See how they have safely survived
The frowns of a sky so severe;
Such Mary's true love, that has lived
Through many a turbulent year.
The charms of the late blowing rose
Seem graced with a livelier hue,
And the winter of sorrow best shows
The truth of a friend such as you.

Oranges.

Bear me to the citron groves;
To where the lemon and the piercing lime,

With the deep ORANGE, glowing through the green,
Their lighter glories blend.

THOMSON.

The migration of oranges into England, about this time, will, no doubt, render some account of this universally admired fruit acceptable to our readers: it is extracted from Mr. Phillips's Pomarium Britannicum. The China, or sweet oranges, with which this country is now so amply supplied, and at such moderate prices that all classes of society enjoy them as perfectly as if they had been indigenous to the climate, were introduced into Europe about the eleventh or twelfth century. At this time, several varieties of the orange were cultivated in Italy, whence they were taken to Spain and Portugal. The orange is now grown to so great an extent in Italy, that there are almost forests of them. Prince Antonio Borghese, at his palace near Rome, has upwards of seventy sorts of orange and lemon trees, among which are some very rare kinds: it is a fruit so much esteemed in Italy, where it thrives well, that apples, pears, and cherries, have almost become extinct in that country. The delightful perfume of an orangegrove is such as to scent the air for miles: and the tree gives a succession of flowers during the whole summer, on which account it is cultivated in all green-houses, and large orangeries have been built

for the express purpose of housing these trees: the most magnificent one is that of Versailles, built by Louis XIV. A fine orange-tree in this collection is called the 'GREAT BOURBON,' and is more than four hundred years old!

O! of what follies, vice, and crime,
Hast thou, in thy eventful time,

Been made beholder!

What wars, what feuds-the thoughts appal!
Each against each, and all with all,
Till races upon races fall

In earth to moulder.

Whilst thou serene, unaltered, calm,
(Such are the constant gifts and balm
Bestowed by Nature!)

Hast year by year renewed thy flowers,
And perfumed the surrounding bowers,
And poured down grateful fruit by showers,
And proffered shade in summer hours

To man and creature.

H.

Oranges were known in this country in the time of Henry VIII; but it does not appear that they were cultivated prior to Queen Elizabeth's reign. Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I, had an orangehouse and orange-garden at her mansion, Wimbledon Hall, in Surrey; and when this property was sold by order of the parliament in 1649, we find that fortytwo orange-trees, bearing fayre and large oringes,' were valued at ten pounds a tree one with another; and a lemon-tree at twenty pounds. Orange-trees have been grown in the southern parts of Devonshire for more than 100 years past. When trained to walls, they produce large handsome fruit, but not of equal value to the lemons grown in the same situation. Most of these were raised in this country from seeds, and they are thought to be more hardy than trees imported; but the orange-trees which are brought every year from Italy, and sold principally at the Italian warehouses in London, are as large as those of our own growth would be in twenty years. With proper care, these trees will have good heads,

and produce fruit in about three years. The Mandarin orange was not cultivated in England until 1805. We have lately seen orange-trees imported from the south of France, which have arrived in small tubs; and so well packed, that the fruit and blossoms remained on the trees when they reached the neighbourhood of London.

In the Philosophical Transactions, No. 114, there is a very remarkable account of a tree standing in a grove near Florence, having an orange stock, which had been so grafted on, that it became in its branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit, three-formed: some emulating the orange, some the lemon or citron, and some partaking of both forms in one. These mixed fruits never produce any perfect seeds: sometimes there are no seeds at all in them, and sometimes only a few empty ones. The Maltese graft their orangetrees on the pomegranate-stock, which causes the juice to be of a red colour, and the flavour to be more esteemned. The Rev. Mr. Hughes, in his Natural History of Barbadoes, mentions the golden orange as growing in that island. He describes the fruit as a large fine orange, of a deep colour within, from whence it derives the name of Golden Orange. He adds, this fruit is neither of the Seville or China kind, though it partakes of both, having the sweetness of the China, mixed with the agreeable bitterness and flavour of the Seville orange.'

An agreeable drink called orangeade, may be made of orange-juice, water, and sugar, which is often given to people in a high fever; the juice of the orange, alone, affords a pleasing acid, and is excellent for allaying the thirst. The Seville orange, however, is esteemed far preferable for medicinal purposes, and the blossoms of this species are the most odoriferous: the leaves are also used in medicine. The yellow rind of these oranges, separated from the white fungous matter under it, is a grateful, warm, aromatic bitter, often used as a stomachic and corroborant.

It is warmer than the peel of lemons, of a more durable flavour, and abounds more in a light, fragrant essential oil, which is lodged in distinct cells on the surface of the peel. The rind of the China orange has a weak smell, and is seldom employed for medicinal purposes. Seville oranges also produce the best marmalade, and the richest wine: it is from the flowers of this kind of orange, that orange-flower water is distilled. These oranges are often preserved whole as a sweetmeat, and are justly admired. The seeds of the orange kind will be found, on nice examination, different from the seed of any other fruit. They have been anatomized by the curious, and, with the aid of a good miscroscope, are discovered to be almost as wonderful in their formation as the human frame when dissected.

Culture of the Orange and Lemon Tribe in England.

They require to be planted in a loamy soil well enriched with decomposed dung, and the pots sufficiently drained; as they are apt to collect dirt on the leaves, they should be frequently watered over the top, in the evenings, in mild weather, and even washed, leaf by leaf, with a sponge. They are also subject to the attacks of an insect called the orange bug, a sort of turtle shaped scale of about an eighth of an inch in length or more, which may sometimes be seen on the leaves and small shoots. The best way to get rid of these vermin is to brush them off with a small painter's brush, and then wash the plant well with a sponge and common water: some use soap-suds and sulphur, but, in the hands of ordinary practitioners, water is safer, and does just as well. When the fruit begins to set, they ought to be thinned, and only a few left on each plant. When this is neglected, and the trees carry as many as they may be able to nourish, the consequence is a deficiency of shoots and blossom-buds for the following

year, and the tree becomes so weak by maturing such a quantity of fruit, that it ceases, for a year or two, to show either blossoms or fruit.

The orange is best propagated by grafting or budding on lemon or shaddock stocks; but as we cannot recommend this mode for renewing or keeping up a stock in a villa green-house, unless where a complete gardener is kept, we shall not enter into details. Orange trees endure for many years, even centuries; if well taken care of, so that they seldom require renewal. The Citrus tribe is also propagated by cuttings and layers; but it can seldom happen that either of these modes will require to be resorted to in a small green-house. However, as some may be disposed to amuse themselves in this way, we shall describe Henderson of Woodhall's mode of growing the orange from cuttings; and we believe no British gardener has ever been more successful.

Henderson has raised the orange and lemon from cuttings for forty years past, and considers it as by far the quickest mode of getting plants, either for bearing or grafting on. His directions are as follow: 'Take the strongest young shoots, and also a quantity of two year old shoots, and cut both into lengths from nine to eighteen inches. Take the leaves of the lower part of each cutting to the extent of about five inches, allowing the leaves above that to remain untouched; then cut right across under an eye with a sharp knife, so as to leave a smooth unfractured section: when the cuttings are thus prepared, take a pot and fill it with sand, sort the cuttings so that the short ones may be all together, and those that are taller by themselves. Then with a small dibble plant the cuttings about five inches deep in the sand, and give them a good watering overhead, to settle the sand about them; let them stand a day or two in a shady place, and then plunge the pots to the brim in a frame with bottom heat. Shade them well with a double mat till they have struck root;