History and Development of the Citrus Industry
HERBERT JOHN WEBBER
Revised by Walter Reuther and Harry W. Lawton
The various species of the genus Citrus are all believed to be native to the subtropical and tropical regions of Asia and the Malay Archipelago, and to have spread from there to other sections of the world. They have been cultivated from remote ages, and prototype forms of the most important species are not definitely known.
ORIGIN OF CITRUS
Comparatively little change has been
required to develop our best present-day varieties from fruits of the
most primitive types. It is true that the Washington navel
and Valencia oranges are larger and superior in quality to most sweet
orange seedlings, which doubtless represent a more primitive
type. Nevertheless, in the absence of improved varieties,
the fruits of these seedlings are quite acceptable. It is
likely, therefore, that the citrus fruits which first attracted the
attention of primitive peoples were already highly developed through the
processes of natural evolution. They were thus chosen as
fruits worthy of cultivation, and presumably the crude selection of the
best individuals for propagation had been going on for many centuries
before any type came to be cultivated in European countries.
The history of the spread of citrus reads like a romance.1
Even in very early times the beautiful appearance of both tree and
fruit attracted the attention of travelers and received mention in their
written narratives. The spread of the genus, however,
from one part of the world to another was very slow.
Curiously, the first member of the group
to become known to European civilization was the citron, mentioned about
310 B.C. by Theophrastus. For several hundred years this
was the only citrus fruit known. Then came in order, but
possibly centuries apart, the sour orange, the lemon, and the sweet
orange. As far as preserved literature indicates, this
last species was not known in Europe until approximately 1400 A.D.,
about seventeen centuries later than the citron. However,
on the basis of careful examination of a Pompeian tile mosaic, Tolkowsky
(1938) presented strong evidence that the orange tree—possibly of the
sweet variety—was grown in Italy prior to the destruction of Pompeii in
79 A.D. He suggested that while the orange tree was
cultivated at that period, it neither blossomed nor, consequently, bore
fruit. A tile floor mosaic found in a Roman villa near
Tusculum (modern Frascati) indicates that soon thereafter lemons and
limes were also known in Italy. Eventually, Tolkowsky
believes Italian gardeners succeeded in obtaining fruits from their
citrus trees. From a vaulted ceiling mosaic in Rome,
designed about 330 A.D. for Constantine the Great, Tolkowsky adduced
"unassailable proof of the fact that in fourth century Italy oranges and
lemons were actually grown."
It is now known that the sweet orange had
been grown for many centuries in China and had apparently reached an
advanced stage of cultivation before it became known to
Europeans. Little information is available relative to the
ancient Chinese literature, but there is indication that it may contain
many references to sweet and mandarin oranges, and to various other
citrus fruits. Han Yen-chih, in his Chü lu, written in 1178 A.D. and translated into English by Hagerty (Monograph on the Oranges of Wên-chou, Chekiang,
1923), named and described some twenty-seven varieties of sweet, sour,
and mandarin oranges. He also described citrons, kumquats,
and the trifoliate orange and discussed nursery methods, grove
management, and diseases.
On the basis of statements in this work,
the oldest existing book on the orange, it is safe to assume that
oranges have been mentioned and discussed in Chinese literature since
the time of Ch'u Yuan, who in his first poem, called "Li Sao" or
"Falling into Trouble," mentioned many plants, trees, and fruits of that
period (314 B.C.). This was approximately contemporaneous
with the first mention of citrus fruits in European literature by
Theophrastus (ca. 372-287 B.C.).
Doubtless many much older references to
oranges may be found in ancient Chinese manuscripts and
documents. The earliest reference to any citrus fruit to
which attention has thus far been directed is contained in the book "Yu
Kung" or "Tribute of Yu" (The Emperor Ta Yu, who reigned from 2205 to
2197 B.C.), where the statement was made, "The baskets were filled with
woven ornamental silks. The bundle contained small oranges
and pummeloes." 2
Purported evidence also has been found
indicating that the citron was known in Egypt long before the references
to it by Theophrastus, though it is not considered to be a native of
that country. Sirag-el-Din stated (1931, p. 61):
This species has been known in Egypt since the time of the Pharoes, as a model in the Louvre Museum, which was taken from a Pharo-tomb of the twelfth century B.C. proves. There is also a previous proof to that in the form of a picture found in Karnak temple, which goes back to the fifteenth century B.C. It is thought that it was brought to Egypt by Tohotmas III during his wars with Asia. Another very important proof is the word Gitri in the Coptic language, which was taken from the hieroglyphic language and means sour fruit. [See also V. Loret, La flore pharaonique (Paris, 1887), p. 47.]
Tolkowsky (1938) finds such evidence of the antiquity of the citron in Egypt unconvincing and asserts that it relies on doubtful identifications. He notes that even the French archeologist Victor Loret was forced to admit that the wall-paintings at Karnak were not very clear. Andrews (1961) agrees that evidence for early establishment of the citron in Egypt is very weak.CITRUS IN ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY
The Citron
First Citrus Fruit to Reach Europe.—The citron (Citrus medica
L.) was the first citrus fruit to come to the notice of Europeans and
was for many years the only one known. It first attracted
attention in Media, where it was then supposed to be
indigenous. Apparently it soon spread into Persia, where
it came to the attention of the Hebrews and the Greeks.
Although it is not now considered to be indigenous to Media, the steps
by which it was first brought there from its native habitat in India or
Indo-China are not known.
Establishment of the citron in Persia
seems to have occurred not later than the first half of the first
millenium [sic] B.C. When Alexander's army passed
through the Greek settlements of Persia, his botanists found the citron
or "Persian apple" extensively cultivated. In addition,
the Greek settlers recalled that the citron tree had been commonly grown
there in the time of Medes, who ruled Persia from the ninth to the
middle of the sixth century B.C.
Possible Reference to Citrus Fruits in the Bible.—It
would be reasonable to suppose that the Hebrews, who had easy
intercourse with the Assyrians and the Persians, soon learned of this
rare and beautiful plant and introduced it into Palestine.
It is therefore astonishing that the Bible, in which figs, grapes,
olives, and other important plants are frequently mentioned, contains no
direct reference to any citrus fruit.
The suggestion has been made (Gallesio, 1811) that Moses referred to the citron with the word hadar, as used in the verse, "You shall take, on the first day, fruits of the tree hadar,
of palm branches, boughs of the thickest trees, and willows that cross
the length of rapid waters and rejoice before the Lord your God" (Lev.
23:40). As the Jews, at their annual Feast of Tabernacles,
were, and are still, accustomed to present themselves in the synagogue
carrying in their hands myrtle, willow, and palm boughs to which citrons
(Persian apples) are attached (fig. 1-1), it would seem logical to interpret hadar as citron.
This interpretation was thought by
Gallesio to be further confirmed by the finding of Samaritan coins
bearing on the one side the lulab of the Jews and on the reverse side a
citron (fig. 1-2).
However, Tolkowsky (1938, p. 53) in connection with an illustration
of one of these coins, stated: "The very earliest documentary evidence
of the citron in Jewish sources is found in the representation of this
fruit on coins struck by Simon the Maccabee in the fourth year of the
'Redemption of Zion', that is in 136 B.C."
Tolkowsky further pointed out that hadar literally means the fruit of the dar tree, that is, of the holy tree of India, the Cedrus deodara.
He suggested that the fruit or cone of this tree was originally used
in the Jewish ceremony, apparently adopted through Babylonian
influence. Tolkowsky theorized the citron was substituted
for the cedar cone in the Jewish ceremony by Simon the Maccabee, high
priest and ruler, in 136 B.C., evidently because the cedar cone, through
the influence of the Greeks, had become invested with bacchanalian
significance. If one accepts Tolkowsky, it thus appears
that no citrus fruit was even indirectly mentioned in the Bible.
Here again, however, Isaac (1959)
challenges Tolkowsky and much more effectively. Isaac
points out that internal evidence from the text of Leviticus argues
against Tolkowsky's theory that the citron was a late substitute for the
cedar cone in Jewish ritual, and asserts that nowhere else in the Old
Testament, which abounds in botanical references, is the dar tree
mentioned. Andrews (1961) also finds Tolkowsky's argument
indefensible, since the Jews were ultraconservative in religious
ritual. Andrews considers the idea of a shift from the
cedar cone to the citron to be so radical that it cannot be supported
without strong evidence.
Furthermore, Isaac notes that the first
coins depicting the citron have been reassigned by more modern
scholarship to the period of the Jewish First Revolt of 66-77
A.D. (See Goodenough, 1953, p. 276.) Since
the coins are at least two hundred years later than Tolkowsky, Gallesio,
and other scholars have previously assumed and were struck at a time
when the citron is known to have been well established in Palestine,
they obviously have nothing to do with celebrating a change in Jewish
ritual.
Isaac finds Tolkowsky's view of an
orderly sequence of plant distribution from Persia through Mesopotamia
and finally to Palestine to be naive. Since cultivated
plants such as the citron are "dependent upon human beings for their
distribution," he suggests that the citron could well have bypassed
Mesopotamia and reached Palestine at an early date.
Andrews (1961), on the other hand, believes that the actual source of hadar is probably the Assyrian adaru (citron), attesting to direct borrowing from Mesopotamia.
Thus we are left with the creditable,
carefully reasoned (but as yet unproven) positions of Isaac (1959) and
Andrews (1961) that the hadar of the Bible was the citron and
that it was known to the Jews far earlier than Tolkowsky
postulates. Both scholars find no acceptable evidence that
the Greeks played a role of any importance in the spread of the citron
tree, and agree that the Jews were the transmitters of citron culture to
their numerous colonies along the Mediterranean. By the
second century A.D. the citron was widely cultivated around the eastern
Mediterranean, since its price was comparable with that of the fig
(Tolkowsky, 1938, p. 62).
References to Citron in Early European Literature.—The
citron was known early to the Greeks and the Romans.
