THE FLOEAL WORLD AND QARDEN GUIDE. 



217 



to be constantly dry ; tlie cause of tins 

 •was, tlie soil, when used, was too fine and 

 close, which caused it to crack, and form, 

 as it were, in lumps. The water, although 

 applied copiously, ran through the cracks, 

 doing the plant little good. My own way 

 of preparing soil is as follows — two-thirds 

 loam, as rough as possible, to one of peat. 

 I object to dung, as attracting or breeding 

 too many worms, and prefer applying it 

 afterwards in a liquid state. The peat I 

 chop with a spade rather coarsely, and rub 

 it through a sieve. Tiie fibre is capital 

 stuff to place between the ci'ocks and the 

 soil. I tlien bre.ak some crock?, in quan- 

 tity about a third less than that of tlie 

 peat, and averaging from the size of chos- 

 nuts to that of j^eas, and adding about 

 an eighth part of sand, mix the whole, 

 loam, peat, crocks, and sand, well together ; 

 this makes a free, yet sound and durable 

 soil. I have used shingle in tiie place of 

 crocks, but the latter is preferable, as 

 absorbing and yielding moisture quicker 

 than the other, but charcoal is, I believe, 

 superior to either. I have used an equal 

 mixture of crocks and charcoal. 



In draining, if garden pans are used, 

 they should be chipped round the edges, or 

 they will lay too close to the bottom, and 

 the drainage be easily stopped. I prefer 

 laying some broad pieces of pot on tlie 

 bottom, and over these some coarse crocks, 

 and over tliese again some crocks broken 

 to the size of broad beans, covering tlie 

 whole with peat fibre, which keej^s the 

 drainage clear. 



In potting, the soil should be compara- 

 tively dry, to admit of tlie soil being pressed 

 firmly down without clodding, and when 

 finished, the surface should be equally firm 

 with tlie rest, that is, so as to bear con- 

 siderable pressure of the fingers without 

 their sinking into the soil. In watering 

 newly-potted plants, it is important that the 

 whole of the soil be wetted through, and to 

 effect this it is necessary to fill the pots up 

 three or four times successively, and if at 

 the time of potting the old soil is wetter 

 than the new, it is well to wait till both 

 are nearly consistent. 



For a plant in full vigour it is ad- 

 visable to give a layer of rotted dung on 

 the surface of the soil, which keeps it cool 

 and affords uourishment to the plant, and 

 it is also advisable to give liquid manure 

 in the growing season, the strengtli to be 

 regulated by the condition of the tree and 

 the time since it was potted, but from 

 newly-potted plants it should be withheld. 

 With regard to overhead treatment, except 

 when in blossom, occasional syringing is 

 beneficial, and keeps the foliage clean ; but 



while making its new growth, copious 

 syringings ought to be given morning and 

 afternoon, and more moderately during the 

 summer, after the blooming is well over. 

 Moderate shading is necessary to preserve 

 a healthy greenness in the foliage, but it is 

 equally necessary that the wood be well 

 matured, if flowers are an object, and 

 which too much shade would prevent ; 

 those I have seen flower best were not 

 shaded at all, but the foliage wore a yel- 

 lowish tint, which detracted from their 

 beauty when not in bloom. 



0ns of the chief objects in cultivating 

 the orange-tree is for the fruit, which is 

 not only highly ornamental in winter, but 

 is useful for preserving, and in the manu- 

 facture of marmalade and other domestic 

 uses. 



The orange-tree, .is is well known by 

 all who have practised in the culture 

 thereof, is not without its adherents in the 

 shape of green-fly, scale, and red spider, 

 but the latter only attacks it if kept too 

 dry, and as dryness does not suit the plant, 

 under proper treatment it will never be 

 troubled with red spider. Green-fly at- 

 tacks it only in the early part of the year, 

 when about to make a new growth. It 

 gets on tlie young and tender shoots, and 

 if not destroyed in time the leaves will 

 become deformed. The orange stands to- 

 bacco-smoke as well as any plant. The 

 scale, a species of insect of the genus 

 Coccus, is more permanent, and requires 

 seeing to at all times of the year ; and 

 where a plant is in any way neglected, will 

 soon cover it. I happen to be strongly of 

 opinion that insects do not soon attack 

 healthy plants, and where plants quickly 

 become infested with them, there must be 

 something wrong about the plant or its 

 treatment ; birt the scale must be got rid 

 o.f, and I know of no other way than taking 

 each leaf separately, and wiping both sides; 

 it is a long and tedious operation, and 

 many a silent hour have I beguiled in the 

 process, and can sympathize with the un- 

 willing performer, and would do what I 

 could to relieve him of it, which may be 

 done by acting on the principle of preven- 

 tion being better than cure. 



In giving a plant such treatment as its 

 nature requires, we maintain its vigour, 

 and thus, as insects are slow to attack 

 healthy plants, we in a great measure pre- 

 vent the necessity for their destruction. 

 It is singular, in the cultivation of tho 

 Citrus, to find a characteristic peculiar 

 to itself. Tiie leaves are apt to become 

 smeared and blackened in a manner that 

 will resist any attempt to wash it off with 

 the syringe ; it must be wiped off with a 



