S22 



Jour)ial oj Agriculture. Victoria. [ro Aug., 191 i 



PROPAGATION OF FRUIT TREES. 



iContiuucd from -page 486.) 

 C. F . Cole, Orchard Supervisor. 



Stocks {ContiuucJ). 



Citrus Family. 



Several varieties of tlie citru.s family are used as stock for i)ropagating- 

 purposes ; but for general use the following are the most suitable, viz.^ 

 seedlings raised from the pips of the sweet and Seville oranges, and the- 

 rough common lemon. Trees worked u|X)n the latter thrive well. This 



lemon is very hardy, stands excessive 

 moisture to the roots, and is drought- . 

 resisting — more so than the seedling 

 orange. Another \ariety, used for stock 

 purposes and liaving dwarfing influence, 

 is that known as Citrus trifoliata. This 

 \ariety is more suitable for working the- 

 smaller growing kinds upon, such as 

 mandarins, cumquats, &c. 



The Avriter's experience with the com- 

 mercial varieties of lemons is that, when 

 propagated upon their own roots, they 

 arc not suited for general purposes. 

 Such trees are very unreliable and are- 

 more subject to fungus diseases, especi- 

 ally if planted in soil that is not well 

 drained and has a poor or cold subsoil. 

 They will not stand irrigation or an 

 excess of water like trees worked upon 

 the above-named stocks. 



The citrus family can be propagated 

 from cuttings or by layering, but the 

 writer does not fa\'our the general 

 [planting out of varieties so propagated, 

 l)articularly tlie lemon. 

 When sowing pips, form drills in the same manner as when planting 

 pear pips. (See page 368). Do not cover them with sand, but use- 

 light soil or mould. Sow in August or September. Water judici- 

 ously, and under no conditions allow the pips to become dry whilst 

 germinating or at any time previous to the young seedlings becoming 

 hardened. Shelter the seedlings from the hot sun in early summer with 

 small leafv twigs or by some other simple device. If grown well, the 

 majoritv will l>e suital>le for planting out the following spring for working 

 upon . 



Cuttings can be readily rooted in a close frame placed upon a hot- 

 bed, or in a glass house artificially heated. Plant cuttings in the autumn 

 after the wood has hardened — about the month of May. The writer 

 lias rooted cuttings planted in early spring in a cool house ; also in the open, 

 in a warm district. This should not he practised. Prepare cuttings 

 the same as Fig. 17. Select well matured wood, and rut with sharp- 

 knife, at an apex bud. Make cuttings 6. 10, or 12 in. in length. 



17. CITRUS CUTTING PREl'ARED 

 FOR PLANTING. 



