Book 1. 



ORANGE TRIBE. 



771 



close round the stock, to the surface of the pot, then, with a glass of a proper form {fig. 518.), to prevent 

 the damp from dripping on the scion, cover the whole, and press it firmly 

 into the mould, to prevent the air or steam from getting to the plant; ^^^ 



the glass must not be taken off, unless you find any of the leaves damp- 

 ing, and then only till this is remedied, when it must be immediately re- 

 turned. The stocks must next be placed on a brisk hot-bed of dung, and 

 in about six weeks, the glasses may be taken oft", and the clay and binding 

 removed ; but it will be necessary to bind on a little damp moss, in lieu of 

 the clay, and to keep the glasses on in the heat of the day, taking them 

 off at night; when, in about three weeks or a month, they will be fit to 

 be put into the green-house, where they will be found to be one of the 

 greatest ornaments it can receive. I should recommend the mandarin 

 orange for the first trial, as the fruit is more firmly fixed than that of any 

 of the other sorts. I have, by the above method, had seven oranges on a 

 plant, in a pot, commonly called a small sixty, which I conceive to be 

 both curious and handsome." {Hort. Trans, iii.) 



5912. Henderson" 1 s mode of grafting is well adapted for proving successful." 

 " Take two-year-old wood, cut into lengths of about seven inches. If the stock is much thicker than 

 the graft {fig. 519. a), cut a piece out of the stock of a triangular figure, about an inch and two eighths in 

 length, regulating the depth according to the 

 thickness of the graft, and keeping it square at 

 th e bottom . Displace two leaves at the bottom of 

 the graft, for the convenience of getting it put on, 

 cut the graft right across under one eye, where a 

 leaf has been taken oft": dress the graft to fit the 

 receptacle made in the stock, observing to keep 

 the lower end of the graft equal in thickness as 

 above ; always let three or four leaves remain 

 untouched on the graft. After the graft is fitted 

 in the stock, tie it up with bass matting, and put 

 clay around it. If the grafts and stocks are nearly 

 of the same thickness (£), cut the stock, at right 

 angles, nearly half through. Cut oft" the piece, 

 keeping it equal at top and bottom : cut the 

 lower end of the graft right across under an 

 eye (a), and with a knife prepare the graft to fit the 

 stock. When the grafted plants are tied up and 

 clayed, set them at the back of the vinery or 

 peach-house, observing to keep them away from 

 the flues, as fire-heat is hurtful to them at first : 

 cover them with hand-glasses, or, if a frame can 

 be spared, it is still better. Shade them every 

 day, but take the mats off at night ; continue the 

 shading till they begin to grow, when they may be 

 exposed to the light. If any stock happens to be 

 so tall and thick that it cannot be placed under a 

 hand-glass or frame, put two or three grafts on 

 it, set in any convenient place in the house, and 

 shade it with mats ; it will succeed perfectly in 

 this way, the grafts lose none of the old leaves ; 

 and, in five or six months, they will make three 

 or four young shoots six or eight inches long ; 

 these, with the leaves that were on the grafts 

 when put on, form a well-clothed little plant." 



5913. By cuttings. This method, though little 

 practised on the continent, where the object is 

 large trees and fine fruit, is frequently adopted 

 by the British gardener, whose object is generally 

 small handsome plants. Two methods are adopt- 

 ed ; the first is to take young succulent wood a3 

 soon as it has done growing, and the lower end 

 has become somewhat mature. These cuttings, 

 prepared properly (5914.) are inserted with a small 

 dibber in pots of light sandy loam, with two or 

 three inches of gravel or broken pots at bottom. 

 They are then covered close with a crystal bell, 

 and plunged in a gentle heat, and shaded.' The 

 glasses are taken off" only to wipe them when damp, and to remove any decaying leaves. In two months 

 such cuttings either strike or rot off. The second method is in spring to take the shoots of last year ; to 

 prepare and plant them as above ; but after covering them with glasses to plunge them in a cold-frame, 

 where they remain in a state of apparent inaction for three or four months, when they either form a cal- 

 lous excrescence at the lower end of the cutting and push at top, or die off. After preserving them in a 

 low temperature through the winter, they are placed the succeeding spring in a gentle hot bed, where 

 they will push freely, and make tolerable plants. The success of either mode may be facilitated by taking 

 care to place the cuttings so as their ends may touch the bottom of the pot, or the potsherd or gravel with 

 which that is covered. The advantages of so placing cuttings is generally known to gardeners, and has 

 been noticed by Hawkins in the Hort. Trans, vol. ii. p. 12. 



5914. Henderson considers cuttings as the quickest mode of getting plants, and has practised it for 

 thirty-seven years past on the orange tribe, and his directions are as follow : " Take the strongest young 

 shoots, and also a quantity of the two-year-old shoots ; these may be cut into lengths from nine inches to 

 eighteen inches. Take the leaves off the lower part of each cutting to the extent of about five inches, al- 

 lowing the leaves above that to remain untouched : then cut right across, under an eye ; and make a 

 small incision in an angular direction on the bottom of the cutting. When the cuttings are thus prepared, 

 take a pot, and fill it with sand ; size the cuttings, so that the short ones may be all together, and those 

 that are taller in a different pot. Then, with a small dibble, plant them about five inches deep in the 

 sand, and give them a good watering overhead, to settle the sand about them. Let them stand a day or 

 two in a shady place, and if a frame be ready with bottom heat, plunge the pots to the brim. Shade 

 them well with a double mat, which may remain till they have struck root ; when rooted, take the sand 

 and cuttings out of the pot, and plant them into single pots, in the proper compost (see 5922.) Plunge 

 the pots with the young plants again into a frame, and shade them for four or five weeks, or till they 

 are taken with the pots ; when they may be gradually exposed to the light. From various experiments, 

 I found that pieces of two-year-old wood struck quite well ; and in place, therefore, of putting in cuttings 

 six or eight inches long, I have taken off cuttings from ten inches to two feet long, and struck them 



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