Theophrastus, who wrote after the conquests of Alexander had greatly
extended the knowledge of the Greeks concerning the region of Media and
Persia, gave a very truthful and exact description of the citron:
Thus one sees in Media and Persia among many other productions the tree called Persian or Median-apple.…Its fruit is not edible but it has an exquisite odor, as also have the leaves which are used as a protection from moths in clothing. A decoction of the pulp of this fruit is thought to be an antidote to poison, and will also sweeten the breath.…The citron bears fruit continuously; while some fruit is falling with ripeness other fruit is but just starting.…Fruit is given only by the flowers which have in the middle a sort of straight spindle; those which do not have this fall off, producing nothing (Gallesio, 1811, p. 199).
It will be noticed that the last statement in this quotation foreshadows the recognition of sex in plants, but it was nearly two thousand years later before Camerarius, in 1691, published the first experimental proof of the function of pollen and its necessity in seed formation.We must think it probable, then, that this plant, already in Asia Minor and Palestine at the time of Dioscorides and Josephus, passed into Italy about the third century and that in the time of Palladius it was grown not only in parts of Italy where the climate would allow it to grow in the open air, but also in districts less warm, where the luxury and magnificence of Roman grandees built country houses, embellished by art at great expense.
Tolkowsky (1938, p. 90) gave evidence clearly indicating a much earlier introduction of the citron into Italy. He stated: "The sculptural panel from the tomb of the Haterii near Rome as well as the wall paintings of Pompeii confirm the statements of Pliny and Petronius to the effect that by the middle of the first century A.D. the citron tree was already naturalized in certain parts of Italy, and that it was no longer only just vegetating there as in the time of Augustus, but was producing flowers and fruits."The Sour Orange and the Lemon
Roman Acquaintance with the Sour Orange and Lemon.—Gallesio and other modern scholars have concluded that the sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) and the lemon (C. limon
[L.] Burm. f.) were unknown to the Romans. This prevalent
theory was vigorously rebuffed by Tolkowsky, who asserts that the
Romans were familiar with both the lemon and orange, although his
evidence appears somewhat weak when he seeks to establish that they were
also acquainted with the sweet orange.
From the middle of the first century A.D.
to the middle of the second, Roman trade was most active.
Gourmets in Rome paid fantastic sums for exotic delicacies, and it
seems probable that oranges and lemons in the freshest state possible
occasionally arrived in shipments to Rome. A mosaic tile
floor found in a Roman villa at Carthage, probably of the second century
A.D., shows recognizable branches of citron and fruit-bearing lemon
trees. (See Tolkowsky, 1938, p. 100.)
Evidence that the orange tree was known
in Italy before Pompeii was destroyed (about 70 A.D.) is found in a
remarkably faithful representation of an orange in a Pompeian mosaic,
according to Tolkowsky. The Roman artist tried to depict
the orange as if it had just broken off the tree together with the stem
to which leaves and a flower bud are still attached. The
unnatural position of the stem in relation to the fruit indicated to
Tolkowsky that the artist was unfamiliar with fruit-bearing
trees. Since the leaf-stalk in the picture was not winged,
Tolkowsky theorized that the orange trees grown in Roman gardens were
of the sweet variety, and probably not as yet fruit-bearing.
By the fourth century A.D., Tolkowsky is
convinced Italian gardeners had overcome the difficulties of obtaining
oranges from trees grown in that country. That both
oranges and lemons were actually grown and bore fruit appears indicated
by one of the earliest Christian mosaics, a vaulted ceiling in the
mausoleum built by the emperor Constantine the Great (274-337 A.D.) to
accommodate the remains of his favorite child, Lady Constantia, who died
about 330 A.D. Citrons, lemons, and oranges are
conspicuously depicted in the mosaic, all of them attached to freshly
cut branches, covered with green leaves.
The Lombard invasion of 568 A.D. wrested
most of Italy from the Byzantine empire. The luxurious
gardens of the rich were destroyed and with them presumably the delicate
citrons, lemon, and orange trees. Tolkowsky believes that
not only the citron but some orange trees as well continued to exist in
Sicily, Sardinia, and the region of Naples, which remained in Byzantine
possession and where because of a more favorable climate the trees had
become naturalized.
Some students of citrus history still
feel Tolkowsky's case for the early introduction of the orange into
Europe remains tenuous, since mosaics and paintings could have been made
by artists who had seen the orange in travels abroad.
However, it is interesting that Isaac (1959), an ardent critic of some
of Tolkowsky's views, credits him with providing sufficient evidence for
us to "conclude that the orange and lemon were known in the early
Christian centuries." And certainly it is logical that
native tropical plants such as the orange and lemon, which require
careful cultivation, might be introduced many times at various periods
of history to subtropical regions only to disappear as a result of
destructive freezes, disease, and even political upheaval.
Rise of Mohammedanism Influenced Citrus.—The
barbaric invasions (350-400 A.D.) brought to an end the expansion of
the Roman Empire, and there was no further extension of Roman
commerce. The next advance in the diffusion of Citrus
species came through the rise of Mohammedanism and the expansion of the
Arab Empire (570-900 A.D.). The Roman Empire gradually
disintegrated, and the advancing Arab Empire spread through northern
Africa and into Spain, entirely surrounding the Mediterranean Sea except
for parts of the French and Italian coasts. Placed in a
country strategically situated between the three great divisions of the
Eastern Hemisphere, the Arabs also extended their conquests into Asia
and Africa far beyond the territory influenced by the Roman Empire.
With wealth and power at their command,
they made great advances in art, science, and agriculture.
They discovered the process of distillation, introduced into Europe the
cotton plant and the sugar cane, and gave us our first knowledge of
many medicinal plants, perfumes, and aromatics such as musk, nutmegs,
mace, and cloves.
Sour Orange Spread by the Arabs.—That
the Arabs were acquainted with the sour orange is shown by the words of
one of their writers, Massoudi. He was quoted by Gallesio
(1811, p. 249) as stating that this fruit was brought from India after
the year 300 of the Hegira (922 A.D.), was first sown in Oman (part of
Arabia), and was carried thence to Iraq (part of old Persia), Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt.
Gallesio and others have relied on this
statement as evidence that the Arabs brought the first orange trees from
India to western Asia, northern Africa, and southern
Europe. Yet Tolkowsky (1938, p. 124) pointed out that
Gallesio used an erroneous translation of Massoudi.
Tolkowsky states: "What Mas'ûdi really wrote is…that Qâher had planted
his garden 'with orange trees brought from Basrah and Oman, of such
kinds as have (or had) been imported from the lands of
India.'" Apparently the high value attached by the Caliph
Qâhar to these trees rested on the fact that they were new varieties,
not previously known in Iraq. Tolkowsky cites other Arab
writers in support of his view that the naranj (sour orange) was already well established in Iraq by the time of Massoudi.
While the earlier theories that orange
and lemon trees were introduced by the Arabs from India appear to be
erroneous, this in no way detracts from the enormous contribution made
by the Moslems in expanding citriculture throughout the countries under
their sway.
Numerous references are found in Arabic
literature to citrus fruits and their uses. The Damascene
(Abd-ulfeda) in his Antidotary had a recipe for making oil from oranges and their seeds (oleum de citrangula et oleum citrangulorum seminibus), and Avicenna, a famous Arab herbalist who died in 1037 A.D. gave a recipe of his own invention for making "syrup of alkadere in which he put juice of the bigarade" (sour orange) (Gallesio, 1811, p. 247).
Thus it is certain that the sour orange
was known to the Arabs and they were instrumental in expanding its
culture some time during the tenth century A.D. into Persia, Iraq,
Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, and apparently later into northern Africa,
Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain.
At the time of the discovery of the route
around the Cape of Good Hope to India (1498), the Portuguese found many
citrons and sour oranges on the east coast of Africa, but they found
these trees only in cultivated gardens. It seems certain,
therefore, that the Arabs, who had penetrated Egypt, Syria, and Barbary
in the first years of their conquests, had taken the citron and the sour
orange with them.
Apparently the first description of the
sour orange was that given by Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) under the name
Arangus.3
He stated that the fruit is short and round, the tree larger and more
cold resistant than the citron, the leaves appearing to be divided into
two, the largest leaf toward the end standing above the smaller
one. According to Killermann (1916, p. 205), this appears
to be not only the first description of the sour orange (Citrus aurantium) but also the first use of the term Arangus (orange), a name which later came to be applied most commonly to the sweet orange.
Arabs Extended Lemon Culture.—Although
much is known with reference to the spread of the lemon into various
parts of the world, the exact place and the mode of its origin are still
in doubt. That it must have originated somewhere in the
countries of southeastern Asia seems certain. Laufer
(1934, p. 145) pointed out that "the earliest references to the lemon in
Chinese records is made by Fan Ch'eng-ta…in his Kwei hai yü heng chi…(preface dated A.D. 1175)," who described the li-mung
fruit as being "the size of a large plum; again, it resembles a small
orange, and is exceedingly sour to the taste." Laufer also
informed us that "the earliest important description of the lemon [in
Chinese] is contained in the Ling wai tai ta…written by Chou K'ü-fei…in A.D. 1178." This Chinese author described the fruit li-mung
as given above and indicated how it was used by the people of
Canton. It was also stated that "some people say that it
has come to us from the southern barbarians." In view of
the doubt that still exists concerning the native origin of the lemon,
this tradition that it had been received from the "southern barbarians,"
coupled with the name li-mung, which Laufer stated is foreign to
the Chinese language, is important evidence indicating that it was an
introduced fruit not native in China. Laufer concluded
that the lemon was introduced into what is now Kwangtung Province in
China probably in the early part of the twelfth century.
Laufer also stated (1934, p. 158): "It is
said that the so-called Nabatean Agriculture, written in A.D. 903 by
Ibn Wahshiyah…contains an allusion to the lemon…If this be true, it
would be the earliest reference to the fruit in the literatures of the
world." He directed attention, however, to a probable error
in the translation, which Seidel regarded justly as a transcription of
the language of Khasia, a district of India famous for citrus
cultivation, so that it is not certain that the lemon is intended.
