rate, large wounds should be carefully avoided, as they heal slowly or do not heal at all, and are usually the CITRUS FRUITS ] 31 starting point of canker which sooner or later destroys the tree. For this reason it is always advisable to have all wounds more than two centimetres in diameter paint- ed over with tar, or with a mixture of bees' wax, tar and clay in equal proportion, to be slightly heated when about to be used. Citrus trees begin to form the flower-shoots in January or February, and by the end of March the first flowers begin to bloom. The blooming period may be prolonged to the first week of May. Late blossoms may appear in May and June, and it is generally held that flowers produced until the second week of July will set fruit which will develop in time to ripen with the main crop. Oranges begin to turn yellow in November and are often picked in quantities for consumption in December, but no orange is really ripe before January, and the aroma is rarely fully developed before* February. Oranges are at their best in February and March, after which period they are more liable to deterioration than to improve- ment. The best time to pick oranges for the oversea trade is in January, when they are ripe, and are still in a good condition to bear a sea voyage. The earliest orange to reach maturity is the round sweet orange or China orange, often called Malta Vanilla orange, but many dislike its absolutely sweet taste, without any acidity. The mandarin-orange is next in point of earliness. The seedless oranges are generally quite ripe towards the close of December, but their flavour improves in January, at which time also the Malta blood-orange, and the egg-orange have acquired their, special qualities, but the fine flavour of the egg blood-orange is not well developed before February. Certain Citrus trees, such as the ever-flowering lemon, the seedless lime, and the sweet lime habitually flower several times in the year, producing various crops of fruits, besides the main crop which is the produce of 32 [ CITRUS FRUITI the spring blossoms. In the case of the ever- flowering lemon it often happens that the tree is laden with blossoms and fruits in all their stages of development. It is the practice with lemon-growers in Sicily to remove all the main crop fruit and to withhold irrigation until midsummer, when the trees are given a good soaking twice or thrice in quick succession, and soon produce a profusion of blossoms, followed by lemons which remain green until June or July, and are then sold at a good price as ''verdelli". But most orange trees, if they have suffered at all from want of water in summer are apt to bloom in autumn, soon after the first rains, and the fruit which sets will survive the winter and ripens in summer, and although it is usually quite tasteless and of inferior quality, often fetches a good price. It is probable that the cultivation of the BITTER or SEVILLE ORANGE was originally started in these Islands by the Arabs, presumably not long after they had occupied the Islands in A.D. 870, in the so-called natural gardens at the head of valleys where there was spring water available. Such were originally the bitter-orange groves at Boschetto, Gnien il Gbir, Ghirghenti, Chain il Gbira, Bahria, Imtahleb etc. in Malta, and the neighbourhood of Nadur and Xaghra, and the valley of Xlendi in Gozo, of which only a few remnants are still visible. Of course these groves must have been replanted several times, as there is at present no bitter orange tree anywhere which can be said to be more than 500 years old. The common orange was introduced somewhat later, and our egg-orange usually known as "/#//" or {itauuali" or Portugal orange is probably a selection or sport of an improved common orange introduced from Portugal during the rule of the Knights of St. John. A few trees of this variety apparently of great antiquity and much decayed still existed some years ago in an orange- grove said to be planted by Grand Master Vilhena at Boschetto. CITRUS FRUITS ] 33 The MALTA BLOOD ORANGE is an old variety of local origin. It is described and figured in Risso's work " The Natural History of Orange- trees" published in 1747. The egg-blood orange is a sport of the egg-orange and originated in a small orange-grove at Casal Balzan towards 1850. The seedless, navel, or Bahia Orange was introduced from Bahia, Brazil, in 1900 at the request of the writer, by Lord Grenfell, then Governor of Malta, and later on in 1907, Lt. Colonel Roupell introduced from Washington U.S. America, three new forms of the Navel Orange, viz: Thompson's Improved Navel, Golden Nugget and Golden Buckeye. Other forms of the orange, viz. Washington Navel Orange, Navalencia and Valencia late were introduced by the writer in 1914. The SWEET ORANGE OR CHINA ORANGE, often called Malta Vanilla Orange was introduced early in the eighteenth century. Most of the varieties of lemons and limes now cultivated, must have been introduced at an early date, with the exception of the large "Peru" lemon or Ponderosa lemon and the diminutive China lime which were introduced toward 1885. The Shaddock was introduced towards the close of the eighteenth century. The mandarin orange was introduced in 1811, but its propagation on a large scale dates only from 1850. The CITRON (Citrus medico) and the LEMON (Citrus Limonum) are botanically hardly distinguishable. They both have blossoms of a more or less reddish hue on the outside, and fruits with a persistent pistil or column, which in most forms continues to grow with the fruit and forms a well marked and prominent navel. The colour of the peel is very generally of the peculiar lemon- yellow, although there is a variety of the citron and another of the lemon with an orange-coloured peel The juice is sprightly acid and devoid of a special aroma, although again there is a true lemon (the sweet lemon) 34 [THE CITRON. with a perfectly sweet juice. The leaf of the citron is usually elongated and more elliptical, and is also more markedly crenated and not so pointed as that of the lemon. The blossoms of the citron usually appear in small clusters on the short spurs along the branches. The citron flowers at all season, like the ever-flowering lemon and like most limes, and the tree may have normally at the same time blossoms and fruits in all stages of development. THE CITRON. (Citrus me die a L.). The Citron (in Maltese citrat or xcomb] is cultivated primarily for the sake of the peel which when candied is much used by confectioners. In these Islands the citron is grown only here and there in single specimens, and as an object of curiosity. The fruit which is best cut when turning yellow, is sometimes sold to confectioners. The following sorts are met with in our gardens. 