Jaua.jry 1«, 1869. ) 



JOOBNAL OP HORTICOLTUKB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



09 



DESSERT ORANGE CULTURE. 



(Reprinted, with some additions, from the Report of the International 

 Horticnltnral Exhibition and Botanical Congi'eBS.) 



; N the (liavy of tliat " fine old English gentle- 

 man," Jobu Evelyn, may be found an intima- 

 tion to the efi'ect tliat he had eaten as good 

 " China Oranges," plucked from his own trees, 

 as he ever wished to eat. In those days des- 

 sert Oranges were, it seems, called " Cliina 

 Oranges." Although Oranges were cultivated 

 in France long before Evelyn's time, yet they 

 were considered merely ornamental appen- 

 dages to palaces and mansions : no thought 

 seems to have been turned to them, so as to consider them 

 fruit trees ; and even Evelyn, with liis remarkable horti- 

 cultural sagacity, does not mention that he had ranked 

 Orange trees among fruit trees : for in his " Kalendarium 

 Hortense," when he mentions for every month " fruits in 

 prime and yet lasting, ' no mention is made of Oranges. It 

 would seem, therefore, that his gathering of Oranges fit to 

 eat was an accidental occurrence, and we are led to sup- 

 pose from the silence of gardeners for nearly two hundred 

 years as to their culture, that the Orange-eating world has 

 felt perfectly satisiied with imported Oranges, brought 

 quickly by fast-sailing vessels ; stiU, the ditlerence between 

 Oranges freshly gathered from the trees, and the very finest 

 imported, is most remarkable : there is a crispness and fine 

 .aroma in Oranges freshly gathered difficult to realise, un- 

 less they are promptly compared with imported fruit : they 

 are indeed a luxury, and, as such, will be cultivated ere 

 long in every good garden. 



The houses best adapted for tliiiir cultivation are the 

 large span-roofed, 24 feet wide, (J feet high at each side, 

 and l.j feet high in the centre. A house for this size will 

 require eight 4-inch hot-water pipes, four on each side, as 

 artificial heat is required all the year to ripen Oranges in 

 one season perfectly. 



A smaller span-roofed house, 5A feet high at each side. 

 and 12 feet high in the centre, heated by four 4inch hot- 

 water pipes, two on each side, is almost as eligible for 

 Orange culture as one even of the larger size. A house of 

 these dimensions, with a central path, and a border on each 

 side planted with Orange trees, would form a pleasant and 

 productive Orange garden ; but to form an Orange grove, 

 so as to have trees of line growth, and to give abundant 

 crops, the larger house must be resorted to. 



From the experience I have gained, I lirmly believe that 

 no conservatory, no Orchid house, no greenliouse, is half 

 so beautiful or interesting as an Orange house constructed 

 on the principles I now advocate, and provided with fixed 

 roofs, rafters 24 inches apart, glazed with large pieces of 

 glass, and admitting abundance of light ; so tliat in De- 

 cember, when the trees are covered with their golden fruit, 

 and many of them showing their snowy-white perfumed 

 flowers, the scene is indeed enchanting, and is enhanced 

 by tlie agreeable temperatui-e. wliich need not be higher 

 than from 50° to 00° (10° to 13° Cent,), in cloudy weather. 

 It is not fierce heat in winter that ripening Oranges re- 

 No. 409,- Vol. XVI., New Semes. 



quire, but an even agreerble temperature, such as is expe- 

 rienced in the Azores during that season of the year. 



1 he houses I have mentioned .should have side ventilation, 

 as in orchiird houses — viz , an opening in each side of the 

 large house 2 feet wide, for the smaller house 1 foot wide ; 

 these openings should be in the centre of each side, and 

 shutters of wood or sashes employed to close them, the 

 latter, of course, being the most agreeable. 



In houses thus treated. Orange ti'ees may be cultivated in 

 pots or tubs, or planted in the borders. There is no doubt 

 that more rapid growth would take place if such borders were 

 heated by having hot-water pipes placed 2 feet under the 

 surface : but from recent experience I am inclined to think 

 this is not absolutely nece^.sary, for if the borders are raised 

 IK inches above the surface, they would have sufficient heat 

 from the atmosphere of the house, and their temperature 

 would be quite equal to sustain the trees in health. 



The cultivation of dessert Orange trees in pots or tubs is 

 very simple ; the compost they require consists of equal 

 parts of loam and manure, the latter thoroughly decomposed ; 

 the former should not be sifted, but chopped up with the 

 pieces of turf and roots, so as to form a rouglr compost. 

 The trees will grow in this freely, and hear abundantly ; 

 but they should have gentle, constant root heat ; this is 

 best given by enclosing hot-water pipes in a shallow cham- 

 ber of bricks, and placing the pots on a flooring of slates or 

 tiles forming the roof of the chamber. 



The compost for the borders in which Orange trees are to 

 j be planted should consist of turfy loam two parts, and equal 

 ' parts of thoroughly-decomposed manure and leaf mould. 

 ! After planting, the borders should be trodden down firmly, 

 I as Orange trees seem to flourish best in firm loamy soils. 

 [ In the Orange gardens of Nervi, where Orange trees are, 

 or used to be. so largely grown for exportation, and im- 

 ported by the London dealers in oil, &o.. the soil is a tena- 

 cious yellow loam. 



The best form of tree for an Orange garden under glass 

 is the round-headed, a form which it seems to take natu- 

 rally ; for if it is endeavoured to be cultivated as a pyramid, 

 which would seem desirable, its lower branches soon be- 

 come weakly and unhealthy. If trees with stems 2 or 

 3 feet in height are planted, the lower branches may be 

 gradually removed till a clear stem of ii feet in height is 

 i formed, and this height will be found sufficient. They 

 ^ may be planted from .'i to or 7 feet apart, according to 

 the size of the house, and the room vi-hich can be afTorded 

 for each tree. It must not be forgotten that in small houses 

 the heads of the trees may be kept in a compact state by 

 summer-pincliing, and in large houses be allowed greater 

 freedom of growth, so that the owner of an Orange gai'dcn 

 m England may sit under the s'nade of liis Orange trees. 



There arc but few kinds yet known of really fine dessert 

 Oranges ; the amateur who wislies to plant an Orange 

 garden to supply his dessert, must not think of planting 

 the numerous varieties of the genus Citrus grown by Italian 

 and French cultivators ; they are mostly what are called 

 fancy sorts, and arc more piized for their foliage and 

 flowers than for their fruit. 



One of the most charming and prolific of des^?art Oranges 

 No. 1061.— Vol. XLL, Old Series. 