The authenticity of Ibn Wahshiyah's
reference to the lemon was accepted by To1kowsky. He
pointed out that the Arab agronomist called the lemon hasiâ and added that limûn was the Persian name of the fruit. Since limûn is also the term generally applied by the Arabs, and since there is no trace of the word hasiâ
in their writings, Tolkowsky believed the latter name to be of purely
Nabataean origin, thereby pointing to an old established culture of the
lemon in Iraq.
That the lemon was grown in Egypt before
900 A.D., Tolkowsky considered evident from the contents of certain
so-called Scalae—glossaries of Coptic, Greek, and Arabic
synonyms—found in Egypt and dating back to the seventh, eighth, and
ninth centuries A.D. These glossaries contain the equation:
kortimos=el-limûn.
Tanaka (1929, pp. 342-43) said of the
lemon: "The writer's critical study clearly shows its early introduction
into China during the Sung dynasty (960-1279)." He also noted the first reference to the invention of lemonade by Mongolians as early as 1299.
The most enlightening paper on the
nativity of the lemon is that of Shiu Iu-nin (1933), who, although not
making positive claims, advanced strong evidence indicating that the
lemon is native in southeastern China and was well known and cultivated
before the Sung dynasty. He stated: "But in the Lingnan
section…of (43)4 these words are found: 'In the fourth year of K'ai Pao…two bottles5
of lemon juice were allowed to be presented to the
Emperor.' The fourth year of K'ai Pao is 971 A.D., which is
only eleven years after Emperor Sung T'ai-chu…ascended the throne"
(Shiu, p. 281). Shiu pointed out that the conditions of
such an offering to the emperor indicate clearly that the fruit must
have been well known and widely grown and used long before that time and
thus certainly before the Sung dynasty.
Shiu (p. 284) also mentioned the
statement quoted above from Laufer of the tradition that the lemon had
been received from the "southern barbarians," taken from Chou K'ü-fei
(1174-1178 A.D.). Shiu, however, explained that what was
known as the "barbarous south" in that period was southern China, as the
culture was then mainly developed in central and northern
China. He mentioned other fruits typical of Kwangtung,
such as the Lychee and Lungan, which were also then spoken of as fruits
of the "barbarous south."
Glidden (1937), in an exhaustive study of
the evidence based on the derivation of native names used in the
different countries and the historic evidence available, concluded:
"From all the available evidence the lemon seems to be a native of the
eastern Himalaya region, as both the geographical distribution and the
various names of the fruit testify." Thus it may be stated
that the weight of evidence now available favors southern China and
probably Upper Burma as the native home of the lemon.
The lemon came to attention in Europe a
little later than the sour orange, but apparently followed the same
general route on its journey there. Ibn-al-Awâm (1864) in
his treatise on agriculture, written in Spain some time in the latter
half of the twelfth century, described rather fully the methods of
citrus propagation and culture and referred to the citron, the orange
(sour), the lemon, and the pummelo or shaddock as if they were
well-known fruits. All of these fruits, furthermore, were
discussed in statements that he quoted from Abu'l Khayr, who wrote some
time in the first half of the twelfth century. Thus we
may conclude with reasonable certainty that by about 1150 A.D. the
citron, the sour orange, the lemon, and the shaddock had been introduced
by the Arabs into Spain and the countries of northern Africa.
The lemon was not mentioned by the
Damascene or by Avicenna, but was described in all the works of Arabian
writers of the twelfth century, especially by Ibn al-Baitar (1197-1248
A.D.) (Gallesio, 1811, p. 250; Laufer, 1934, p. 158), who had an article
on it in his dictionary of simple remedies. It is certain
that the culture of the lemon, as well as the sour orange, was
furthered by the Arabs in Persia and Palestine, and, by the beginning of
the twelfth century, the lemon was being commonly grown in those
countries. Evidently it was also taken to the countries of
northern Africa and into Spain, as was the sour orange.
It may also be assumed that the Mazoe
lemon, found in recent years by English settlers apparently growing wild
along streams in Southern Rhodesia, was introduced by the
Arabs. Vasco da Gama (1898) arrived at Mombasa on April 7,
1498, and in the account of his voyage described the place as "a city
of great trade with many ships. The King sent to the
explorers a large boat laden with fowls, sheep, sugar canes, citrons,
lemons, and large sweet oranges, the best that had ever been
seen." Thus it would appear that the lemon had been
introduced into this section by the Arabs, and probably also the Mazoe
type, which later became feral. The Mazoe lemon is
identical with the Florida rough lemon, which was introduced into
Florida by the Spanish voyagers slightly later, and there also became
feral. It is likewise identical with the jamberi lemon of India.
Influence of Crusades in Extending Citrus Culture.—Following
the activity of the Arabs in spreading citrus culture, the next great
advance in extending these fruits into Europe came through the Crusades,
the great religious movement which began at the close of the eleventh
century. The Crusades opened to the peoples of Europe the
entrance to Syria and Palestine, which had been closed by the expansion
of the Arab Empire, and reawakened among them the spirit of commerce and
a taste for arts and luxury. The Crusaders were not
common soldiers but were men of the highest class and rank who joined
the movement in a spirit of religious fervor to win the universe for
Christianity. They entered Asia Minor as conquerors and
thence spread as traders into all parts of Asia. Naturally
they were attracted by the desirable products of art and agriculture in
the new lands and coveted them for their homes, to which they expected
to return. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that
in this period Europe was enriched with many valuable products, among
them the apricot, the sour orange, and the lemon.
Sour Orange, Lemon, and Lime Introduced by Crusaders.—The
lemon, the lime, and the sour orange were mentioned by European
historians only after the period of the Crusades. Hence,
it seems certain that these fruits must have been brought to Liguria and
to other parts of Italy and France by the Crusaders. In
his History of Jerusalem, Jacques de Vitry, a bishop and
historian of the thirteenth century who had been in Palestine with the
Crusaders, described the interesting citrus fruits found there
(Gallesio, 1811, p. 256). The Adam's Apple (shaddock), the
lemon, the citron, and the sour orange are among the trees which he
mentioned and regarded as foreign to Europe.
Sylvaticus of Mantua (Italy), who wrote
about the middle of the thirteenth century (Gallesio, 1811, p. 266),
described the citron, the sour orange, the lemon, and a fruit commonly
called lima (probably what we now know as the lime).
At this time the culture of these four fruits in Liguria had evidently
made considerable progress, for he stated that they were very well
known.
It is true that the citron, the orange,
and the lemon had already been grown in many parts of Italy, but it is
likely that the contraction of the area over which they had been grown,
caused by the barbaric invasions of several centuries before, had left
citrus culture limited to the warm islands of the Mediterranean, and to
Sicily and Sardinia. If this was the situation, then,
owing to the difficulty of communication and the general illiteracy of
the age, it is not surprising that citrus may have been forgotten by the
peoples of southern Europe.
The Sweet Orange
First European Reference to Sweet Orange.—Although Tolkowsky theorized that the sweet orange (Citrus sinensis
[L.] Osbeck) grew in Italy during the early Christian era, traces of
its culture vanishing during the barbaric invasions, there is no written
evidence of the actual culture of sweet oranges in southern Europe
until the fifteenth century.
Some historians of citriculture have
maintained that no sweet oranges were grown in Europe until the
Portuguese brought the first trees from India or the Far East after they
discovered the direct sea-route around the Cape of Good
Hope. Tolkowsky, however, has asserted that the sweet
orange tree must have already been established in the Mediterranean
regions of Europe prior to Vasco da Gama's voyage of discovery of 1497
A.D. He cites as one direct documentary proof a letter
written on June 29, 1483 by the king of France, Louis XI, to Francois de
Genas, governor of the province of Languedoc (Tolkowsky, p.
238). Louis XI requests that the governor send him
"citrons and sweet oranges , muscatel pears and parsnips, and it is for
the holy man who eats neither meat nor fish and you will be doing me a
very great pleasure." Since the holy man referred to is
Saint Francis of Paula, who had just arrived at the court of Louis XI,
Tolkowsky considered it probable that the pious monk had already become
accustomed to eating sweet oranges in his native country of Calabria.
By the beginning of the sixteenth
century, there was abundant evidence showing that the sweet orange had
become well established and had assumed commercial importance in
southern Europe. It does not seem to have been widely
cultivated until toward the middle of the fifteenth century.
Portugal Orange Not the First Importation.—The
path by which the sweet orange first reached Europe is difficult to
trace. Many early writers believed that voyagers brought
it to Portugal shortly after Vasco de Gama rounded Cape Horn and reached
India in 1498. Valmont be Bomare (1764), for example,
stated in his Dictionary of Natural History that the first
imported tree, from which came all the sweet orange trees of Europe, was
at that time still growing at Lisbon in the garden of the Count St.
Laurent (Gallesio, 1811, p. 297). Apparently the general
application of the name Portugal orange to the sweet orange came from
the belief in its origin from this tree. Gallesio (1811,
p. 298), however, pointed out that this name was not known in Europe
until about the middle of the seventeenth century and that previous to
that time the fruit had been known under the simple name of orange douce
(sweet orange). He also pointed out that the Portuguese
did not reach China until 1518 and that João de Castro, who is credited
with having brought the tree to Portugal, was born in 1500 and could not
have returned from his first voyage until about 1520.
Vasco da Gama, in relating the story of
his voyage (1498), as written by a Florentine who was on his vessel,
said that in India there were many orange trees, but all with sweet
fruit. If the sweet orange were at that time unknown to da
Gama, it would seem astonishing that he failed to describe it as
different from the known sorts.
None of the travelers of this epoch
showed surprise at sight of this fruit, as they did on seeing many
others, from which it may be deduced that they were already familiar
with the sweet orange and that it was no longer a novelty.