1. The LONG-SNOUTED CITRON (citrat tal karnund) . Tree middling or weak, very productive. Fruit middling, long-snouted, rather smooth, with a thick peel of fine* fragrance. 2. The ROUND CITRON. Tree rather strong, fairly productive. Fruit middling, nearly spherical, navel large but not prominent, peel uneven and rather thin. 3. The SAN ANTONIO CITRON a chance seedling of the preceding, raised at San Antonio Gardens in 1906. Tree strong, with long deep green foliage, productive. Fruit large or very large, elliptical or elongated, navel large slightly protruding. Peel uneven, often thrown in longitudinal folds, very thick and tender, light yellow at maturity, strongly fragrant. THE LEMON ] 35 4. LARGE SMOOTH CITRON OF CALABRIA. Tree strong and very productive. Fruit large or very large, egg-shaped, sometimes nearly round. Peel very thick and tender, very smooth, clear yellow at maturity, and of good fragrance. This is one of the best sorts for candying, an4 is largely grown in Calabria. 5. LARGE GROOVED CITRON OF CALABRIA. Tree strong and very productive. Fruit very large, egg-shaped or elliptical, wrinkled, and usually with deep longitudinal groves or folds. Peel very thick and tender, clear yellow at maturity, very fragrant. 6. GIANT CITRON OF CHINA. Tree middling, little productive. Fruit very large or enormous, elliptical; peel deeply wrinkled, golden yellow at maturity, very thick, and fragrant, pulp greenish and very acid. 7. SALO CITRON. Tree middling, productive, fruit rrval, navel depressed, with a deep groove around it. 8. SMALL CHINA ORANGE-CITRON. Tree small or very small, productive, leaves small. Fruit round, very small, 3 to 5 c. m. in diameter, navel not protruding or depressed. Rind of a deep orange colour, pulp yellow, slightly acid or sweetish. THE LEMON. (Citrus Limonum, Risso.). The tree is invariably larger and stronger than the citron and although it prefers a cool, shady situation, a hot and dry place will not affect it adversely to the same extent as the citron. The lemon is grown principally for the sake of its acid juice, which is used largely in domestic economy and in the arts, and also for the extraction of citric acid. The citric acid industry is always associated with that of the extraction of lemon essence from the peel. The rind is peeled off and the essence pressed out on a sponge, and the juice is then pressed 36 [ THE LEMON. out of the pulp and manufactured into citric acid. In our gardens the lemon is solely grown for the use of juice in domestic economy, no citric acid or essence is extracted, but the peel is sometimes used by con- fectioners as a flavouring ingredient. The tree is grown chiefly in orange groves along shady walls, and is very generally met with in the yards of country houses where it is cultivated to supply the needs of the household. The following varieties of the lemon are met with in our gardens. 1. The COMMON LEMON. (Ni.^Lumi ta Tista^iuri) Tree very productive, middling, peel deep yellow, pulp very juicy and acid. Produces normally only one crop in the year. 2. The PERPETUAL Or EVER- FLOWERING LEMON. (M. Lumi ta cull kamar, or Lumi ta ciill stagiuri). Is similar to the preceding, but usually smaller and more .rounded. This is the variety now most often planted, owing to its natural habit of producing normally several minor crops of blossoms and fruits throughout the year. It is supposed to flower every new moon, but besides the normal blooming in spring, the tree flowers more or less regularly in July, August, September or October, and often also in December and January. 3. The TRIPOLI LEMON. Fruit very large, elong- ated, with a long navel and a protruding neck next to the stalk. The peel is thick and deep yellow. The juice is very acid but rather scarce. 4. The LONG BINJETTA LEMON. In size and appearance is like the Tripoli Lemon, but there is no protruding neck at the insertion of the stalk. The peel is not so thick and the pulp is more juicy. 5. The BALOTIN LEMON. The lemon is of large size, rounded in form with a long navel. The peel is deep yellow, the juice is abundant and sprightly acid. The tree is very productive. THE LEMON ] 37 6. The PONZIN LEMON is usually large, elongated, with a long navel and an uneven and thick peel, deep yellow at maturity. 7. The ORANGE- LEMON. (M.=Lumza-farmgia}. The fruit looks like a common lemon in size and shape; the peel is of a deep yellow, and the pulp is in colour like that of an orange, but is sprightly acid. This is a true lemon, the blossoms and foliage being quite distinct from those of the lemon-orange or "bizzarria". There is a form containing few seeds or none, the pulp of which becomes sweetish and tastes like an orange when fully ripe. 8. The FURROWED LEMON. (M=Lumi scannel/at}. The tree is very vigorous and productive. The fruit is of the size of the common lemon, but has longitudinal ridges or folds from stalk to navel. The peel is very thick, and the pulp is juicy and very acid. The peel is very rich in essential oil of the strongest quality. 