42 



insipid and unsatisfactory. Girdling the orange tree, to 

 produce fruit next year, should be performed from June to 

 September ; and to produce large fruit and early ripen- 

 ing, the same year in April, after the young fruit is set. 



OTHER CITRUS FRUITS. 



In former pages the remarks-were confined wholly to 

 the cultivation of the orange. While the orange is to be 

 regarded the principal fruit to be depended on for profit, 

 yet other species of the citrus family may be cultivated 

 for profit, ornament or curiosity. 



LEMONS. 



The lemon is a more tender plant than the orange, and 

 therefore, in its cultivation, more regard must be paid to 

 location in order to shield the trees from cold. In all 

 other respects the lemon should be treated the same as the 

 orange, except that it requires less rich soil and less fertili- 

 zation. The lemon is a rampant grower, and has a tend- 

 ency to straggle, without any regard to symmetry in its 

 shape. Light sandy land, not over rich, seems best adapted 

 for the lemon, because if the soil is rich in plant food the 

 tree grows rapidly and unshapely, the wood is soft and suc- 

 culent, and a light frost while in this condition will cut 

 young trees to the ground, and materially damage older 

 nes, 



The tree matures several years earlier than tlie orange, 

 and the first crops are likely to yield large specimens of 

 fruit, which have thick rind and often spongy and coarse 

 pulp. 'These characteristics will gradually disappear as 

 the tree grows in years, when the fruit will become of 

 ordinary size and quality. 



The best lemons are those weighing about two. and a 