Sweet Orange Widely Grown in Early Sixteenth Century.—Many
writers at the beginning of the sixteenth century mentioned the sweet
orange, and all of them spoke of it as an old tree of unknown origin.
Matioli, famous for his work an botany,
in his translation of Dioscorides printed in 1540, regarded the sweet
orange as an ancient tree. Augustino Gallo, in his work on
agriculture published in 1569, spoke of the sweet orange as a plant
whose cultivation dated from time immemorial and told of an old
cultivator at Salo, ninety years of age, who could not remember the
planting of the trees existing in his time.
Navagero, in his Spanish Voyage,
published in 1525, described the prodigious trees in the kitchen garden
of the King at Sevilla, all of which were sweet oranges.
Possibly most important of all, as proving the wide distribution of this
species at the beginning of the sixteenth century, is the statement of
the learned monk, Leandro Alberti, who traveled in Italy in
1523. He stated that he saw immense plantations of orange,
lemon, and citron trees in Sicily, Calabria, upon the borders of the
river Salo in Liguria, and in many other places. He
expressly stated that a great number of varieties were cultivated and
that most of them had sweet fruit. (See Gallesio, 1811,
pp. 302-03.)
Gallesio (1811, p. 322) also described
two documents, found in the archives of the city of Savona, which he
considered important evidence as showing the presence of the sweet
orange in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century. One,
under date of May 27, 1471, is an account of an expedition to deliver a
gift of fruits from the city of Savona to an ambassador at
Milan. From the wording it would appear that the fruits
must have been sweet oranges, though they were designated merely as citruli. The second document, dated February 12, 1472, is a bill of sale of 15,000 citranguli, received by the notary Pierre Corsaro. Gallesio concluded from the conditions and wording of this bill that the citranguli were undoubtedly sweet oranges.
It is clearly impossible that this
extensive culture of the sweet orange in Liguria at the beginning of the
sixteenth century could have come from the Portuguese importation,
since that did not take place earlier than the beginning of that century
(perhaps about 1520).
In explaining why there are few
references to sweet oranges in European literature prior to 1500 A.D.,
Tolkowsky noted that most oranges—sweet or sour—were used as condiments
for fish and meat and rarely eaten as fresh fruit. The
sweet oranges cultivated in Europe prior to the Portuguese importation
were probably of inferior fragrance and taste. Once the
Portuguese began importing new varieties from Asia, however, the demand
for sweet oranges quickly exceeded that for sour fruit.
Culture of the new type of sweet oranges soon became an important factor
in the economic life of Portugal and rapidly spread into other
Mediterranean countries.
Sweet Orange Arrived over Genoese Trade Route.—Gallesio
concluded from his study of historic evidence that the sweet orange
probably reached Europe first through the commercial trade route
established and maintained by the Genoese. The Crusaders
had stimulated in Europe a desire for the luxuries of the
East. The religious movement, long continued, led to the
revival of trade and finally to the establishment of two great trade
routes, one from Genoa and the other from Venice, which were operated on
an extensive scale and under great difficulty through several
centuries. Hosts of highly intelligent men seeking honor
and wealth joined the traders and, disguised as Arabs or by other means,
penetrated Arabia, Palestine, and India.
The maintenance of these trade routes
stimulated the Arabians and those having connection with India and the
East to search for and procure the novel articles of commerce sought by
the European traders.
It can scarcely be doubted, therefore,
that the sweet orange which is mentioned in literature of the fifteenth
century reached Europe sometime in the early part of that century,
probably over the Genoese trade route.
Portuguese Made Important Introduction.—Although
the sweet orange had been introduced into Europe at least a century
before the Portuguese reached China, it seems certain that the
Portuguese contributed much to the spread and popularization of orange
growing by introducing a superior variety. This new
variety, which later came to be known as the Portugal orange, evidently
stimulated the industry much as the introduction of the Washington
navel stimulated orange culture in California. The mother
tree of the variety was evidently the imported tree from China described
by Valmont de Bomare (1764) as "still growing in the Garden of the
Count St. Laurent" at Lisbon.
This also was evidently the variety (Aurantium olysiponense)
referred to by Ferrari (1646, p. 425) in the statement: "Just recently
there has been sent to Rome to the garden of Pios and Barberinos from
Lisbon a beautiful tree with golden fruit. Some say the
tree has come originally from China, hence, it is sometimes called
Chinese or Sinensian tree." Ferrari's illustration of the
fruit of this tree indicated a fairly good, smooth, thin-skinned,
spherical type (fig. 1-3). It was further stated:
The shape of its leaves and flowers is the same as other citrus trees. It surpasses others only in this, that a crushed leaf smells more alluring. The fruit is decidedly round in shape with a skin, if you look at it carefully, that is granular and most glowingly and delightfully yellow. The pulp extends to the very outer rind, and has a sweet and most pleasingly spicy taste. The pulp and juice are so golden in color one would think gold had been melted away into its juice. This fruit although it has a very slight acidity is a sweet and fragrant morsel for anyone's palate. (Hawkinson, 1936).
Ferrari described other sweet oranges but singled out this Portugal orange as something new and good. This was in 1646, about a century after its importation into Portugal, indicating how slowly such valuable plants were disseminated.The Lime
Apparently the first mention of the
lime in literature was made by Abd-Allatif in the thirteenth
century. Gallesio (1811, p. 33) stated that his "balm
lemon of smooth skin the size of a pigeon's egg" was apparently
identical with the species of lime of Naples. Evidently,
therefore, the lime also was known to the Arabs, who probably played a
major role in spreading its culture through India to Persia, Palestine,
Egypt, and Europe. The first mention of the lime, under
that name, according to T. W. Brown (1924, p. 74), was apparently by Sir
Thomas Herbert (Travels, 1677), who spoke of finding "oranges,
lemons, and limes" on the island Mohelia (Mohéli of the Comoro group,
off Mozambique) during a voyage begun in 1626. However, as
has been stated previously, Sylvaticus in the middle of the thirteenth
century spoke of a fruit vulgarly called lima which apparently
was what we now know as the lime (Gallesio, 1811, p. 268).
Sir George Watt (1889-1893) stated that the Arabic word limoon through the Persian is the Hindi word lime or limbu, probably adopted by the Sanskrit people for this fruit and used with little change in most languages.
According to T. W. Brown (1924), the
first reference to the lime in Egypt was that made by Thevenot, who in
his description of the Mataria garden in 1657 "alludes to 'des petits limons'
and these could hardly have been anything else but limes."
However, Tolkowsky has noted a reference in one of the stories of the Arabian Nights
to "Egyptian limes and Sultania oranges and citrons."
These ancient tales were collected in their present form about 1450 A.D.
The Mandarin Orange
The mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata
Blanco), which is a native of China and south-eastern Asia, was not
taken to Europe during ancient and medieval times but was known and
extensively planted in China and Japan at a very early date.
As has already been stated, several clearly distinct varieties were
described in 1178 A.D. in the Chü lu (Han Yen-chih,
1923). The variety Chen kan or Ju kan (Milk orange of
Wên-chou) described by Han, according to the studies of Tanaka (1932, p.
7)
became famous in Japan, not only from the excellence of the original text, but from the admiration of Li Shih-Chen, the author of the Pen ts'ao kang mu, or Standard Chinese herbal. There is, however, a diversity of opinions about the identity of the Ju kan with the orange grown in Japan. The author of Wakan Sansai Dzue (A.D. 1713) identifies it as the Japanese Kunembo (true Citrus nobilis Lour. [now C. reticulata Blanco]), while the authors of Zôtei Nankai Hôfu (1867) and Yamato Honzo (A.D. 1761) make it identical with the Kishu Mikan or the Kinokuni (C. kinokuni Hort.).
According to Tanaka, the first reference to the orange of Wên-chou in Japanese literature "is perhaps a citation in Isei Teikin Orai, one of the oldest books of family letter writing, composed by Kokwan (1278-1346 A.D.)." It is thus evident that varieties of the mandarin orange reached Japan about the time that the orange and the lemon reached Europe. They were not introduced into Europe and America until modem times. The first mandarin tree was brought to England from China in 1805, and the mandarin spread from England first to Malta, and then to Sicily and continental Italy (Tolkowsky, 1938, p. 216).The Pummelo and the Grapefruit
The pummelo or shaddock (Citrus grandis [L.]
Osbeck) in its journey to Europe apparently followed about the same
path as the sweet and sour oranges. The intermediate steps
in its passage, however, are less perfectly known, perhaps because no
particular use was made of its fruits. The Adam's Apple, a
form of the shaddock, was mentioned by an anonymous pilgrim as growing
in Palestine in the year 1187 (Tolkowsky, 1938, p. 139); Jacques de
Vitry, about the middle of the thirteenth century, also mentioned it
among the fruits of Palestine. Ibn-al-Awâm (1864), writing
in Spain in the latter half of the twelfth century, described what is
interpreted as being the Adam's Apple under the names zamboa and bustanbûn,
quoting from Abu'l Khayr (first half of the twelfth
century). From the statements of Abu'l Khayr and al-Awâm
it would seem that the Adam's Apple and perhaps other forms of the
pummelo or shaddock had already arrived in Spain by the middle of the
twelfth century, having been brought there by the Arabs.
Since Ferrari (1646) described and illustrated several varieties of the
pummelo, it must have reached Europe fairly early.
Alphonse de Candolle (1886, p. 177) stated:
The number of varieties in the Malay Archipelago indicates an ancient cultivation. Its original country is not yet known because the trees which appear indigenous may be the result of naturalization following frequent cultivation. Roxburgh (1832, vol. 3, p. 393) says that the species was brought to Calcutta from Java.