9. The VARIEGATED LEMON. The leaves are beau- tifully variegated with white, yellowish white, and light green, and the fruit which is of the size and shape of the common lemon, is when green striped with the same colours, the variegation being still quite visible at maturity. 10. The SWEET LEMON. (M. = Litmt kelu). The fruit is in size and shape like an ordinary lemon, but the juice is sweet, without any trace of acidity. 11. The SHUTTLECOCK LEMON. (M. = Lumi mec- cuc). The fruit is large, very elongated and pointed at both ends. The peel is deep yellow, and the juice is very abundant and of good quality, but the tree is not productive 12. The SEEDLESS LEMON. This is probably a bud sport of the everflowing lemon, raised in a garden at Casal Balzan towards 1875. The fruit is similar to the everflowering lemon, but rather flattened towards the 33 [ THE LEMON. stalk. The peel is thin and smooth, the pulp is quite seedless and very juicy. The tree is very productive and is everflowering. This variety is still rather rare, but being seedless, will be more planted when it is better known. 13. The PEAR-SHAPED LEMON. (M.=foretta). There are several forms of the pear-shaped lemon, but all are distinguishable from the lemons by the small and narrow foliage, the small blossoms with long thin petals, and the pear-shaped elongated fruits, usually with a very thick peel and sub-acid pulp. The fruit is often eaten raw at maturity, only the outer rind being peeled off. It contains no seeds or hardly any, and the soft rather dry pulp has a mild sweetish acid flavour. The pear-shaped lemons are particularly recommended for candying whole. The variety commonly met with is the "table" pear- shaped lemon (M..=piretta tat metda) so called on account of its frequent use as a dessert fruit, but other sorts are also grown here and there. 14. The PERU or PONDEROSA LEMON. The tree is middling in size, and fairly productive in alternate years. The fruit is the largest of all lemons, often measuring 15 c.m. across ; it is nearly spherical with a broad and flattened navel, more or less smooth, but sometimes rough and wrinkled, with a thick peel which becomes clear yellow or straw-coloured at maturity ; the seeds are numerous and very large. The blossoms are as large as those of a shaddock. The juice is fairly abundant, of good quality, and may be used like that of the common lemon. The peel is candied like that of the citron, and the fruit is sometimes made into marma- lade. 15. The SHADDOCK LEMON. This is a chance seedling raised at San Antonio Gardens in 1904. The tree is as large as a lemon-tree, but is distinctly more vigorous. The foliage is large, but typically lemon-like. The blossoms are as large as those of the Peru lemon. THE LIME ] 39 The fruit is like an oval -shaped shaddock, with an indis- tinct navel, only marked out by a broad groove, with the peel of the same thickness and general appearance as that of the shaddock, but with the fragrance of the lemon. The juice is abundant, of the same appearance and quality as ordinary lemon juice. The tree is pro- ductive and very ornamental when in fruit. THE LIME. (Citrus acida, Desf. and C. Limetta, Lin.). The foliage of the lime resembles that of the lemon, both in shape and in fragrance, but is usually more rounded. The young shoots never have the peculiar purple tinge characteristic of the lemon and citron. The blossoms are always pure white like those of the orange, but are usually smaller. The fruits are small or middling in size, with a yellow peel, which may become deep yellow or chrome yellow at perfect maturity. The navel is always well marked and usually prominent. The following varieties of the lime are found in our gardens. i. The SEEDLESS PERPETUAL LIME. (M. = limett fa bla zerrigha) . The tree attains a large size, with a thick and spreading crown and a drooping habit, and thrives in moderately shaded situations as well as in full sunshine. It is very resistant to drought and to gumming and is very productive, producing several crops of blossoms and fruit, like the perpetual lemon. The fruit is often borne in clusters, is elliptical in shape, middling or rather small in size, with a short and pointed navel, and a thin peel, which becomes light yellow at maturity. The pulp is greenish or greenish yellow, absolutely seedless, with abundant juice which is sprightly acid, and somewhat bitterish. Several crops of fruit are produced throughout the year as in the case of the perpetual lemon, the crop produced by the autumn 40 [ THE LIME. blossoms being specially abundant. The juice supersedes very well that of the lemon, being sometimes preferred on account of its slightly bitterish flavour. 2. The SWEET LIME. (M.=r lumicella). The tree is middling but makes rapid growth, attaining full size in a few years, and is a perpetual bearer, flowering three or four times in the year. The fruit is rounded, with a large navel, more or less obtuse, with a deep groove around it. The peel is rough, and chrome yellow at maturity, with a delightful fragrance, and on that account it is often used for flavouring. The juice is sweet without any trace of acidity, but is devoid of aroma. A sport of this variety, bearing smaller and more numerous fruits, is also cultivated. 3. The SMALL CHINA LIME. (M.=Ltmetta tal China]. The tree is small or middling, making a dense growth and is very thorny. The leaves are small and elongated. The flowers are very small, and are succeeded by very small, egg-shaped fruits, with a flattened and often indistinct navel. The peel is thin lemon-coloured. The juice is abundant, and very acid. The fruit is suitable for the same uses as the lemon, but is liable to drop from the tree soon after maturity. 