144 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF ORANGE TREES. 



ARTICLE IV. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF ORANGE TREES. 



BY A NORTH BRITON. 



The Orange is a native of Mexico, Italy, Spain, and other warm 

 climates ; they produce fruit annually in great quantities. They were 

 first introduced into this country as a variety of greenhouse plant. 

 Gentlemen have built houses for their cultivation, but the crops of 

 fruit are far short in comparison with those on the vine, which causes 

 me to think the culture of Orange trees is in an infant state in this 

 country. I have paid particular attention to the subject. 



Those engrafted or budded, I observe, come sooner to a bearing 

 state, but are never such healthy trees as the seedlings. I find I can 

 bring a seedling Orange tree into bearing in six years. I have 

 observed the young seedling trees to put out thorns at the base of the 

 leaf; and so long as these appear on the young wood no fruit can be 

 looked for. As the tree is in a luxuriant state, my method to stop that 

 vigorous growth is this : mix half strong brown loam, half peat or 

 heath earth, mixed well together, with a little gravel, to keep the soil 

 from binding to the roots ; have pots proportionable to the size of the 

 tree, put them into this soil, which I consider rather poor, but keeps 

 them in good health, and in humble growth ; by this management 

 they come sooner to a bearing state. I keep them in that soil till I 

 sec blossom appearing, which may be looked for when no thorns push 

 out of the young wood ; after that I give them larger pots, then take 

 compost half strong brown loam, half vegetable mould, break some 

 bones small, mix some in the compost, and put some in the bottom 

 of the pots, which feeds the roots a great length of time, and drains 

 off superabundant water. After the fruit is set I have observed the 

 decaying flowers to be in a corrupt state at the base of the fruit, and 

 cause it to drop of ; when the fruit is set, I take all the decaying 

 flowers carefully off. In pruning Orange trees, great care must be 

 taken not to shorten any young wood, as the flower generally appears 

 at the extremity, only cutting out any cross useless wood. I have 

 known some hew down their Orange trees every year. By this treat- 

 ment it is impossible for their trees to bear fruit, for in spring they 

 bring forth strong thorny wood, and are no nearer bearing than when 

 one year old. The brown scale is very troublesome to Orange trees, 