In the Friendly Islands and the Fijis, the very widespread existence of the pummelo or shaddock in the wild indicates that it may be indigenous there. A consideration of the evidence available seems to indicate that it may safely be considered as indigenous in the Malayan and Indian archipelagos and to have spread from there to China and India, and thence to Persia, Palestine and Europe.INTRODUCTION OF CITRUS INTO OTHER COUNTRIES
The Americas
Closing of Trade Routes by the Turks and Discoveries in Navigation Extended Citrus to America.—It
remains to inquire how citrus fruits reached the Western Hemisphere,
where natural wild groves of sour and sweet oranges, lemons, and limes
were found in the various sections when they finally came to be settled,
and yet where no Citrus species is supposed to be indigenous.
Here again an upheaval of human relations
that interrupted existing conditions led to the further advance of the Citrus
tribe. In 1453, Constantinople fell before the Turks, and
throughout the next century Turkish pressure upon Europe was continuous
and severe. The great trade routes to India from Venice
and Genoa were almost completely closed. All over Europe,
traders were speculating on new routes to India and the East.
Sailing ships had been much improved and
the science of navigation had been much extended and
perfected. It was at this time that Columbus conceived the
great idea of reaching India by sailing westward. As we
know, he did not reach India, but on an October day in 1492 he landed on
the shores of the New World.
Six years later Vasco da Gama, a
Portuguese navigator, rounded the southernmost point of Africa and
finally reached India. There followed a period of
extraordinary activity in the discovery and exploitation of the world's
natural resources. Products of the Old World were taken to
America and those of America brought back to enrich Europe.
The Spanish and Portuguese were leaders in these explorations and
were the first to establish colonies in America. Trade
relations with America were considered so important in Spain that a
powerful governing board for American trade, the Casa de Contratación,
was organized in 1505. For many years it directed
activities in outfitting expeditions and provided for the exchange of
valuable seeds and plants (Puente y Olea, 1900).
No Citrus Species Native in America.—That
citrus fruits were not known in America at the time of the discovery is
clearly indicated by the fact that the accounts and narratives of the
early explorers contain no reference to these valuable plants, although
they do describe many new fruits and plants, and the beautiful gardens
of Montezuma. That no Citrus species is indigenous
to America is a fact now recognized by authorities. By the
middle of the sixteenth century, however, numerous statements in the
literature of the period make mention of the presence of several species
in widely different localities.
Columbus Introduced Citrus into America, November 22, 1493.—It
probably cannot be assumed that Columbus on his first expedition took
citrus seeds to America, there to be planted or scattered, as his first
voyage was primarily one of discovery, and inasmuch as both the fort and
the settlement that he established at La Navidad were destroyed after
he left. On his second voyage, however, he went prepared
to establish settlements, taking the seeds, plants, and domestic animals
that were considered necessary and important. It was this
voyage (1493) that resulted in the first permanent settlement in the
New World, that on the island of Haiti.
At this period, citrus fruits,
particularly the sweet orange, were greatly prized throughout the
Mediterranean countries, and, as we have seen, efforts were being made
to extend their culture by the use of orangeries
(greenhouses). It is scarcely conceivable that an
expedition at this time would set out from Spain to a subtropical
country with colonization in view without taking a stock of seeds or
plants of a fruit as much prized as the orange.
Puente y Olea (1900, p. 375) wrote:
The first plants from the Old World were planted on the island of Hispaniola [Haiti] immediately after its discovery and it is known that Christopher Columbus on his second voyage, for which he had been provided with supplies of every sort and which he made in the company of 17 vessels and about 2,000 men, brought with him seeds of various kinds, and also useful animals for propagation on this island. It is likewise known that by order of Queen Isabella a certain number of farmers embarked in his ships and according to Angleria (Peter Martyr)7 artisans of many kinds, who shall build there a city.
Columbus on this expedition did establish a settlement at Isabella in Haiti and the colonists developed successful gardens, as is shown by later testimony. It can scarcely be doubted that, among their other cultivations, trees of the sweet orange, the sour orange, the lemon, the citron, and probably the lime, the types with which the Spanish and Portuguese were at that time familiar, were included.I sowed the seeds of some oranges near to another Idol house, and it happened thus:—There were so many mosquitoes near the river that ten of us soldiers went up to sleep in a lofty Idol house, and close by that house I sowed the seeds which I had brought from Cuba, for there was a rumor that we were coming back to settle. They came up very well, for it seems that the papas (priests) when they saw that they were plants differing from those they knew, protected them and watered them and kept them free from weeds and all the oranges in that province are the descendents of these plants. I know well that these old tales have nothing to do with any history, so I must leave off telling them.
Maudslay also stated that the Alonzo Remon edition added to this passage the following:And I have called this to mind because these were the first oranges planted in New Spain. After the fall of Mexico, when the towns subject to Coatzacoalcos had been pacified, this was looked upon as the best province, being the best suited in all New Spain, both on account of the mines it possessed as well as for its good harbour, for it was a land both rich in gold and in pasture for cattle. For this reason it was settled by the principal conquistadores of Mexico, of whom I was one. So I went back to look for my orange trees and transplanted them, and they turned out very well.
This statement, translated from the original manuscript, where it was blotted out as data "irrelevant to history," is of great interest to the citrus industry. Certainly Díaz would not have thought of making such a statement had there not been some foundation for it in fact. At the end of the paragraph he stated that it had "nothing to do with any history," and this is clearly the reason it was blotted out. Maudslay, the translator, pointed out the frequent statements in the manuscript which indicate the author's indecision concerning what should be considered important historic data and his timidity concerning his own ability to write history.Orange trees from Castile were brought to this island of Hispaniola [Haiti], and they have multiplied so abundantly that now they are past counting; the fruit is very good, both the sweet and the sour. They grow in this city of Santo Domingo and all over the islands wherever Christians have their estates and gardens. And what is true here is equally true in the other islands, and also on the main land wherever there are settlements of Spaniards.…There are many lemon trees and limes, and many citrons, and as I have already said great quantities of each; and the quality is uniformly good—Andalusia itself has no superior (1851-1855 ed.).
Slightly later, Gómara (1554, p. 457) also referred to oranges as having become abundant in Central America. He wrote: "Fruits of acid and juice such as oranges and sugar cane have multiplied abundantly."As for those trees that have most aboundantly fructified, be orange trees, limons, citrons, and others of that sort. In some parts there are at this day, as it were, whole woods and forests of orange trees; and which seeming strange unto me, I asked who had planted the fields with so many orange trees? they made mee answer, that it did come by chaunce, for that oranges being fallen to the ground, and rotten, their seeds did spring, and of those which the water had carried away into diverse partes, these woods grew so thicke, which seemed to me a very good reason. I have saide that this fruite hath generally increased most at the Indies, for that I have not beene in any place but I finde orange trees, for that all their sayle [soil] is hote and moist, which this tree most desires. There growes not any uppon the Sierra or mountains, but they carry them from the vallies or sea coast. The conserve of oranges which they do make at the Ilands is the best I have seene anie where.9
It is also interesting to note from this statement that a conserve, probably similar to marmalade, was in use at this early date.There are in this country all the varieties of oranges which there are in Spain; some with a thin skin, others called cageles, with a thick; some sweet, others sour; but all in brief large and heavy and filled with juice.…Sweet and sour limes and lemons of exceptional fragrance grow to good size and are also very juicy. The large lemons, called the Royal are not so abundant as the small. The first oranges in this city of Lima were planted by one of its first inhabitants, a man named Baltasar Gago, in his own garden a half league from the city, and there the first orange trees are still to be seen alive. When I first came to Lima there were no sweet lemons either in the city or elsewhere in the realm; but now in this district we have had them for twenty years; both the large lemons called the Royal and the smaller lemons with a heavy fragrance (Ceuties) and every day they are becoming more abundant.12
From the statements cited above—and many other similar statements could be given—it is clear that oranges, lemons, limes, and citrons had been distributed widely in the Americas by the middle of the sixteenth century and had become very abundant and even feral in some places.Africa
Orange, Lemon, and Pummelo Reached Southern Africa, June 11, 1654.—The paths traveled by the various species of Citrus
in their early march toward commercialization have been indicated in
preceding sections. By the close of the fifteenth century
the different species had reached almost all the tropical and
subtropical sections of the Eastern Hemisphere except southern
Africa. Here exact evidence of the date of their
introduction and first fruiting was given in the daily journal of events
kept by Van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Dutch colony at
Capetown (see Leibbrandt, 1897; and Webber, 1925, p. 10).
The first sweet orange trees were brought from the island of St. Helena
by the ship "Tulp," which arrived at Capetown on June 11, 1654, and were
planted in the governor's private garden. On July 25,
1661, the first fruits produced by the trees from St. Helena ripened and
were plucked and tested by the governor and found "to be
good." Meanwhile other trees had been received from India,
and at this time (July, 1661) it was stated that there were 1,162 young
orange, lemon, and pummelo (shaddock) trees growing in the governor's
garden. (See also Webber, 1943.)
The island of St. Helena was commonly
used by the early voyagers to India as a stopping place for supplies and
water, and evidently the orange, and perhaps other citrus trees, had
been taken there from India and planted, as an intermediate point in
their transfer to Europe.
Australia
Orange Introduced into Australia in 1788.—Citrus
was first planted in New South Wales by the colonists of the First
Fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip, who sailed for Australia in 1787
with instructions to introduce plants and seeds at his discretion
(Bowman, 1955). At Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the
expedition stopped for one month, the colonists purchased orange, lime,
and lemon trees. On arrival at Port Jackson on January 26,
1788, the first work performed was the planting of the seeds and plants
obtained in the voyage from England. According to Bowman
(1955), oranges, limes and lemons were flourishing at the end of the
first year of settlement.
Shortly after 1800, an orangery was begun
at Seven Hills, which was to become the most famous grove of its
day. By 1828, exports of oranges and lemons were being
made from New South Wales to Van Diemen's Land (Bowman,
1955). An 1828 catalogue of the Botanic Gardens at Sydney
lists twenty-one varieties of oranges and mandarins as being grown, the
mandarins indicating that trade had been established with China at an
early date. The most interesting item on this list,
however, is the Washington navel or Bahia orange, which had such a
profound effect in stimulating the development of the citrus industry in
California, first fruiting in that state in 1878. Coit
(1915, p. 14) reports that this Brazilian variety "was grown
commercially and was marketed under the name of Bahia, or Navel orange,
as early as 1860."