4. The LARGE ACID LIME (unnamed). The tree is fairly large, with lime-like, dark green, pointed foliage. The blossoms are small and white, occasionally faintly tinged pink on the outside, thus showing that there is some admixture of lemon blood. The fruit is large, perfectly oval, with a large blunt navel. The rind is thin and soft, canary-yellow. The pulp is greenish, with very abundant juice, sprightly acid, containing very few seeds, sometimes seedless. The original tree exists in the garden of Count Sant Fournier at Casal Lia. THE BERGAMOT ] 41 THE BERGAMOT. (Citrus Beroamia, Risso). The foliage and the blossoms of the Bergamots are similar to those of the orange, but have a fragrance of their own. The flowers are white as in the orange and lime. The fruit has a persistent navel more or less marked. The peel is yellow, or chrome yellow, with a powerful and characteristic fragrance. The bergamots may be said to have the habit, the foliage and the flowers of the orange, and the appearance of the fruit and its peel is that of the lime, but the strong and grateful fragrance is their own. The pulp is devoid of acidity, but is intensely bitter. The peel is also much more bitter than that of the bitter orange. Bergamots are cultivated on a large scale in Calabria for the sake of the valuable essential oil which is obtained by pressure from the peel. In our gardens they are grown chiefly as a curiosity, but the peel is often candied, and is much used as a flavouring ingredient by confectioners and in household economy. The following bergamots are grown in our. gardens. ^ 10 in ?:>r>u-->;:fc» >o •• rurUDtnlxs t i. The COMMON BERGAMOT (h\.—bergamotta). The tree attains the size of an orange tree and is very productive. The fruit is of the size of an orange, round or slightly oval at the stalk-end. The navel consists of the persistent column or style of the pistil, without any thickening at its base. The peel is yellow at maturity. A form still more productive, but bearing smaller fruits is also cultivated. There is also another form bearing variegated fruits, the peel having longitudinal white or greenish white streaks, which become deep chrome yellow at maturity. For the extraction of essence, as well as for candying, the fruit is picked when it has reached full size, but has not yet turned yellow. A seedling variety at San Antonio Gardens has oval or pear-shaped fruits. 42 [ THE BITTER, SOUR OR SEVILLE ORANGE 2. The MELAROSA BERGAMOT. (M.=me/arosn). The tree is middling or small and is fairly productive. The foliage is small, elongated, and often crimpled as that of an egg-orange. The fruit is small more or less flattened with an -uneven peel, and a large and flattened navel. The peel changes from greenish yellow, to yellow and then to chrome yellow at maturity. The pulp is greenish and very bitter. The fruit, or its peel, has the strongest and most persistent fragrance of all Citrus fruits, that of the ripe fruit being more delicate arid pleasant. THE BITTER, SOUR OR SEVILLE ORANGE. (Citrus Bigaradia, Loisel.) The BITTER ORANGE often attains a large size, and lives to a great age. It is resistant to drought and to gumming, and thrives well in all situations, but is dwarfed if exposed too much to the N.W. & W. winds. The tree is productive and is usually very thorny. The blossoms are pure white, fairly large and very fragrant, and are preferred to all other Citrus blossoms for the extraction of essence of orange-blossoms or oil of Neroli, and for the distillation of orange-flower water. The leaves are more or less distinctly winged, the fruits are round or spheroidal, with a rough peel which is bitter and very aromatic. The pulp is bitter and slightly acid. All bitter oranges can be kept long on the tree after maturity. The following bitter oranges are grown in our gardens i. The COMMON BITTER ORANGE. (M = taring kares or zupperit}. This is the typical wild or half- wild bitter orange grown directly from seed, and makes the best stock on which all Citrus trees, including other varieties of the bitter orange, are budded or grafted. The fruit is used for the manufacture of marmalade, and the peel, properly cut and dried, is used in the THE BITTER, SOUR OR SEVILLE ORANGE ] 43 production of orange-bitters, and in pharmacy as tincture of orange-peel. 2. The LARGE-CUPPED BITTER ORANGE. This variety is notable for the swollen and fleshy calyx, which at maturity assumes the same orange colour as the fruit. The calyx of fruit which has dropped when young, usually persists on the tree, and continues to grow, in due time taking its peculiar orange colour. The fruit itself is not distinguishable from the preceding and has the same uses. 3. The DOUBLE-FLOWERED BlTTER ORANGE. This is another ancient variety, remarkable for its blossoms bearing ten petals or more, in a double row. The fruit rarely reaches the size of the common bitter orange. 4. The VARIEGATED BITTER ORANGE, in which the leaves are partly coloured white or greenish white, and the fruit has similar longitudinal markings, which become deeper orange at maturity. 5. The NARROW-LEAVED Or WILLOW- LEAVED BlTTER ORANGE, is distinguishable from the type on account of its very narrow and long leaves, often not more than i c. m. in breadth. 6. The MALTA-CROSS BITTER ORANGE. The tree is middling in size, with a dense crown of very dark green foliage. The fruit is middling, bearing about eight longitudinal ridges more marked at the navel end, so disposed as to look like a Malta-cross. The colour of the iruit is a very deep orange tending to scarlet. The tree in fruit is very ornamental. 7. The SMALL CHINA BITTER ORANGE. The tree is middling or small, and makes slow growth. The leaves are very small, and the fruit is small, hardly reaching 3 c. m. in diameter, and keeps on the tree for a lon^ time. The fruit is candied whole. This variety when in fruit is very ornamental, and fruits well as a pot plant. 44 [Tni COMMON ORANGE 8. The CLUSTER BITTER ORANGE. The fruit is small, usually borne in large clusters. 9. GRENADE BITTER ORANGE. The fruit has a well marked depressed navel, and contains many small segments, often not larger than those of the pomegranate, 10. The VOLKAMERIO BITTER ORANGE The leaves are small, and the fruit has a navel like that of the lemon. 