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Show 334 FRUITS. CIIAP. X. constitutional details tho vino varies. Dming tho vine disease in France certain whole gJ.'oups of varieties 8 have suffered far mora from mildew than others. Thus "the group of tho Chass las, so rich in varieties, did not afford a single fortuna to exception ; " certain other groups suffered much le s; tho true old Burgundy, for instance, was comparatively free from disease, and tho Carminat likewise resisted tho attack. The .American vines, which belong to a distinct species, entirely escaped the disease in Franco; and we thus soc that those European varieties which best resist tho disease must have acquired in a slight degree the same constitutional peculiarities as tho .American species. H7dte 111/.ulb 1-ry (Moms alba).-! mention this plant because it haR varied in certain characters, namely, in tho texture and quality of tho loaves, fitting them to serve as food for tho domesticated silkworm, in a manner not observed with other plants; but this has arisen simply from such variations in the mulberry having been attended to, selected, and rendered mora or less constant. M. do Quatrofagos 9 briefly describes six kinds cultivated in one valley in France : of these the amourouso produces excellent leaves, but is mpidly being abandoned because it produces much fruit mingl d with tho leaves: the antqjiM yields deeply cut leaves of the finest quality, but not in great quantity: tho cta1·o is much sollght for because the loaves can be easily collected: lastly, tho 1·oso bears strong hardy leaves, produced in largo quantity, but with tho one inconvonien ·o, that they arc best adapted for tho worms after their fourth moult. MM. Jacquemot-Donnefont, of Lyon, however, remark in their catalogue (1862) that two sub-varieties have been confounded under tho name of tho 1·oso one having loaves too thick for tho caterpillars, the other being valuabl~ because tho leaves can easily be gathered fi·om tho branches without the bark being torn. In India tho mulberry bas also given rise to many varieties. The Indian form is thought by many botanists to be a distinct species; but as Royle remarks,10 "so many varieties have been produced by cultivation that it is difficult to ascertain whether they all belong to one species;" they arc, as he adds, nearly as numerous as those of tho silkworm. _1~w ~mnge Ot·oup.-We here meet with groat confusion in tho specific distmctwn and parentage of tho several kinds. Gallesio,11 who almost devoted his lifo-time to the subject, considers that there arc four species, namely, sweat and bitter oranges, lemons, and citrons, each of which has given rise to whole groups of varieties, monsters, and supposed hybrid .. One high authority 12 believes that these fom reputed species are all 8 M. DouclHudnt, in 'Comptes Rendus,' Dec. lst, 1851, quoted in 'Gardener's Clmm.,' 1852, p. 135. 9 '.8tuclcs sur l s Maladies actuelles du Vera Suie,' 1859, p. 321. 10 ' Productive Resources of Inclia,' p. 130. 11 'TraitC tlu Citrus,' 1811. 'Teoria della Riproduzione Vcgctalc,' 1816. I quote chiefly from this second work In 183$) Gallesio puLlishcd in folio •QJi Agrumi <lei G ia)'(l. Dot. eli Firenzc,' in which he gives a curious diagrumoflbe supposed rolnlionsbip of all tho forms. 12 Mr. Bentham, Review of Dr. A. 'l'argioni.-'l'ozzetti, 'Journal of IIort. Soc.,' vol. ix. p. 1 3:l. Cllo\P, X:. ORANGE GROUP. 335 varieties of tho wild Citrus medica, but that the shaddock (Citrus decumrma), which is not known in a wild state, is a distinct species; though its distinctness is doubted by another Wl'iter "of great authority on such matters," namely, Dr. Buchanan Hamilton. Alph. Do Candollo,t5 on the other band-and thoro cannot be a more capable judge-advances what he considers sufficient evidence of the orange (he doubts whether the bitter and sweet kinds arc specifically distinct), the lemon, and citron, having been found wild, and consequently that they arc distinct. He mentions two other fo1·m,• cultivated in .Tapan and Java, which he ranks as undoubted species ; ho speaks rather more doubtfully about tho shaddock, which varies much, and has not boon found wild; and finally he considers some forms, such as Adam's apple and the l>orgamotto, as probably hybrids. I have briefly abstracted these opinions for the sake of showing those who have never attended to such subjects, how perplexed with doubt they arc. It would, therefore, be useless for my purpose to give a sketch of the conspicuous differences between tho several forms. Besides the everrecurrent difficulty of determining whether forms found wild are truly aboriginal or arc escaped seedlings, many of tho forms, which must be ranked as varieties, transmit their characters almost perfectly by seed. Sweet ancl bitter oranges difl'er in no important respect except in the flavour of their fmit, but Gallesio14 is most emphatic that both kinds can be propagated by seed with absolute certainty. Consequently, in accordance with his simple rule, he classes them as distinct species ; as he does sweet and bitter almonds, the peach and nectarine, &c. He admits, however, that the soft-shelled pine-tree produces not only soft-shelled but some bard-shelled seedlings, so that a little greater force in the power of inheritance would, according to this rule, raise the soft-shelled pine-tree into the dignity of an aboriginally created species. Tho positive assertion made by Macfayden 15 that the pips of sweet oranges produce in Jamaica, according to the natme of the soil in which they are sown, either sweet or bitter oranges, is probably an error; for M. Alph. De Candolle informs me that since tho publication of his great work he has received accounts from Guiana, tho .Antilles, and Mauritius, that in these countries sweet oranges faithfully transmit their character. Gallesio found that tho willow-leafed and the Little China oranges reproduced their proper loaves and fruit; but the seedlings were not quite equal in merit to their parents. The reel-fleshed orange, on the other hand, fails to reproduce itself. Gallcsio also observed that the seeds of several other singular varieties all reproduced trees having a peculiar physiognomy, but partly resembling their parent-forms. I Cl:!Jl adduce another case : the myrtle-leaved orange is ranked by all authors as a variety, but is very distinct in gem:ral aspect: in my father's greenhouse, during many years, it rarely yielded any seed, but at last produced one; and a troo thus raised was identical with the parent-form. .Another and more serious diffi.cul ty in determining the rank of the several forms is that, according to Gallosio/6 they largely intercross without 13 'Gcograph. Bot.,' p. 8G3. 14 'Tem·ia della Riproduzionc,' pp. 52-57. 1 ~ Hooker's 'Bot. 1\Iisc.,' vol. i. p. 302 ; vol. ii. p. 111. 16 ' Teoria della Riproduzione,' p. 53. |