combinations of these, or products of different sorts, or times of gathering and modes of management. The tea plant might be easily cultivated in the Southern States, and grows well in the Carolinas and Georgia. It is said to have been successfully cultivated by a society of nuns at Wurtzburg, in Franconia, in the lat. of 49° or 50° north.

The tea tree, in China, grows equally in the level and mountainous districts; but flourishes best in a light rocky soil. The seeds are sown in March, and transplanted into rows four feet apart and three feet in the row; but it is not generally allowed to grow more than six or seven feet high. The trees begin to yield crops at the end of three years, but at the end of six years the trees must be renewed, as the leaves begin to grow hard and harsh. The leaves which are gathered early in the spring are of a bright green color. Those of the second crop are of a livid green and those which are gathered last, or in the latter end of spring, are of a dark green, and of the third quality. The leaves of the extremities of the branches are most tender. Those of the lower parts are the most coarse. After the leaves are gathered, they are exposed to the steam of boiling water. They are then made to shrivel or roll together by being placed on plates of copper or iron, or of baked earth, over the fire, and next dried by exposure to the sun. But the green teas and those of the first quality are not dried by exposure to the sun, as this causes them to turn black. And in the preparation of some of the fine sorts, especially that called Tchu-tcha, every leaf is rolled singly in the hand, with great care; after drying, it is packed in boxes lined with lead. Dom. Ency. Ed. Ency. Art. China.

This last operation of rolling every leaf singly, by hand, of the finer kinds of tea, would never answer in a country like ours, where labor is comparatively dear. If the operation is performed at all; it must be by machinery invented and constructed for the special purpose.

TCHEE-TSE.

A fruit of China, which resembles a fig, about the size of an ordinary apple, and which when dried and flattened, are called Tchee-ping, and are then equal to the best figs of Europe. Ed. Enc. Art. China.

TUNA.

A species of Indian fig, grows in Chili, and is equal to any European fig. Ed. Enc. Art. Chili.

SOUTHERN FRUITS.-CLASS II.

FRUITS WHICH FLOURISH ONLY IN COUNTRIES SITUATED EITHER WITHIN OR NOT VERY REMOTE FROM THE TROPICS.

All the following fruits will probably succeed in the south of Louisiana, and especially in Florida, from the latitude of 25° to 30°, and many of them in the south of Alabama and Mississippi.

ORANGE. (Citrus.)

Scientific writers have divided the Orange tribe into five leading species, which are all natives of Asia, viz. The common Orange, the Lemon, the Citron, the Lime, and the Shaddock. In many countries they rise to the height of fifty feet; but in more temperate latitudes the common character belonging to them, is that of low evergreen trees, with oval, lanceolate, or ovate, entire or serrated leaves. Those raised from seeds have often axillary spines; the flowers are in peduncles. The fruits are round or oblong, and of a yellow color. The petiole of the orange and shaddock is winged; but naked in the lime, lemon, and citron. These three last are considered of one species. The orange and shaddock are oblate or spherical, and of a red or orange color; the lime is of a pale color and spherical; the lemon oblong with a rough skin and a protuberance at the end. The citron is very rough, oblong, with a very thick skin.

All the species of citrus, according to the authority of Loudon, endure the open air at Nice, Genoa, and Naples. At Mola, in Italy, and at the water's edge in view of the bay of Gayetta, and on the supposed ruins of one of Cicero's villas, is a garden of 700 orange and lemon trees. It comprehends about two acres, and yields a rent of about 600 scudi, or about $555 per annum. But at Florence and Milan, and often at Rome, they require protection. The orange has been long cultivated in Florida, particular

ly at St Augustine - -the orange groves are said to be extremely productive and profitable.

The orange has been much cultivated in Louisiana, and may perhaps succeed well in the extreme south of Mississippi and Alabama.

"In the south of Devonshire," according to Loudon and Phillips," and particularly at Saltcombe, one of the warmest spots in England, may be seen in a few gardens, orange trees that have withstood the winter in the open air upwards of a hundred years, the fruit as large and as fine as any from Portugal. Trees raised from the seed and inoculated on the spot, are found to bear the cold better than trees that are imported."

VARIETIES.

The two principal varieties of the Orange are-1st, the SWEET ORANGE; 2d, the BITTER ORANGE, or Bigarade of the French.

CLASS I.-SWEET ORANGE.

1. COMMON ORANGE. Citrus aurantium.

An evergreen tree, of medium size, with prickly branches in its wild state. The fruit is round, from two to three inches in diameter, of a yellowish red or golden color. A native of India and China, but now cultivated in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, in Africa, and the warm latitudes of North and South America.