INTRODUCTION OF CITRUS INTO THE UNITED STATES
The Spread of Citrus into Florida and South Carolina
Introduced into Florida About 1565.—The
exact date of the introduction of citrus fruits into Florida is
unknown. It is certain, however, that they were brought in
by the early Spanish explorers and colonists some time between 1513,
when Ponce de León first landed in Florida, and 1565, when St.
Augustine, the first colony in Florida, was established.
The first reference to the occurrence of
oranges in Florida appears in a statement by Pedro Menéndez to the
Audiencia of Santo Domingo, dated at St. Augustine, April 2,
1579. He stated: "There are beginning to be many of the
fruits of Spain, such as figs, pomegranates, oranges, grapes in great
quantity; there are many mulberries from the mulberry trees produced in
this same soil, etc."13
From Menéndez' comments, it would seem
that oranges were being produced in abundance in St. Augustine in 1579,
thirteen years after the arrival of the first settlers
there. We are justified, therefore, in assuming that sour
oranges, sweet oranges, and probably lemons, limes, and citrons were
introduced in 1565, when the settlement was first established at St.
Augustine.
First Plantings in South Carolina Made Before 1577.—It
is well known that oranges in small quantities have been grown for many
years in South Carolina and Georgia, particularly on certain islands
adjacent to the coast. It is therefore interesting to know
that Bartolomé Martínez in a letter to the King dated at Havana,
February 17, 1577, stated: "And what may be truthfully told to your
Majesty is that in Santa Elena [Parris Island, South Carolina] I planted
with my own hands grape vines, pomegranate trees, orange and fig trees; wheat, barley, onions, and garlic."14
Martinez had lived in Santa Elena until 1576. His garden
therefore was planted before 1577, the date of his statement.
It is clear from this evidence that
citrus fruits were introduced into several sections of the southeastern
United States in the latter part of the sixteenth century.
Wild Orange Groves Developed in Florida.—The
early settlers in Florida some two centuries later found wild citrus
groves in various parts of the state, some of them many acres in extent,
which are supposed to have developed from seeds dropped by the Indians,
to whom fruits had been given. They were usually found on
hammock lands near lakes or rivers where conditions were particularly
favorable for their growth and in places where the Indians commonly
maintained villages. According to Harris (1875):
The most extensive groves are on Orange Lake, in the northern part of Marion County.…There are several hundred acres of the finest wild orange grove around this lake that can be found anywhere.…The next largest groves are on Lakes Griffin and Harris in Sumpter County. There are also fine wild groves on Lakes Weir, Bryant, Panasoffkee, Jessup, George, and Apopka, and on the Ocklawaha, Withlacoochee, St. Johns, Indian, and Halifax Rivers, and also in many other parts…there are wild orange trees in groves of from a few trees to several acres.
Adams (1875) stated: "The natural trees grow from 12 to 15 feet in height—not very large, interspersed with oak, hickory, bay, et cetera."I was there about ten years ago [this would thus be about 1764] when the surveyor ran the lines or precincts of the colony, where there was neither habitation nor cleared field. It was then a famous orange grove, the upper or south promontory of a ridge, nearly half a mile wide, and stretching north about forty miles…All this ridge was then one entire orange grove, with live oaks, magnolias, palms, red bays and others.
This grove was largely cleared by Turnbull and the land planted with indigo.The number of trees owned by different individuals prior to 1835 varied from ten to fifteen hundred. Perhaps no person in Florida had more than the latter number in full bearing condition at the time of the great frost, which occurred on the 9th of February, of that year. There were many trees then to be found in St. Augustine which exceeded forty feet in height, with trunks from twenty to twenty-seven inches in diameter [63 to 85 inches in circumference], and which probably were more than a century old.…Previous to 1835 St. Augustine produced annually from two million to two million five hundred thousand oranges which were equal in bulk to about fifteen thousand barrels. They were shipped to Charleston, Baltimore, New York, Boston, etc., and usually brought from one dollar to three dollars per hundred.
Colonel F. L. Dancy (1875), a well-known pioneer orange grower, who was in Florida at the time of the great freeze of 1835, stated: "Trees a hundred years old were killed to the ground.…In the spring, however, the trees grew up from the roots, and in two years bore fruit once more."There were three types of oranges in the original [Mays] grove, a round, full-colored orange not quite so fine flavor as Homosassa; a lighter-colored orange slightly flattened and not quite so sweet—an Azorean type; and a very sweet oblong orange known as the "Early Oblong" or "Sweet Seville."…it would seem that most of the sweet seedling orange trees of Florida were propagated from seed from the Mays and Rembert groves.
Another grove famous in the early history of Florida was the D. D. Dummitt grove on Merritt Island, which according to Bass (1926), was, started about 1830. If we may judge from the statements of old residents and from the fact that the oldest trees in the grove were on sour orange stocks budded from three to four feet high, Captain Dummitt first top-worked wild sour orange trees that were growing on the place (fig. 1-6). All the oldest tree in the grove clearly showed the bud union. The senior author testified that the stocks were sour orange, for he carefully examined sprouts from the stocks of several trees. This was probably the first instance of the working over of a wild grove; the general practice of using such groves in this way did not start until about 1865 or 1870. The sweet orange to which the Dummitt trees were budded was taken from a grove near New Smyrna, and was doubtless a wild sweet orange tree. Bass stated that this was the beginning of the old "Indian River variety," which later became famous.The Spread of Citrus into Arizona
It is interesting to note that the early
historical records indicate that citrus fruits reached what is now the
state of Arizona before settlements had been made in California, and
that Arizona is thus an older citrus-growing section than
California. Father Eusebio Kino's manuscript describing
the exploration and establishment of the early missions in Lower
California, Sonora, and Arizona, which was translated by Professor
Herbert E. Bolton (Kino, 1919) of the University of California, supplies
definite evidence of the introduction of oranges into Arizona in the
early days of the eighteenth century.
The first mission established by Kino in
Lower California in 1683 failed and was abandoned, but those
established somewhat later in northern Sonora (Mexico) and in southern
Arizona flourished and developed an extensive and prosperous
agriculture. In summarizing the conditions and the
cultivations at the missions during the period from 1707 to 1710, Kino
stated:
There are many Castilian fruit trees such as fig trees, quinces, oranges, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, pear-trees, apples, mulberries, pecans, prickly pears, etc., with all sorts of garden stuff (Kino, 1919, vol. 2, p. 265).
It seems certain from this statement that at the missions in Sonora and southern Arizona oranges were being successfully grown in the early days of the eighteenth century, and the date of Kino' s report, 1707, may be taken as approximately the date of the introduction of oranges into Arizona. It is quite certain that no citrus trees reached Alta California prior to the establishment of the first mission in 1769.The Spread of Citrus into California
Establishment of Missions Extended Citrus Culture.—If
definite records exist indicating when the first citrus seeds or trees
were brought to California and planted, they have not yet been brought
to attention.
In 1767, the Jesuits were expelled from
the missions in Baja or Lower California, and their possessions were
placed in charge of the Franciscans. Owing to a dispute
between the Franciscans and the Dominicans, a division of the property
was made, and the Franciscans elected to develop the missions in Alta
California. In 1769, under the leadership of Fra Junípero
Serra, they entered what is now California and founded the first of
their missions at San Diego. Twenty-one missions were
ultimately established in the coastal section of the state, forming a
chain extending northward as far as San Rafael.
The missions necessarily were forced to
produce their own foodstuffs, and all but three of them maintained
gardens and orchards. It is known that the Franciscans in
beginning their settlement in Alta California got their supplies of
seeds, plants, and domestic animals almost wholly from the missions in
Baja California. Hence, what was included in their
cultivations depended at first upon the products in cultivation and
available in the earlier settlements.
Venegas (1757), writing in Mexico in
1739, mentioned the difficulty experienced in the successful cultivation
of crops at the missions in Lower California owing to the lack of
experienced gardeners. "The latter requirement was
supplied in the person of Ugarte," a trained gardener, so Venegas
reported, "who brought to the peninsula almost every kind of fruit tree
growing in New Spain." Venegas also quoted Clavigero as
having stated that the orange was among the fruits grown in the mission
gardens at that time.
Clavigero's manuscript (1852, p. 8),
which was not published until 1789, contained the following statement
with reference to foreign plants cultivated in Baja California:
Not all of the plants and fruit trees taken to California from various parts of Mexico have grown. In the few places where water is sufficient and the soil suitable for their respective cultivations, the following have prevailed: the olive, lemon, orange, peach, pomegranate, fig, apple, guava, yellow sapota, watermelon, muskmelon, pumpkin (also squash), date palms, wheat, corn, rice, and various kinds of vegetables.
It seems clear from these statements that both oranges and lemons were cultivated in the mission gardens of Lower California prior to 1739, the year Venegas' manuscript was written. By the time the Franciscan expedition which established the first California mission at San Diego in 1769 departed from the missions of Lower California, oranges and lemons must have been fruiting there, and it is very probable that orange and lemon seeds or plants were taken along, with grapes, olives, and other important products, for propagation in the prospective new settlements.…yet the garden of Buena Ventura far exceeded anything of that description I had before met with in these regions, both in respect of the quality, quantity, and variety of its excellent productions, not only indigenous to the country but appertaining to the temperate as well as torrid zone; not one species having yet been seen or planted that had not flourished, and yielded its fruit in abundance and of excellent quality. These have principally consisted of apples, pears, plumbs, figs, oranges, grapes, peaches, and pomegranates, together with the plantain, banana, cocoa nut, sugar cane, indigo, and a great variety of…kitchen herbs, plants and roots…Here also grew great quantities of the Indian fig, or prickly pear; but whether cultivated for its fruit only or for the cochineal I was not able to make myself thoroughly acquainted.
