874 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1883. 



another can of chicory, M. Grevy said: "You have no 

 more ? " " No, sir." " Very well : now go and make me 

 a cup of coffee." It is to Mr. Thurber we are indebted 

 for this and many other good stories in his admirable book 

 on " Ooffee, from Plantation to Oup," published by the 

 American Grocer Pubhshing Association of New York, and 

 very creditable to the samti.— St. James's Gazette. 



THE CITRUS FAMILY: ORANGES, LEMONS 

 AND CITRONS. 



At a meeting of the Horticultural Society 

 of Victoria, a paper, entitled as above, was read 

 bv Mr. Mars Miller, secretary of the society, who, by way 

 of introduction, referred to the results of orange culture in 

 Spain and other lands, and showed that a large portion of 

 Australia lies within nearly the same latitude south as 

 Madeira, Seville, and other orange-growing regions in the 

 northern hemispliere. Parramatta experiences were reviewed, 

 and Mr. Miller proceeded as follows: — 



So much for a glance at other peoijle's business. Now 

 let me bring the subject within oiu- own bounds, merely 

 premising that I am not going into the question whether 

 or not orange-growing on a large scale would pay. If I 

 stimidate enterprise of much smaller dimensions I shall 

 have achieved my purpose, and shall be well satisfied. 

 Well, then, to go back no farther than last August and 

 September. In oiu: E.xperiniental-gardens, Richmond-park, 

 in whicli we have about 100 trees, there was such a plenti- 

 ful and excellent crop of oranges, &c., that two gentle- 

 men from Spain, who went out to see for themselves, 

 assured oiw curator (Mr. Neilson) that "in their own 

 country they had rarely witnessed a finer display." Un- 

 doubtedly the .sight was marvellous. Whether you were 

 near the trees, or looked from the other side of the Yarra, 

 you saw from the groimd to the topmost branches, some 

 15 ft. high, just a mass of golden fruit, reminding one of 

 the fabled garden of the Hesperides. " All," you say, 

 " that is the re.sult of skilful professional culture beyond 

 ray reach." Without staying to argue the point, let me 

 take you to the villa of 'quite an amateur, not employ- 

 ing a professional man, and found at his city counting- 

 house from morning to night. The locahty is South Yarra, 

 opposite the north boundary of the Botanic-gardens. This 

 gentleman exhibited sjiecimeus at one of our recent monthly 

 meetings — pronounced by the judges to be of excellent 

 quality. The crop was 3-50 fruits ; he has since informed 

 me that, from present appear.ances, he expects 1,000 next 

 season. I saw the tree— about 13ft. high by Sft. through— 

 in a sheltered corner, affording to sight and taste a dainty 

 offering. I conld not but ask myself the question, "\\Tiy 

 should not every villa, nay. every cottage, be similarly en- 

 riched ?'• The effect of one instance of the kind may be 

 illustrated by what a most successful grower of table grapes 

 said in my hearing, ^^z., " One of the first sights that 

 struck me as a gardener from the old country, was a \ine 

 in full bearing trained against a common paling fence. 

 Is saiil to myself there is a lesson for me " That occurred 

 about 40 years ago. Perhaps my notable South Yarra 

 specimen may in like manner stir up some one. Those 

 who are so disposed may visit intresting orangeries in the 

 vicinity of Melbom-ne, and will be repaid for their trouble. 

 They are, of coiu-se. possessed by the wealthy. My object 

 is, however, as I said before, to popularise. I will next 

 adduce and example of lemon gro-vving by a professional — 

 Mr. H. U. Cole, of Shorland Nursery, Upper Hawthorn, 

 About three months ago I visited his establishment, and 

 saw many excellent specimens of horticulture and pomo- 

 logy, but two lemon trees rivetted my attention. Plenty 

 of space afforded — each occupied a somewhat rising ground — 

 and so thick was the foli.ige that you could see neither 

 stem nor branch from top to bottom. (I may be allowed 

 to say that some magnificent loquats in the adjoining 

 garden, his father's, IMr. T. C. Cole, were similarly trained, 

 the sui-face roots protected from the sun.) From each of 

 these trees upwards of 100 dozen lemons have frequently 

 been gathered in a vear. Now. 2,400 fruits from two trees, 

 at retail price of 6d. each, represent £fiO. I know that 

 I have had to pay fid. when requiring the b'st fruit for 

 an invalid : but, making a liberal allnwance, the grower in 

 this instance realised probably about £40. certainly not a 

 bad revenue from two trees. And here let me — for others' 

 benefit— relate a lamentable instance of my owti ignorcane. 