1. MANDARIN ORANGE. Citrus nobilis.

The Mandarin or Noble Orange is so called from its superiority to all others. A most delicious variety, but very lately introduced to Europe. The trees appear as hardy as other kinds. The skin is of a deep saffron color, or an orange scarlet. There are two varieties of the Mandarin Orange. The large variety is often five inches in diameter; but the Chinese greatly prefer the smaller variety, which is a distinct species from the common China orange, Citrus aurantium. It is distinguished not only from this, but from all others, by its curious form and superior excellence. A native of Cochin China, and cultivated at Canton.

3. BLOOD OF MALTESE ORANGE. Rev. Mr Bigelow's Travels. This, according to Mr Bigelow, is the boast of the Isl

and of Malta, and a most delicious fruit. "The pulp inclines to the color of red, but not so much in mass, as intermixed in streaks. It is not only more luscious, but less husky than the ordinary varieties of orange, and in size is far surpassing.

To this class also belong the Portugal Orange and many other varieties.

CLASS II.

BITTER ORANGE. Bigarade of the French.

4. SEVILLE Orange.

The leaves of this variety are larger and more beautiful than those of the China Orange. Its taste is agreeably bitter. The varieties of the Bigarades are numerous.

To the above classes belong also the Willow leaved or Turkey Orange; the Dwarf nutmeg Orange; the Double flowering, and the Variegated leaved, &c. &c.

USES. -The use of the orange as a dessert fruit is well known. The juice of the orange, from its pleasant subacid flavor, is serviceable in inflammatory or febrile diseases; by diminishing heat and allaying thirst. It is a powerful antiscorbutic. Orange wine (See Dom. Ency.) is thus made. A gallon of water and three pounds of sugar are boiled and skimmed for twenty minutes, and when nearly cool, the juice expressed from eight Seville (sour) oranges is added; together with the shavings of the outer rinds. The whole to be placed in a barrel and after frequent stirrings, for two days, to be bunged down for six months or more till fit for bottling. The outer rind also forms the basis of an excellent conserve, and when preserved in sugar, is deservedly prized at the dessert, being one of the best stomachics, and a grateful aromatic bitter. The flowers of the orange tree have a highly " odoriferous perfume; they have a slightly pungent, bitter taste; and communicate their flavor by infusion to rectified spirits; or by distillation to spirit and water. An essential oil is also prepared from the flowers, of a perfume more delicate and agreeable in its fragrance than even the Otto of Roses. It is prepared in Italy and Portugal, and there called Essentia Neroli.-[Ib.]

CITRON. (C. medica.) Loudon.

A beautiful, evergreen, prickly, and upright tree, rising

to the height of eight or ten feet, with horizontal or reclining branches. The leaves are smooth, oblong, ovate, alternate, serrate, pale green. The fruit is six inches long, ovate, rough, with a protuberance at the summit. There are two rinds; the outer rind is thin, the inner thick, white and pulpy. The outer rind has innumerable glands filled with a fragrant oil. This fruit ripens successively at all seasons, the citron and lemon are not deemed so hardy as the orange, and will not endure so great a degree of cold.

USES. The citron forms an excellent preserve or sweetmeat. The juice with sugar and water forms the refreshing beverage called lemonade. It is used in cookery and in medicine, and is powerfully antiscorbutic. There are many varieties.

LEMON. (C. medica, var. limon.) Loudon.

The lemon and citron differ but very little. The wood of the lemon tree is more knotty, the bark rougher. The fruit is rather longer, more irregular, less knobby at the extremities and the skin thinner than that of the citron. The uses are the same. Of the lemon there are many varieties.

LIME. (Citrus acida.) Loudon.

A crooked tree with many diffuse, prickly branches, which rises to the height of eight feet. The leaves ovate, lanceolate, nearly entire. The fruit nearly globular, an inch and a half in diameter, with a protuberance at its summit; the skin shining, yellowish green and very odorous; the juice very acid. A native of Asia.

USES. The lime is said to be rather preferred to the lemon in the West Indies, as the acid is by many thought more agreeable than that of the lemon. Hedges are formed of the tree in the West Indies. The varieties of limes are very few.

SHADDOCK. (C. decumana.)

ORANGE PAMPLEMOUSE of the French.

The tree rises above the medium size, the branches spreading and prickly. Leaves ovate, neither acute nor obtuse; the petioles cordate with very broad wings,