11. The CURLED-LEAVED BlTTER ORANGE, the leaves of which are broad and curiously curled. The tree is almost t hornless, and the Iruit sometimes is oval. 12. The "BIZZARRIA" ORANGE. (^l.—laringBiz- zarria or laring ghageb] . The fruit may be shaped like a lemon, round or elliptical, with peel coloured yellow or orange, with an orange-coloured pulp which may be acid like that of the lemon, or bitter like that of the common Seville Orange, or may be both acid and bitter; or the fruit may be exactly like a Seville Orange in all details, and this varied .production is noted not only on the same tree, proceeding from the same bud or graft, but also on the same branch, and sometimes in the same cluster. 13. The SWEET SEVILLE ORANGE. The fruit is only slightly bitterish and is quite eatable. It is often more or less egg-shaped. The peel has a milder flavour than that of the bitter orange. THE COMMON ORANGE. {Citrus Aurantium, Lin.) The ORANGE is largely grown for the sake of its delicious fruit. In April and May the fragrance of its pure white blossoms, wafted on the breeze, reminds the visitor who passes through the roads of the villages, that beyond the high unsightly stone-walls which obstruct the view, there are numerous orange-groves in all the pride of spring. The following forms of table oranges are grown in our gardens. THE COMMON ORANGE ] 45 I. The ORDINARY ROUND ORANGE. (M.=/aimg ordinariu}. This is the old variety of the edible orange cultivated by our gardeners. Most groves planted in the i ;th and i8ch century consisted exclusively of this variety, which is still met with everywhere in our groves. It is now hardly ever propagated, and indeed many groves were in the second half of the igth century, headed back and budded with the blood-orange and the egg-blood orange, and particularly with the mandarin or tangerine which was then fetching fabulous prices. However the ordinary round orange is a very heavy cropper, and its high production more than makes up for its comparatively low price. It is a long keeper, the fruit beginning to ripen in December and continuing on the tree in good condition well into May or June. 2. The MALTA BLOOD-ORANGE. (M.—laringfad- demm) The tree is large or middling, slightly thorny, and is very productive, with foliage similar to that of the ordinary orange, but of a deepei green. The fruit is of fair size, round or slightly flattened, with a deep orange peel, which in December begins to take the characteristic blood colouring, at the same time the pulp becoming heavily streaked blood-red, and later on the colouring pervades the whole pulp, particularly its lower half. The juice has a delicious flavour and aroma, is sweet and grate- fully acid. The fruit keeps well for a long time and travels well. This is a good commercial orange, and to it was due originally the fame of the Malta orange. The Malta Blood Orange is in all probability a local seedling sport of the ordinary orange, but its origin is wrapped in mistery. It is described and figured in Risso's Natural History of the Orange Tribe, and therefore was well known and widely cultivated before Risso's time. The opinion so often expressed by popular writers that it is due to a cross with the pomegranate, is of course altogether untenable. 3. The LARGE OVAL ORANGE. (Nl. = laring fin, 46 [ THE COMMON ORANGE taring tauuali, taring ta Portugal}. The tree is large, with dark green foliage, more or less curled and wavy along the midrib. The fruit is large, usually more less egg-shaped, but sometimes round, and even spheroidal like an ordinary orange. The peel is usually thick and uneven. The pulp contains few seeds, is very juicy and of good flavour. This is probably the original form introduced during the rule of the Order of St. John, towards the close of the i6th century. The fruit is not of good keeping quality, being prone to drop off soon after reaching maturity. It is no longer propagated as a distinct variety. 4. The MALTA EGG-ORANGE. (M.= taring tmt, taring fin]. This is probably an improved form of the preceding, created by careful selection in budding. The tree is large, fairly productive, and perfectly thornless, with thick dark green leathery foliage, curiously curled or wavy. Fruit large, egg-shaped or elliptical, with rather thin peel, somewhat rough to the touch. The pulp is juicy and of a refined flavour, with a soft and tender rag. The seeds are few, often limited to one only, and" occasionally the fruit is quite seedless. This is one of the earliest oranges to come to maturity, but the fruit does not keep well on the tree. It is a good commercial orange, fetches a good price, and is a good shipper when packed not later than the first week of January. 5. The SMOOTH-SKINNED EGG-ORANGE (\A. — taring tuil tat ghafsa}. It is probably a sport obtained by budding from the Malta egg-orange, and developes its best qualities in full sunshine. The tree is middling in size, but sometimes attains the full size of an orange, and under good cultivation it is very productive. The foliage is similar to that of the preceding variety, but is small and less fleshy. The fruit is often paired or in small clusters, and is rather small or middling, uniformly elliptical. The peel is very thin, and is usually smooth THE COMMON ORANGE ] 47 as marble. There is generally a marked depression on the lower part of the sunny side of the fruit, hence its Maltese name "tal ghafsa\ The fruit is of superior qua- lity, keeps fairly well and travels well. The pulp contains few seeds, has a delicious flavour and a refined aroma, and by many it is preferred even to the egg-blood orange. 6. THE MALTA EGG- BLOOD. (N[.