t% 



j6triiNili 'dv '^(JsyifeutTUBE "iSb' ' cottage qardeneb. 



[ March 11, 1869. 



With a pointed bit of blotting paper remove the eecretion 

 when it appears, and then with the aid of a very email camel- 

 hair brufih and a strong leus the farina may bo rapidly applied 

 to the stigma of the female blossom. By adopting these simple 

 precautions, from sixty to a hundred flowers may be fertilised 

 with the pollen from five male blooms. 



To conclude, occasionally it is desirable to cave the farina of 

 some particular plant either on account of its too great forward- 

 nesB or because of its scarcity. This may be done by forming 

 a little book by binding together two small squares of glass, 

 Buch as opticians furnish at Is. Cd. per oz. for mounting mi- 

 croscopical objects; these books may have the name of the 

 plant written on their backs, and be then folded up in tinfoil. 

 —A. C. 



CULTURE OF THE ORANGE FOR DESSERT. 



Was not Mr. Kivers one of Pomona's prophets, when he wrote 

 that orchard houses would " glisten on highland and lowland, 

 and gladden many a garden lover with their genial climate and 

 varied produce?" Ho has lived to see the fulUImeDt of his 

 inspirations, for ho writes in the early editions of his work, 

 '■ The Orchard House "—" Orchard houses are now 'familiar 

 things,' hundreds are rising up all over the face of the country ; 

 no garden structures have ever so rapidly advanced in popu- 

 larity." There was no lack of converts, and there were dis- 

 believers, myself of the number; and it is well that there are 

 Such in most cases, for if every innovation were received with- 

 out doubt, no opposition shown to its advancement, the old 

 system of things would be upset, and the community ruined. 

 ■It is well, I repeat, that there are different opiniona, for it is 

 by the advocacy of a certain thing on the one hand, and Ihe 

 contending forces of opposition and criticis-m on the other, that 

 oonverts are gained or lost, the lukewarm arrive at a conclu- 

 sion for or against, and the outer woild adopts or rejects, and 

 'becomes reconciled to the new state of thingc 



Now we have another prophet amongst the followers of Po- 

 mona. Mr. Pearson commences a sanguine and enthusiastic 

 ■ Ikiticle, page 23, with the statement, " Oranges will be grown 

 largely in this country for their fruit," and the Kditors lend 

 "their voice to the furtherance of the object, for they say, " Ere 

 long we shall find them as commonly grown as Vines and Cu- 

 cumbers now are ; " but I fail to notice that any of the parties 

 »re sanguine enough to state that Oranges will be grown in 

 this country to pay, hence we find them associated with Vines. 

 I can, of my own experience, fully endorse all that Mr. Pearson 

 and the Editors antici;jute of the culture of the Orange for its 

 fruit, having seen and grown in tr.is country Oranges of good 

 quality and size, and supplied them for the dessert, where ibey 

 were in greater request than those of foreign growth, on account 

 of their aromatic sweetness. 



I may state that the trees were grown as standards, having 

 stems from -1 to 5 feet in height, and that they were of the 

 Tangierine and Maltese Blood varieties ; but the first of these 

 -iarnished the better fruit, and continued longer in bearing, 

 often affording a supply of fruit for six months. Tbere were 

 also the Myrtle-leaved and the St. Michael's varieties, boih 

 good, and the back wall was clothed with the Shaddock and 

 Lemon. The house was a lean-to, 13 feet G inches high at the 

 back, and C feet high in front, with a stone shell along the front 

 and ends, on which were the Otaheite and the above-named 

 Tarieties of Orange in pots. 



In every sense the house was an Orange house, only there 

 were Vines in addition to the Orange trees. The Vine border 

 was outi-ide, but the Vines were planted inside, at 4 feet apart, 

 and trained with single rods on the sntir system. There were 

 twenty Vines, so that the length was about 80 feet, and the 

 width 20 feet, but the width was diminished by 2 ff et in winter, 

 for the front lights were brought inwards, and the Vines laid 

 6ntside along the front to rest. The lights worked in a slide, 

 and were easily moved, so as to include or exclude the Vines. 

 This system of moveable front lights is fully explained in 

 " Sanders on the Vine," and is well worthy of adoption if 

 a temperature has to be maintained that would be ir.jurious to 

 Vines kept in a house when they are at rest, as the house is 

 thus set at liberty for other purposes. In the centre of the 

 house was a brick pit or bed 9 feet G inches wide internel 

 measurement, and raised about 2 feet above the paths, its depth 

 being about 5 feet. The pathway went round the bed, and at 

 the back was a border for the Lemons and Shaddocks on the 

 back wall. This border was 4 feet wide, or the full width from 

 the back wall to the bed, the pathway crossing the border being 



of laths. At both ends, and in front, there was a stone sheU 

 3 feet wide in summer, but 2 feet less in winter, owing to the 

 lights being brought inwards, the only fault being the narrow- 

 ness of the front pathway, whose width was reduced to 2 feet ; 

 and the front shelf was practically of no use when the Vines 

 were put out, the small trees in pots having to be accommo- 

 dated with a place on the pit edge. 



