ORANGES, LEMONS, AND LIMES PROPAGATION AND COMPOST. 49 



rooted, the plants must be established in separate pots, and treated as advised for 

 seedlings. 



Layering is effected by raising a pot filled with soil on a platform, so that a two- 

 years' -old shoot can be placed in it, notched about the middle, where it is securely 

 pegged, an inch or more deep. In soil kept properly moist, the layer becomes well 

 rooted in about twelve months, and may then be detached from the parent. 



Budding may be performed in August by the ordinary method, young plants being 

 placed under a hand-glass after the operation. In the course of a month it will be 

 seen whether the buds have taken ; if so, loosen the ligature, and remove the top of the 

 hand-light. Keep the plants in a warm greenhouse during the winter. Cut off the 

 heads of the stocks in spring, 3 inches above the buds, and, if the pots are plunged in 

 a hotbed, the buds will start and make shoots 2 feet or more long by August ; then 

 gradually harden them off. The plants will succeed without bottom heat, but they 

 make much less growth. Some propagators consider the best time to bud is when 

 the seedlings commence growing in the spring, and only the best buds should be chosen 

 from healthy shoots. Spring buds start into growth almost immediately. 



Side grafting may be performed in spring or at any time when the sap is in motion, 

 the scion having its lower end placed in a phial of water to keep the leaves fresh 

 until the union is complete. Besides seedlings of the orange those of the citron 

 and lemon are employed for stocks. The Japanese or dwarf varieties are generally 

 worked on Citrus trifoliata, which is almost hardy. 



Compost. To encourage free growth, young orange trees are sometimes grown for 

 a time in leaf-mould and fibrous peat, but such a light mixture is not suitable for the 

 production of fruit. For this important purpose choose the following when obtain- 

 able : Fibrous red loam from an old pasture on a well-drained site, torn or chopped 

 up, adding a ^--gallon of crushed bones and 1 gallon of pounded charcoal to every 3 

 bushels, mixing well. If the soil is deficient in grit, supply -i-th part of drift sand ; 

 if too sandy, add th part of clay, dried and pounded. 



Modes of Culture. Oranges, lemons, and limes require similar cultural treatment. 

 Dwarf or tall-growing varieties may be well grown in pots or tubs. Mr. Douglas 

 has grown the St. Michael's orange in 13 -inch pots, producing fruits 8^ inches in 

 circumference, the heaviest weighing 9 ounces, and 4 dozens of well-ripened fruit 

 on a tree. 



Though orange trees in pots or tubs produce well-developed fruit, superior in 



VOL. III. H 