— taring tiiil tad- demm, taiiuali or fin tad-demm}. This very superior orange originated as a sport in a small orange grove at Casal Balzan, on a tree of the Malta egg-orange, towards 1850, and the sport was fixed and perpetuated by budding. The leaves are usually curled and wavy as in the egg-oranges, but are often smaller. The fruit is middling or large, oval or elliptical, rarely roundish, the peel is usually thin and smooth, but may be rather thick on trees situated in the shade. In January the blood-red streaks or markings make their appearance in the peel, as well as in the pulp, and later on the lower part of the peel and pulp become suffused with red, but rarely so intensely as in the round blood orange. The pulp has few seeds, occasionally only one, and has a delicately sweet and acidulous flavour, and a distinct aroma. It is at its best in February and March, but is then too ripe to travel well. The egg-blood orange is generally considered the best of our oranges, and on account of its superior commercial qualities, it is now largely planted in prefer- ence to other varieties. Until a few years ago, thousands of young trees were annually exported to other countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as to America, India, Australia, South Africa etc. 7. The SWEET ORANGE or SWEET CHINA ORANGE, or MALTA VANILLA ORANGE (M.— taring kelu}. The tree grows to die same size, and has the same general appearance as the ordinary orange, and is very produc- tive. The fruit is middling or large, round, often slightly flattened or spheroidal, but sometimes is oval. The rag 48 [ THE COMMON ORANGE is tender, the pulp is very juicy, and very sweet, without any trace of acidity, and on this account it is often disliked. The fruit is already found in the market as early as November, when the peel is just turning yellow. At that time the flavour is flat, the juice tasting merely like water with sugar, but later on it developes an exquisite vanilla-like flavour. The peel has a delicate aroma of its own. There is a form bearing larger fruits, but is not so productive as the type. 8. The BAHIA or NAVEL or SEEDLESS ORANGE. (M.:= taring ta Bahia or tal Brazil^ The tree is middling in size, but very vigorous, with somewhat thorny branches and twigs, and leaves generally winged like those of the bitter orange. The fruit is large or very large, and may be spheroidal in shape or round or slightly oval. There is always a well-marked depressed navel, produced by a folding of the integuments. The peel is often thick, and rather uneven. The pulp is abundant and heavy, but both its substance and the rag which encloses it are quite tender. There are numerous small segments in the lower part of the fruit near the navel. The fruit is really seedless, but sometimes contains one or two seeds. The flavour is exquisite, being sweet and aromatic with a mild and pleasant acidity. The fruit ripens early and travels well. The tree is well productive if allowed to retain a good crown of foliage, and is not unduly trimmed. The round or spheroidal forms are perhaps more productive than the oval form, but this last is a more refined fruit. 9. The GOLDEN NUGGET NAVEL ORANGE. The tree is more vigorous than that of the Bahia orange, and grows to a larger size, but both are alike in habit and foliage. The tree is quite thornless, fairly productive under the same treatment as the Bahia orange, the fruit being very large, round or somewhat oval, and is equal or superior to the Bahia orange as regards flavour and other qualities. It is almost always entirely seedless. THE KUMQUAT OR KIN-KAN ] 4& 10. THOMPSON'S IMPROVED NAVEL ORANGE. The tree is as vigorous as the Bahia orange, and is thornless. It is well productive under the same treatment . as the Bahia orange, the fruit being middling or large, distinctly oval, always with a well marked navel. The peel is perfectly smooth, and though thin is very tough. The pulp is seedless, and of .firmer texture than that. -of* the Bahia orange. n. The GOLDEN BUCKEYE NAVEL ORANGE. The tree is middling, thornless, with smaller leaves than any of the three navel oranges above mentioned. The fruit is oblong, with a very smooth and thin peel, of a yellow or yellowish-orange colour, having narrow longitudinal bands of deep orange. Pulp seedless, aromatic, of a very firm and dry texture. The tree is not very productive. 12. The WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE. The tree is middling, but vigorous, and is productive. The fruit is large or very large, usually oval, with an obtuse but well marked navel, and thin smooth peel. The pulp is seedless, with little or no rag, of very fine flavour, sweet and aromatic, fully equal to the Bahia orange at its best. Other oranges recently introduced in these Islands are Valencia Late, Navalencia, and Joppa Late, but they have not yet fruited. THE KUMQUAT OR KIN-KAN. (Citrus japonica] The Kumquat-tree (N[ = faring gappunis, taring ta I ksari ) is small or middling in size, but is fairly vigorous. It has narrow, pointed, dark; green foliage. The blossoms are small and white, and usually appear late in spring, and are succeeded by other blossoms at intervals during the summer. The fruits are small, hardly more than 3 c.m. in diameter, with a very tender peel, and a juicy pulp markedly acid, but of* fine 4 50 [ THE SHADDOCK AND THE POMELO flavour. The tree is productive even when quite young, and makes a good pot plant. The fruit is eaten entire, with its peel, this last being very sweet and tender, and therefore makes a good adjunct or corrective to the acid pulp. Two varieties have been introduced recently, and are met with in the gardens of amateurs. The Marumi Kumquat produces round fruits, has smaller leaves and a compact habit of growth which makes it more desirable for cultivation in pots. The Nagami Kumquat has rather larger leaves, with a less compact habit, and produces egg-shaped fruits. Both varieties are equally productive, and the fruit has the same peculiar flavour. The Kumquats do not thrive well when budded on Bitter Orange stock, and in Japan and China they are usually budded on Citrus trifoliata. As this stock is not used by our gardeners, and is not obtainable from local nurserymen, the kumquat is propagated by cuttings or by budding on seedling lemons, on which they seem to do well. THE SHADDOCK AND THE POMELO. (Citrus decumana, Murr., and C. decumana hybrida or pomelana). The Shaddock, also called Grape-fruit or Holland Orange, (N[.