The house was originally intended for the growth of Vines 

 in summer, and the preservation of the Orange trees in winter, 

 as in times not very remote Oranges were grown largely in tubs 

 for ornamental purposes, being placed out of doors in summer, 

 and taken in in winter. The central bed, I believe, had been 

 formerly, on the removal of the Oiange trees, filled with tan and 

 used for Pine Apples, but the Orange trees in time, from inju- 

 dicious treatment, had become unhealthy, and well they might, 

 when roasted in winter and starved in summer; and instead of 

 being placed in the open air Ihey were kept in-doors, and the 

 tubs plunged in the tan instead of the Pine Apple plants. The 

 Orange trees, though half dead, recovered very fast, and it was 

 thought they would be in fine condition for the terrace in the 

 following year, but when the time came for their removal 

 it was found that the tubs were rotten. New tubs were sug- 

 gested, but not given, and at length the Orange trees were 

 planted out in the pit in two rows, those with the tallest stems 

 at the back of the pit, and the short-ttemmed trees in front. 

 They were planted about 2 feet G inches from the pit edge, and 

 C or 7 feet apart. Before planting the pit was emptied of the 

 tan, and the bottom covered with stones and brickbats to the 

 depth of 2 feet, which left about 3 feet for soil, with which the 

 pit was filled. It consisted of the turf from a pasture, where 

 the soil was a sandy loam, taken off about 2 inches thick, and 

 which had been laid up for twelvemonths in layers, with sheep 

 and horse droppings. Previous to use the whole was chopped 

 up, but not veiy finely, and thoroughly mixed with one-fourth 

 part of river sand. The drainnge was covered with turf, grass 

 side downwards. The proportion of manure would amount to 

 about one-fourth of the turfy loam, so that the compost would 

 be tuify sandy loam one-half, sheep and horse droppings one- 

 fourth, and sharp sand one-fourth, and when put in the bed 

 eveiy sixth barrowful was of leaf mould, which had evidently 

 been overlooked when the compost was prepared. In this 

 compost the trees were planted ; but the pit had not been 

 filled sufSciently, as the soil settled below the pit edge, and it 

 had rather an unsightly appearance. That, however, did not 

 interfere with the growth ol the trees. They grew well, fruited 

 well, and supplied many a handful of fragrant flowers, and 

 large, good-flavoured fruit by hundreds for the dessert. 



The treatment of the trees, which was very simple, was as 

 follows : — In February, whatever pruning was necessary was 

 done; it consisted of cutting out old and dead wood, and so 

 thinning the heads as to clear tbtm of the weak wood and 

 prevent crowding. The trees were then well washed with soft- 

 soap water, using a sponge, and washing every leaf on both 

 sides. This was the most dreaded proceeding of all, but never- 

 theless necessary to keep under the Orange scale, honeydew, 

 and the black fungus. A similar washing was given in July. 

 The Vines were also coated with the then infallible paint ol 

 snlphur, soft soap, tobacco water, and clay, and the front 

 lights put in the outer groove, so that the Vines were within 

 the pale of the house. The Orange bed was top-dressed with 

 about an inch deep of equal parts of old cow dung, sandy loam 

 from turf, and leaf mould. At the same time the pot trees 

 were repotted, piuned, and washed. TbeLemcnsand Shaddocks 

 fared the same as those in the pit, only the trees were more 

 severely pruned, and were more troublesome to manage on 

 account of the untying and relying, and the greater difficulty 

 in washing. 



On the 1st of March, the syiinging of the Vines twice a- day 

 began, the Orange trees were sprinkled oveihead every morn- 

 ing, and the whole of the walls, paths, &c., were kept moist 

 by sprinkling with water twice or tliriee a-day according to 

 the weather. The bed was well watered about twice in March, 

 three times in April, and every week or ten days afterwards 

 up to September, when the intervals between the waterings 

 became more distant, the soil being at all times kept moist, 

 but never veiy wet after August. As the season advanced the 

 Vines, Orange trees, and, indeed, the whole house, were 

 syringed twice a-day — in the moming at 8 SO.and after 5 o'clock 

 in the afternoon — until the Grapes turned red, when syringing 

 was, ol course, discontinued as far as the Vines were con- 

 cerned ; the Orange trees, however, were syringed up to Oo- 

 tober, but after the Grapes began to ripen, once a-day only, 



