418 General Notices. 



will be found that these roses want no more support than out-of-door ones 

 in their proper season ; and, moreover, they will have now been brought 

 into a regular early growth, which should be kept up ; they will have 

 made their growth months before those out of doors, consequently will be- 

 gin their rest months before them, and the early seasons may be preserved 

 as long as you please. The seasons, with all things, may thus be com- 

 pletely changed.— (^or/. Mag., 1848, p. 316.) 



Culture of the Orange. — M. Martine, propagator to Messrs. Knight and 

 Perry, brought forward an Essay on the Culture of the Orange, which, 

 with the exception of a few introductory remarks, was as follows : — What 

 a magnificent sight it is, to behold the majestic orange tree, covered at one 

 and the same time with foliage, flowers, and fruit ! Who, without being 

 lost in admiration, can gaze upon its graceful form, its rich looking, lively 

 fruit, and elegant, sweet-scented blossoms, with which latter, in my native 

 country — France — a virgin only is allowed to decorate herself? With 

 these remarks in its praise, I will now proceed to give a few brief directions 

 on its culture, from the time the seed is sown till the plants are four years 

 old. In the month of March, let the gardener, having first got some good 

 lemon seed, make a hot-bed of dung and leaves, which, when firmly trod- 

 den, ought to be about three feet deep. Over this, place a frame, and about 

 six inches of compost, mixed in the following proportions : — Three barrow 

 loads of peat, three of loam, two of rotten dung, one of silver sand, and 

 one of common garden mould. Having done this, sow the seeds about half 

 an inch asunder ; give ^a good watering to settle the soil ; then put the 

 lights on and cover the whole frame with a double mat, and in this state let 

 it remain for eight or ten days, in order to aid the development of the seed. 

 At the expiration of this time the gardener ought, by degrees, to accustom 

 the young plants to the light, taking care, however, to shade them when 

 the sun is very strong. The heat of the bed must be kept up by linings. 

 For the first year, I recommend that a bottom heat of about eighty-five 

 degrees be maintained. By the month of June the young plants will have 

 attained the height of six or eight inches, and now let them be potted into 

 sixty-sized pots, and plunged in a hot-bed, there to remain for the rest of 

 the summer. In the month of September, take them out of the bed, and 

 put them in a house for the winter, the heat of which must not be lower 

 than forty-five or fifty degrees. 2d year. — I will now suppose that we are 

 in the month of March, that the plants are healthy, and the gardener ready 

 for action ; if so, proceed to make a hot-bed, and plunge the plants in the 

 same way as before recommended. Give all the air you can in fine weather, 

 and, by the month of August, you will have a lot of fine healthy plants 

 ready for grafting. The month of August I consider the best month for 

 grafting the orange, and the mode of grafting I consider best is what Eng- 

 lish gardeners term slit-grafting. For grafting, select the most vigorous 

 plants, and insert the graft in the shoot of the previous year ; then plunge 

 them in a hot-bed, prepared about a week previous ; after this, shut up the 

 frame, and keep it covered with mats for three or four days ; the mats may 

 then be taken oflf in the evening and put on again in the morning, but I 