=Xaddock, laring tar-rius, taring ta Olan- da], is more ornamental than useful. The tree is middling in size, with a rather straggling habit of growth. The leaves are large, winged, fleshy and leathery, and more or less curled or wavy. The blossoms are very large, of a dirty creamy white colour. The fruit is very large, round or oval, with a yellow peel, which is very tough and even, but slightly chagrined owing to the protruding glands. The pulp is dry and firm, creamy yellow, often streaked with orange and crimson ; the rags 0r membranes are tough and leathery. The seeds are very large and numerous, and the flavour of the THN SHADDOCK AND THE POMELO ] 51 pulp is bitter and slightly acid. The tree is grown chiefly for its striking and ornamental character when in fruit, but its fruit is hardly eatable, and is only occasion- ally used for marmalades. The Pomelo, more often called Grape-fruit. (M.= pomelo, xaddoch tal ichel], is a hybrid of American origin, and has developed several distinct forms or varieties. In size and habit the tree resembles a shaddock, but the twigs are thinner, the leaves are smaller and of a darker green, and the blossoms are much smaller and of a purer white. The fruit is large, round or oval, shaped like a shaddock, but much smaller. The peel is yellow or deep yellow, very smooth and shining, much less tough than that of the shaddock. The pulp is yellowish and juicy with a tender rag, the flavour is slightly bitterish with a pleasant acidity and aroma. There are now several varieties cultivated in our gardens, but nowhere on a commercial scale. The fruit is consumed as a dessert fruit, the juice requiring to be corrected by the addition of sugar or some liqueur in order to be more palatable. The bitterish juice of the pomelo contains an alcaloid allied to aurantin, which is similar to quinine in action. The following are the Shaddocks and Pomelos grown in our gardens. 1. The ROUND SHADDOCK, long known to our gardeners. The fruit is round, often exceeding 15 c. m. in diameter. 2. The OVAL SHADDOCK, is a more recent intro- duction. The fruit is oval, its long diameter often exceeding 18 c. m. The pulp is heavily streaked with red. 3. The PERNAMBUCO POMKLO. The fruit is oval and large, and is probably the best of its class, A seedling of this variety exists at San Antonio Gardens, which seems to be mere productive than the type, and earlier to ripen. 52 L THE MANDARIN ORANGE 4. The ELLEN POMELO. The fruit is round fairly large. The tree is very productive. 5. The DUNCAN POMELO. The fruit is round or slightly flattened, large. The peel is more tough than that of other pomelos, and the fruit keeps a long time on the tree. The tree is very productive and a vigorous grower. 6. POMELO SAN ANTONIO. This is a very recent local variety obtained at San Antonio Gardens and has fruited for the first time in 1917. The tree is vigorous, with small foliage, and is somewhat thorny. It is very productive. The fruit is perfectly oval, of the same size and appearance as the Pernambuco Pomelo, but the pulp is more yellowish orange and has a more delicate flavour. It is very juicy and contains comparatively few seeds, which are flat and round like those of a Shaddock, but of course much smaller. This is probably the best Pomelo in cultivation. THE MANDARIN ORANGE. (Citrus deliciosa Tenore, or C. nobilis Lour.) The Mandarin Orange. (M.= Mandurina). Is a native of China, and was introduced in our gardens in 1811, but began to be cultivated extensively only towards 1850. The tree is large and has a spreading habit. The twigs are thin, and the foliage is small, elongated and pointed. The flowe*^ are small, pure white. The fruits are more or less flattened, convex towards the stalk and depressed or concave on the opposite side. The peel is orange-coloured, thin, is thrown into folds near the stalk, and separates easily from the segments which are loosely adherent to each other. It is thickly studded with large glands which contain much valuable essential oil, of a delightful and peculiar fragrance, which can be easily extracted by DISEASES OF CITRUS TREES ] 53 hand pressure on a sponge. The pulp is clear orange-red, sweet, with a pleasant acidity and delicate aroma. The mandarins are distinguishable into two classes, (a) the true mandarins having an orange-coloured peel and flesh, and (b) the tangerines in which the flesh and peel are of a deep orange or red colour. These last are not grown in these Islands. The mandarin orange is rarely affected by gumming, and as it grows freely from seed, it may be budded on own seedlings, but our gardeners bud it invariably on sour-orange stock, for the reason that this stock is more handy, and also on the supposition that by budding on the sour orange the fruit improves in size and flavour. Bud sports of the mandarin orange are numerous. Thus, we have the large-fruited mandarin often miscalled tangerine, the round mandarin, and the pear-shaped mandarin in which the fruit is markedly elongated towards the stalk-end, but they are never propagated as special forms, the common type being considered more commercial. The jnandarin is a heavy cropper, instances of full-grown trees producing a crop of 250 dozen being frequent. The Satsuma Orange is a true mandarin introduced a few years ago, but its colour is a deeper orange than the mandarin. The fruit is seedless, and the tree is entirely thornless. It is best budded on seedlings of the mandarin orange, as it is said not to do well when budded on the bitter orange, but it may be rebudded on plants of the ordinary mandarin. DISEASES OF CITRUS TREES. Citrus trees are liable to the following non-parasitical diseases. i. CHLOROSIS. (M.