Doubtless at this time orange trees of considerable age could have been seen at several of the missions in southern California.Col. J. J. Warner our "oldest inhabitant," settled in Los Angeles County in 1831. At the time of his coming the orange trees in the Mission garden were twenty-five or thirty years old, and had long been in bearing. This agrees with Father Bot's calculation as to the time of their planting.
In 1885, when the trees were approximately eighty-two or more years old, Spalding (1885, p. 9) had this to say regarding them:The original orchard of Father Tomás [sic] Sánchez, of blessed memory, still remains in the Mission garden at San Gabriel. It is a decrepit old patriarch still lingering to witness the glory of its tribe. The inclosure comprises about six acres, and it is probable that 400 trees constituted the original plantation. Of this number less than thirty survive. I wish that I could say that these trees, now more than 80 years old, remain in a fair state of preservation, but they do not. Few of the trunks are sound. Some of them appear half or two-thirds dead, and only a narrow margin of live bark and wood to keep vigor in the top.…One of the old trunks that I measured showed a girth of 42 inches near the ground.
Some of the trees in this old orchard lived on for many years, but the last of them died of age and lack of care in the early years of the twentieth century.Marysville, Sacramento, and many other cities and towns from San Diego to Red Bluff have large numbers of orange trees now in bearing. Contrary to general expectation the orange ripens from two weeks to one and one-half months earlier in nearly every locality north of San Francisco than in Los Angeles.
In 1862, H. M. White planted two orange trees in Frasier Valley east of Porterville, Tulare County, which later formed the nucleus of a forty-acre orchard. The first orchard in this section was the A. R. Henry orchard at Porterville, which was set out in 1883.The Spread of Citrus into Texas and Other States
The Gulf States.—In the other
continental sections of the United States, where citrus fruits are now
being grown commercially, the industry is of relatively recent
origin. Individual trees have for many years been grown in
gardens in various sections of the states adjoining the Gulf of Mexico
and even as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, but it is only
within the last sixty years that important commercial plantings have
appeared in any of these regions.
In the 1880's, small commercial plantings
were made in Louisiana, mainly in the Delta region below New
Orleans. In certain sections of the Gulf States, small
plantings of the hardy satsuma orange were made as early as 1890, but
these were largely killed by the freezes of 1894-95 and
1899. Planting was gradually resumed, and the industry
became rather widespread, particularly in the southern sections of
Alabama and Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast section of Texas in the
vicinity of Houston and Beaumont. Then came the freeze of
1916-17, which destroyed thousands of acres of citrus groves in
Alabama, Texas, and other Gulf States.
In 1910, the United States census report
gave for Texas a total of 833,406 citrus trees, which were mainly
satsumas in the Houston and Beaumont districts, and in 1915 Webber
(1929) reported the existence of a flourishing industry in those
sections, even though an intensive fight for the control of citrus
canker was in progress. The freeze of 1916-17 destroyed
most of these groves and by 1920 the census report showed only 123,951
citrus trees in the state. Meanwhile, the industry had
moved farther southward, and the trees reported were mainly in a new
section, the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Commercial plantings in the lower Rio
Grande Valley of Texas were begun about 1910. These
expanded very rapidly so that there existed a total of about 116,000
bearing acres in 1948 that produced over 28 million boxes of citrus in
the 1947-48 season. A series of devastating freezes in
January, 1949, in December, 1950, and in January, 1951 eliminated about
three-fourths of the total acreage and reduced production in the 1951-52
season to about one-half million boxes. By the 1960-61
season, production had recovered to more than 10 million boxes, but
other very severe freezes in January, 1962 and January, 1963 reduced
production in the 1962-63 season to a few per cent of the 1960-61 level
(see fig. 1-9).
In spite of these discouraging setbacks, the industry was again being
replanted in 1965 on a modest scale and a 3 million box crop was
estimated.
The plantings of satsuma in the other
Gulf States, mainly Alabama, Louisiana, and northern Florida, totalled [sic]
about 12,000 acres in the early 1940's, but a series of severe freezes
in the two decades following World War II all but eliminated these
plantings. The only commercial citrus remaining (about
2,000 acres) is in the delta area south of New Orleans in Louisiana,
most of which was non-bearing in 1965, having been replanted after the
freezes of 1961 and 1962.
Hawaii and Puerto Rico.—The orange
was introduced into Hawaii in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver, and
other kinds of citrus have been cultivated in the fiftieth state for
more than a century. Production of citrus for export
reached a peak during the period from 1840 to 1870, and since that time
citrus plantings have declined because of the development of the more
remunerative sugar, coffee, and livestock industries (Pope, 1934).
Many of the early citrus varieties
planted in California in the 1850's were imported from
Hawaii. For several decades in the nineteenth century,
oranges were a leading export product from the Kona District on the
island of Hawaii. Citrus is still grown in a number of
localities of Hawaii for domestic consumption, but total production in
1961 amounted to only 19,400 boxes. Over 90 per cent of
the 14 million pounds of fresh citrus consumed in Hawaii in 1961 was
shipped from the mainland. Some excellent citrus studies
have been published by the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station,
situated at Honolulu.
Citrus was introduced into Puerto Rico by
Spanish explorers and settlers very early in its history.
Prior to World War II, Puerto Rico produced considerable quantities of
grapefruit for export to the United States. Grapefruit
exports reached a peak of 672,000 boxes annually in the 1927-31 period,
and total citrus production was in excess of 2 million boxes.
Puerto Rico now produces citrus primarily
for domestic use. Total production of the self-governing
commonwealth in 1961-62 consisted of about l million boxes of oranges
and less than 400,000 boxes of grapefruit (see chap. 2, table 2-1, pp.
42-43 [text version, Revised Ed.]).
ORIGINS OF CITRUS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY
Prior to the nineteenth century,
horticultural techniques and methods of disease control in citrus
culture were left largely to the orchardist, whose knowledge had been
handed down from a remote past. The orchardist might apply
surprisingly sophisticated techniques in propagation (fig. 1-13)
or frost protection (crude smudging was practiced for hundreds of years
in parts of Europe) and yet in ensuring good crops still rely chiefly
on magic and superstition (Coit, 1915; Fawcett, 1936).
Even an educated citrus grower of the
seventeenth century, acting on information from Ferrari (1646), might
have solved his tree disease problems by "burying a dead dog near the
roots." Nor would a later grower have been likely to learn
anything useful from the early recognition and depiction of citrus
pests (fig. 1-14) in Volckamer's Nürnbergische Hesperides
(1708-14). In 1719, a puzzled Leeuwenhoek first observed
two embryos in orange seeds, but it wasn't until 1878 in Germany that
Strasburger industriously followed up this clue to formulate the theory
of polyembryony.
The systematic study of citrus occurred
earliest in the field of botany. Ferrari (1646), Jonstonus
(1662), and Volckamer (1708-14) paved the way by illustrating and
describing many citrus varieties in their works. Then,
following Linnaeus' development of a classification system, scientific
botanical research was swept along by the collecting fervor of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth century botanical explorers.
The first comprehensive account of the orange subfamily was published
by Augustin P. de Candolle in 1824.
Other areas of scientific citrus research
and horticultural experimentation did not receive their impetus until
the mid-nineteenth century, however, and prior to that time only chance
discoveries were made and disconnected investigations
pursued. Notable advances in such fields as citrus
pathology had to await the death-blow that was given the theory of
spontaneous generation by Tyndall and Cohn in 1830 and the growth of a
commercial citrus industry of economic importance (Fawcett, 1936, 1941).
The active period in plant-disease
investigations began about 1880 after Burrill (1878) proved for the
first time that bacteria could be a cause of plant diseases.
The accidental discovery of the Bordeaux mixture in France by
Millardet in 1882 touched off activity in spraying for plant diseases
and what one botanist referred to as the "squirt-gun period" of plant
pathology. In Italy, G. Izenga as early as 1864, Penzig in
1882, and Savastano beginning about 1884 were publishing descriptions
of citrus diseases and fungi (Fawcett, 1936, 1941).
But it was inevitable that crop-oriented
research would gather momentum in the United States, where in Florida
and California two gigantic commercial industries began developing in
the 1870's and 1880's, stimulated by the advent of the transcontinental
railroads. A pioneer period of citrus research
blossomed—an era characterized by the enthusiastic cross-pollination of
ideas among research scientists of the universities and U.S. Department
of Agriculture, members of horticultural societies and state boards of
agriculture, enterprising nurserymen, and a learned breed of growers,
who often pioneered experiments in their own orchards.
Although the Florida industry was older,
experimentation had its headstart in California, where as early as 1858
the State Agricultural Society revealed an interest in citrus problems
(Anonymous, 1858). Sometime around 1869, cottony-cushion
scale was imported to California on Australian acacia trees and within a
decade was spreading through orchards and threatening to doom the young
industry. Two years after the establishment of the
California State Board of Horticulture in 1883, the first American
quarantines were being invoked at sea ports by W. J. Klee, state fruit
inspector. As the disease spread, D. W. Coquillet, an
entomologist, set up one of the first citrus field laboratories on the
Joseph Wolfskill ranch in 1886, where he privately conducted the first
experiments with hydrocyanic gas fumigation (Wilson, 1965).
Klee carried out similar experiments for the state, and more
successful endeavors in fumigation were conducted in 1887 by F. W. Morse
of the University of California (Woodworth, 1915).
The dramatic breakthrough of control on
cottony-cushion scale came in 1889 when Albert Koebele of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture returned from Australia with the Vedalia or
ladybird beetle, a parasite of the scale. Released in
great numbers in California, the ladybird beetle was so successful in
eradicating the pest as to provide one of the most spectacular
demonstrations of biological control in agricultural history (Rasmussen,
1960). The achievement focused attention of California
and Florida growers on the benefits of agricultural research.