Some years since, thinking to greatly improve my lemon 

 tree, I set about to dig deeply all round it, and even 

 under the branches, hberaUy manuring it also, my efforts 

 being rewarded by a plentiful lack of foliage, &c. The tree 

 was '' fertile in its own disgi-ace." And no wonder. I 

 was unconsciously sapping its very vitals. Discovering at 

 last what all growers of the citrus ought to know at first — 

 that the tree thi-ives by its surface roots, which must not be 

 distm-bed— I at once changed my treatment, and am happy 

 to say that a more beautiful object of its kind than this 

 nuich-abused plant I would not wish to see—rapidly grow- 

 ing and giving promise when fully recovered of bearing 

 well. I now make a great skip to the banks of the Mur- 

 ray, merely remarking that a few years ago, when in 

 Beechworth for a d.ay or two, I greatly admired some robust 

 specimens of orange trees in that town. And here let me 

 say that I have the singular advantage of reading my 

 paper before both amateurs and practical gardeners, who 

 will, doubtless, supplemeut my crude assertions with their 

 matured judgment. I confess to having had this mentally 

 before me from the fu-st, and shall conjsider myself exceed- 

 ingly successful if I can by boring doivn, as it were, into 

 the experimental depths of my audience, educe thence a 

 flow of instruction that, carried through the chamiels of the 

 press and otherwise, will benefit many. The scene then 

 changes, and we have presumably reached Murray Downs, 

 lat. 35deg. 15min. S., longitude not required. In casting 

 about for materi:ils for tliis paper I perceived huUmg in 

 the sea <if :\Iilb(.urne reminiscences a splendid exhibition 

 of the citrus tMuiily. ticketed as grovm by Mi-. S. H. Officer, 

 "of that ilk," and upon consideration I wrote to that gentle- 

 man, at Toorak, requesting a little information. It was 

 courteously furnished, and 1 proceed to quote largely from 

 it, being confident that you will coincide with me in think- 

 ing .such quotations to be the most valuable part of my 

 paper. Let Mr. Officer speak for liimself, viz: — 



" In 18G5, in a very unfavourtible position as far as both soil 

 and exposure are concerned, I planted about 100 in all of orange, 

 lemon, and citron plants, and the results in uantity, quality and size 

 of fruit have far exceeded my expectations. Wlieii I commenced 

 there was not a single ti'ce growing in the place save one willow 

 and a few half-dead English fniit trees. The place is m the 

 middle of a large plain, mth a southern aspect, and therefore 

 tuUy exposed to frost, and had at tlie first no shelter of any 

 sort. By planting red srom and willows in and near the edge 

 of tiie swamp which fonned one side of the orangeiy, in the 

 course of a few years a pretty strong break against the violent 

 storms of wind was formed. I carted a foot or more deep of 

 the stiff clay soil from the bed of the dry swamp and mixed 

 this well -Bith the sparse loam of the natural groimd, adding 

 also mamu-e and broken bones, and planting- the trees in this, 

 sheltered each one for two or three years from the frost of 

 winter and the summer sun, and after that left them uncovered 

 to grow alone. As the rainfall was only about l-2in. or 14in, 

 per amiiun, no fruit trees coiUd bve long without a plentiful 

 addition of water artificially apphed. To do this efficiently and 

 economically I raised the necessary water from the Mun-.ay with 

 ■wind and horse power and reticulated it in pipes throughout 

 the garden. In about three years some of the orange tiees com- 

 menced to bear, and all soon after, also the lemon and citron 

 trees. On some of the first trees I have measured fruit (some 

 years) nearly Kim. in cii-cmnferencer with rather thick skins, 

 but of the most delicious flavous and veiy jucy. These fine 

 qualities I atti-ibute not so much to the rich made soil as to 

 the abundant supply of water the trees received. This is shown 

 liy the trees m some instances this year (1882) producing 'fozy' 

 friut, deficient in both size and quality, and becoming tasteless 

 after being gathered a foi-tnight ; and then I foimd that the 

 gardener, from a false notion of his own, had neglected to water 

 fuUv. With water in quantity up there we can produce almost 

 any' fnut. even goosebeiTies. Apples gi-ow to perfection, and 

 sti'nd the hottest winds and sun without the shghtest scorching. 

 Haspben-ies, sti-awhen-ies, peaches, apricots, plums, figs, and other 

 fi-uit can scarcelv be excelled. The lemon and citi-on tl-ees have 

 rewarded my attention, if possible, more boimtitully than the 

 orange. The former, at least, are more hardy, stand the frost 

 better, and take root more readUy th,an theii- companion oranges; 

 and we Cim propagate them easily by layers. Those in the garden 

 had the advantage of being all in much better sod than many 

 of the orange ti-ees, and when the watering was well attended 

 to the quantity and quaUtv of fruit was surprising. I have for- 

 gotten the measm-ement, hut can truly say I never anj-where 

 (and I have been in many parts of the world) saw finer or 

 larger fnut. The oih-on is a most beautifid and ornamental 

 tree, and bears an iminense mass of fruit year after year TMth- 

 out anv injin-v to its growth, or impaii-mg its vitality in any 

 apparent degi-ee. All the family are liable to the same disease 

 wliich has destroyed so mmv in Sydney— a decay of the bark 

 round the stem of the b-ee. just under the sod ; hut by takuig 

 this in tune, and paring awav aU the diseased part, and bmdmg 

 it closely round with cloths, we have generally saved the tree, 