=marat tr&tfy. Is the disease of non-adaptation or of disagreement of the tree with its environment, and is a disease to which all plants bearing 54 [ DISEASES OF CITRUS TREES chlorophyll are more or less subject. In Citrus trees, the disease may be due to a state of malnutrition brought about by defective physical or chemical qualities of the soil and subsoil, or to a faulty situation, or to stagnant moisture in the soil or to the loss of foliage in winter. The foliage assumes a yellowish sickly hue, the young twigs are thin, small, sickly and poorly clad with leaves, which are small and undeveloped, and soon dry up and fall off. The upper branches begin to die off, and then the larger ones, and after an attempt at revival which is manifested by the formation of a number of sickly shoots on the trunk, the tree dies a lingering death. The disease generally takes from one to five years to run its course. Young trees recently transplanted succumb more rapidly, but adult trees are liable to the disease only when some new factor supervenes to alter the former status. In its first stages the disease is easily cured by good treatment, and by the early removal of the adverse factor. Trees which have been severely affected by bad weather often show well marked signs of incipient chlorosis in the spring, the first symptom consisting in an over-production of blossoms unaccompanied by foliage (anthomania) , soon afterwards followed by the characteristic small chlorotic twigs, but usually recover with good cultivation. Recovery is difficult or improbable when the disease has been allowed to remain long, and when big branches have already died off. 2. SUNSTROKE OR SUNBURN. (M.==//^/0). This is often a disease of considerable gravity, and may make its appearance at any time from May to December. It may start very insidiously and much injury may be caused in a very short time. The disease may be caused directly by the sultry and dry winds blowing from the S.R., S., or S.W., or by a sudden change to W. or N.W., after a prolonged spell of calm and hot weather. In both cases the cause is the same, namely the break of equilibrium between the absorbing power of DISEASES OF CITRUS TREES ] 55 the roots and transpiration or evaporation from the leaves, by which the foliage is deprived of its moisture at a greater rate than the loss is made good. As a result the leaves curl and dry up, and soon drop off, at the same time the tree shedding most of the young fruit along with the foliage. Very often many twigs and branches are killed in the same manner, and in graver cases entire trees are severely mauled or killed outright. These cases of sudden death are fortunately very rare. They are known by the name of brontesis, but the term is also applied indiscriminately to cases of death by lightning and to cases of equally sudden death caused by root-trouble, in which an apparently healthy tree succumbs in a day or two, to an insidious attack of root- fungus ( A rmillaria mellea) or of gummosis of the roots. Citrus trees are more liable to ''sunstroke" after a prolonged drought, or if they have been suffering at all from want of irrigation. It often happens that an orange- grove which in the morning showed no trace of this disease, is found to be severely affected in the afternoon, with shrivelled twigs and dried up leaves, which give the impression that the trees had been exposed to the hot blast of a furnace. In less severe cases only the leaves are killed, the twigs remaining green and forming new foliage soon after irrigation. The bitter or sour orange, the mandarin orange and the shaddock are less liable to this disease than other Citrus trees, and it is very exceptional to have a slight attack of this disease within three or four days after irrigation, and no severe attack ever takes place within the first week. 3. CARPOPTOSIS. All Citrus trees set considerably more fruit than they are able to bring to maturity. At the end of May or in the first days of June, the small fruit begins to drop off, and by the end of June a certain amount of selection will have taken place ; but this shedding of the young fruit continues until the first week of August, after which time it is stopped completely. 56 [ DISEASES OF CITRUS TREES This is only a physiological process, but may become pathological when a sudden heat wave in May or June deprives the tree of all its fruit, or when without any apparent cause the fruit is shed off almost entirely before the end of June. This unhealthy condition of the tree without an apparent cause is known as carpoptosis, and is ascribed to a weak or defective fertilization, as it occurs more frequently when the blooming season had coincided with a long spell of wet weather, which washes off the pollen and interferes with the beneficial action of bees and other pronubal insects. It has been long known to our gardeners that orange groves in which bee-hives are kept are always more productive than those in which there are no bee- hives, or which are not much visited by bees, and therefore our gardeners are glad to see the bees busily humming on the orange trees in bloom. It is not easy to establish accurately by experiment what is the actual increase of production due to fertilization by bees, but it is generally believed to be 15 to 20 per cent, and may be much more in certain circumstances. The honey obtained from the orange grove, though fine in quality and very light in colour, is lacking in flavour, and on this account it is often allowed to remain in the hive to be used by the bees, in order not to have to feed them artificially for a considerable part of the year, 4. DISEASES CAUSED BY PARASITIC FUNGI. Citrus trees are subject to a legion of fungous parasites which have been so ably described and most of them figured in Otto Penzig's work 4