California's citrus problems were
magnified by its distance from the eastern markets, and it was there
that the first totally cooperative citrus exchange, the Pachappa Orange
Grower's Association, was established in 1892. The growth
of such cooperatives as the California Fruit Growers Exchange and the
Florida Citrus Exchange in the late nineteenth century made possible
orderly marketing, and the co-ops served as focal points for growers in
lobbying for their needs, thereby further stimulating research on
pressing cultural and shipping problems.
Meanwhile in Florida, growers began
working cooperatively after the organization of the Florida State
Horticultural Society in 1888. In 1889, the Florida
Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Florida was
established with J. Kost as the first director. By the
1890s, Dr. P. H. Rolfs of the experiment station and Dr. H. G. Hubbard
of the U.S. Bureau of Entomology were studying scale insects in Florida
orchards (Rolfs, 1935).
Fresh from its triumph in California,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture turned its attention to the problems
of Florida citrus growers. One of the most significant
events in the industry's history was its establishment of the
Subtropical Laboratory at Eustis, Florida, in 1892. Here
two young researchers, H. J. Webber and W. T. Swingle, for the first
time studied and described such diseases as blight, dieback, foot rot,
scab, melanose, psorosis, and others, making some progress in methods of
control. They performed pioneer work in citrus breeding
and originated and named the first varieties of the important new
hybrids known as tangelos and citranges. They also first
called attention to the possibility of controlling the white fly and
certain scale insects by the use of parasitic fungi (Webber, 1937).
The great Florida freeze of 1894-95 set that industry back many years (fig. 1-15)
and resulted in the recall of Swingle and Webber to Washington, D.C.,
and the abandonment of their laboratory. It also brought
about increased interest in frost protection and one of the pioneer
studies in this field was conducted in 1895 by the Riverside
Horticultural Club and the U.S. Weather Bureau. Numerous
smudging devices were tested and the burning of coal in wire baskets was
settled upon. Although Charles Froude had introduced the
first oil heater in the 1890's, it was not until after 1900 when oil
became cheaper as a fuel that it was universally employed (Coit, 1915).
By the start of the twentieth century,
numerous scientists were pursuing investigations connected with citrus
in the Mediterranean countries, South Africa, Japan, India,
Australia—wherever citrus was grown commercially. The
economic importance of the crop was indicated by the development of
unique institutions oriented toward citrus research such as the Florida
State Citrus Experiment Station, Lake Alfred, founded in 1919; the
Research Institute for Citrus and Subtropical Fruits, Nelspruit, South
Africa, established in 1927; and the University of California's Citrus
Experiment Station, now the Citrus Research Center and Agricultural
Experiment Station.
The Citrus Experiment Station was
established in 1907 by the Regents of the University of
California. The institution consisted initially of a
pathological laboratory in Whittier and an agricultural experiment
station on the slopes of Mount Rubidoux in Riverside (fig. 1-16).
Dr. Ralph E. Smith served as head of both facilities.
In 1913, Dr. H. J. Webber became the first man to hold the title of
director and began shaping the policies and selecting the staff that
were to give the Citrus Experiment Station worldwide influence in citrus
research. Purchase of the present Riverside site made
possible an enlarged citrus experiment station that combined both the
Whittier and Mount Rubidoux staffs. The first and main
building was completed in 1918. The broadening of its
scope through the years led to the institution being renamed the Citrus
Research Center and Agricultural Experiment Station in 1961 (fig. 1-17).
After more than a half century of distinguished service in the
advancement of science and citrus technology, it continues to be the
most prolific single center of research concerned with citrus problems.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The writers have endeavored in the
preceding sections to place the spread of the culture of citrus fruits
in broad historical perspective, emphasizing the always interesting and
sometimes romantic relation of citrus to the forward march of
civilization. In this final section, it appears appropriate
to comment briefly on some of the more recent trends and the apparent
forces behind them.
Modern production trends in the principal citrus areas of the United States are indicated in figure 1-9.
The fluctuating but upward trend shown is fairly typical of several
other leading citrus-growing countries. Projections made
in 1967 suggest that Florida's production alone—barring adverse
weather—could exceed 225 million boxes, and total U.S. production could
exceed 350 million boxes by 1970-1971.
Beginning around the turn of this
century, citrus culture entered a period of relatively rapid expansion
in many parts of the world in response to an increasing market demand in
the more advanced countries. Some of the major driving
forces behind this market expansion were increases in population, rising
standards of living, and the improvement of worldwide communications
resulting from the very rapid extension of railroad, automobile, air,
and steamship transport systems. Improved market quality
due to the development of refrigerated ships, railroad cars, and trucks
contributed strongly to a rise in per capita consumption in many
countries. Better citrus varieties and improvement in
cultural, handling, and shipping methods also contributed greatly to
reducing fruit costs and enhancing fruit appearance. The
discovery of Vitamin C and its importance in the human diet did much to
change consumer attitudes toward citrus. In the United
States at least, widespread advertising, emphasizing the nutritional
value of the high Vitamin C content of citrus, gradually changed the
popular image of citrus from a luxury to a basic health food.
The most spectacular and far-reaching
technological change in recent citrus history is the development of
frozen and hot-pack citrus juice concentrates, which began to be
marketed in quantity about 1948. These new products have
had a worldwide impact on per capita consumption, although to date the
Florida orange industry has experienced by far the greatest
transformation as a result.
The data summarized in figure 1-18
show that immediately prior to World War II only about 20 per cent of
the Florida orange crop was processed, but that by 1963 almost 80 per
cent was processed. During the 1935-40 period, California
processed about 12 per cent and Texas about 1 per cent of their orange
production. By the 1960-65 period, these states were
processing about 28 and 32 per cent of the crops, respectively.
Thus, the recent history of the United
States orange industry provides an excellent example of the vital,
indeed almost revolutionary, impact that research can have on an
agricultural industry. Currently, processing research in
the citrus industry is proceeding at an accelerating tempo.
Without doubt, other new products—both natural and synthetic—will have
a strong influence in molding the trends in world citrus plantings in
the 1970's and 1980's. Similarly, improved varieties and
new production, harvesting, and handling technologies will have various
impacts on the future industry.
FOOTNOTES
1. As given in this chapter, the early history of the introduction and spread of the different Citrus species into European countries has been derived largely from Georges Gallesio, Traité du Citrus (Paris, 1811), and S. Tolkowsky, Hesperides. A History of the Culture and Use of Citrus Fruits (London, 1938). Free use has been made of The Florida Agriculturist's translation of Gallesio, entitled Orange Culture. A Treatise on the Citrus Family, by Georges Gallesio (Jacksonville, Florida, 1876). References to authors cited by Gallesio and Tolkowsky may be obtained from their works. Because of frequent reference to both authors, citation of the dates of their works is sometimes omitted after a series of references.
2. James Legge, The Chinese Classics (London: Trübner…), Vol. III, Pt. I (1865), "The Shoo King," Pt. III, Bk. I, "The Tribute of Yu," chap. 6:44, pp. 111-112.
3. Libre de vegetabilibus vi, tr. I, cap. xi, pp. 54-55. Ausgabe von Jessen, pp. 362-63.
4. The reference under "43" is to Sung Lueh Ssu…, T'ai peng hoan yu chin…, 161:3. (Geography of the Chinese Empire, published in the Sung dynasty.)
5. Given as twelve bottles in another place (Shiu, 1933, p. 277).
6. Citrus historians have long been uncertain how much credence can be given Sloane's tale of the introduction of the shaddock to the West Indies. Swingle (1943, p. 418) was unable to document the existence of "the elusive Captain Shaddock…whose name up to now has not been found in records of either government or private shipping." Tolkowsky (1938, p. 266) also failed to uncover a record of the man for whom the fruit was supposedly named. Immediately prior to publication of this volume, the junior authors succeeded in a search for the missing captain. A brief reference to a Captain Chaddock (sic) making a trip from the Somers Islands (Bermudas) to Trinidad in 1642 was found in a letter from Richard Norwood to the Governor and Company of Adventurers to the Somers Islands in W. Noël Sainsbury (ed.), Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, 1574-1660, I, 323 (London, 1860). This clue led to a Captain Thomas Chaddock (the spelling varies) who served as Governor of the Somers Islands from 1637 to 1641. Further research will be needed to substantiate the Sloane legend.
7. Letter directed to Vice-Chancellor Ascanio on November 1, 1943 (Decadas, I, 24).
8. Díaz left Spain for the New World in 1514, going first to Nombre de Dios (Panama) and thence to Cuba. He was with Cortéz throughout the conquest of Mexico. His manuscript was written in 1568, and the Alonzo Remon edition was published in Madrid in 1632.
9. Quoted from the English Translated Edition of Edward Grimston, 1604, edited with notes and introduction by Clements R. Markham (Hokluyt Society, London, 1880), Vol. 1, p. 265.
10. In letter to Dr. H. S. Fawcett, dated July 13, 1937.
11. "Narrativa epistolar," in Revista trimestra do Instituto Hist. e Geogr. Brasileiro, LXV (1902), 16.
12. Cobo (1890-1895), II, 398. Quoted from a free translation made in 1934 by Professor George W. Hendry of the College of Agriculture, University of California at Berkeley, California.
13. Pedro Menéndez, marqués, a la Audiencia de Santo Domingo, San Agustín, 2 abril de 1579. Translated in Jeanette Thurber Connor, Colonial Records of Spanish Florida, II, 227.
14. Bartolomé Martínez al Rey, La Habana, 17 febrero de 1577. Translated in Jeanette Thurber Connor, Colonial Records of Spanish Florida, I, 245.
15. Rev. Maynard Geiger, O.F.M., the leading Franciscan authority on the California missions, in a letter to the editor, dated August 7, 1965, states: "I have no recollection of the mention of citrus fruits prior to the Vancouver reference of 1798."
16. Former California Governor J. G. Downey (1874) dated planting of this grove after the Wolfskill planting.
17. From data compiled by Albert S. White and printed in the Riverside Press and Horticulturist (see Brown and Boyd, 1922, Vol. 1, p. 512).