66 



CITRUS AURANTIUM. 



r^ p 



a 



J 



usually occurs in tiu* nortlnTU licniisphero in the niDiith of M:irch. For ,"mall 

 grafts, less than half of an inch in diameter, the irhijt, or sj)/icc method should 

 be adopted, and for larger ones, the stuldlc mode is preferal)le, as practised in the 

 ap|ilr and jx-ar. Mut the most sure and expeditious mrihod is that of >/>////"' 

 binhfini'-. by winch the l)ark of the stock, as early in the season as it will sepa- 

 rate from the wood, is cut like the letter T inverted, (thus, jj as shown by (a) 

 in the adjoiniui? fiirure ; whereas, in summer budding, 

 it forms a T in its erect position. The liori'/oiual 

 edizes of this ciU in the stock, and of the shield hark. 

 containing the bud, should be brought into the most per- 

 fect contact, as denoted by {b ;) because the union of 

 the bark in spring takes place by means of the ascent of 

 the sap, whereas, in summer budding, it is snp])Osed to 

 be caused by its descent. The parts shovild then be 

 immediately bound with water-proof bass (c ) with- 

 out applying either grafting-clay or grafting-wax. 

 The buds maybe inserted either in a healthful branch, 

 or in a stock near the ground. In general, two buds are sufficient for one stock ; 

 and these should be of the same variety ; as two sorts seldom grow with e([ual vig- 

 our. The bass ligature, which confines the bud, may be removed, if the season be 

 moist, in a month after budding : but if it be hot and dry, not for six weeks, at 

 least. As soon as the inserted buds show signs of vegetation, the stock or 

 branch, containing them, should be pruned down, so as to leave one or two 

 buds or shoots above. If the stock is allowed to have a leading shoot above the 

 inserted buds, and this .shoot is not shortened, the buds inserted probably will 

 not show many signs of vegetation for several weeks. 



Though orange-trees will grow exceedingly well in large pots and boxes, yet 

 to have them produce the finest crop of fruit, they should be planted in the 

 ground like peach-trees, and trained like them, or as standard cherries in a con- 

 servatory. The latter mode has by far the best effect, especially when the stems 

 of the trees are seven or eight feet high, and the head forms a handsome cone ; 

 but the largest fruit is produced when the trees are planted against the back- 

 wall trellis of a narrow house, and treated like peach-trees. 



At Genoa and Florence, orange-trees are grown in a strong yellow clay, which 

 is highly manured ; and this soil is considered by the first Italian gardeners as 

 best suited to their natures. In France, in preparing a compost for them, they 

 endeavour to compensate for quantity by quality ; because the pots or boxes, in 

 which the plants are placed, ought always to be as small as possible, relatively 

 to the size of the tree. The following is the composition recommended : " To a 

 fresh loam, which contains a third of clay, a third of sand, and a third of vege- 

 table matter, and w^hich has lain a long time in a heap, add an equal bulk of 

 half-rotten barnyard manure. The following year turn it over twice. The 

 succeeding year mix it with nearly one half its bulk of decomposed horse 

 manure. Turn it over twice or three times, and the winter before using, add 

 one twelfth part of sheep manure, a twentieth of pigeon dung, and a twentieth 

 of dried ordure." Mr. Henderson, already mentioned, takes one part of light- 

 brown mould from a piece of ground that has not been cropped, nor manured for 

 many years ; one part of peat earth, such as is used for growing heaths ; two 

 parts of river, or pit sand, if it be free from saline substances ; and one part of 

 rotted hot-bed dung, with one part of rotted leaves of trees, and mixes them all 

 well together, so as to form a compost soil of uniform quality. 



The usual mode of propagating the orange in Florida, is to plant the seeds 

 and wait patiently for about twenty years, till the trees become of a sufficient 



