C I T 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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319 



least changing the colour of their leaves, and often kill the 

 extreme weak part of the shoots : during the summer season, 

 let them be as much as possible defended from the sun, by 

 tall trees or hedges, during the heat of the day, and also 

 from strong winds, both of which are exceedingly injurious to 

 them. As the trees advance in the summer, it. will be neces- 

 sary to stop strong shoots wherever they grow irregularly, 

 in order to force out lateral branches to fill the head, but do 

 not pinch off the tops from all the shoots, as is the practice 

 of some, which will fill the tree with small shoots, too weak 

 to support fruit : the best plan is, to aim at forming a regular 

 head, and obtaining strong shoots, taking away weak trifling 

 branches whenever they are too close : they must be fre- 

 quently watered in dry weather, especially if they be large, 

 and on this account it is advisable to have the water as near 

 the trees as possible, in order to save the trouble of carrying 

 it, which will take up too much time where the number of 

 trees is great ; the water should be soft, and exposed to the 

 air, but should never have dung of any sort added to it, 

 which, although recommended by many, has always been 

 found to operate upon these and upon all other trees, like 

 spirituous liquors upon the human body, seeming at first to 

 communicate vigour, but afterwards leaving it weaker than 

 before. Orange-trees require to be shifted and new-potted 

 every other year, therefore you must prepare a quantity of 

 good earth, at least twelve months beforehand, that it may be 

 well mixed and perfectly rotten ; the best season for this is 

 about the end of April, that they may have taken fresh root 

 before they are removed from the green-house; and when this 

 work is performed, it will be necessary to let them remain in 

 the house a fortnight longer than usual, in order to be well 

 settled. In performing this work, after the trees are drawn 

 out of the pots, all the roots round the outside of the ball of 

 earth must be cut off, and the mouldy roots taken away ; 

 then with a sharp iron instrument take away as much of the 

 old earth from between the roots as can be removed without 

 breaking or tearing them : then set the root of the tree into 

 a large tub of water for about a quarter of an hour, to soak 

 the under part of the ball of earth ; afterwards scrub the 

 terns of the trees with a hard hair brush, cleaning them and 

 the heads with water and a soft woollen cloth : when the 

 pots are prepared, with some potsherds and large stones at 

 the bottom, put some fresh earth into each pot about three 

 or four inches thick, place the trees thereon in the middle 

 of the pots, upright, filling them up with the same rich earth, 

 pressed down hard with your hands ; then water the tree 

 all over the head, with a watering-pot that has a rose upon 

 the spout, to let the water fall light and thick, as in a shower 

 of rain, observing to water them in the same manner during 

 the time they remain in the house after shifting ; this will 

 greatly refresh their heads, and p'romote their taking fresh 

 roots. When these trees are first placed abroad after shift- 

 ing, they should be placed near the shelter of hedges, and 

 have their stems fastened to strong stakes, to sustain them 

 against strong winds. If old Orange-trees have been so ill 

 managed that their heads have become ragged and decayed, 

 the best means of restoring them is to cut off the greatest 

 part of their heads early in March, and draw them out of the 

 tubs or pots, shaking off the earth from their roots, casting 

 away all those which are mouldy, together with all small 

 fibres, and then soaking and cleaning their roots, stems, and 

 branches, and afterwards resetting them into a hot-bed of 

 tanner's bark, as above directed for such trees as came from 

 abroad, managing them in the same manner ; by this method 

 they will produce new heads, and in two years' time become 

 good trees again : but if they be large trees, that have grown 



in tubs for several years, the best way will be to prepare a 

 parcel of rough baskets, such as are used for evergreens, 

 when sent to a distant place : let them be somewhat smaller 

 than the tubs into which it is intended to plant the trees ; 

 and set the trees in them, plunging them into the hot-bed ; and 

 in the beginning of July, when they have made good shoots 

 remove them into the tubs with their baskets still about them, 

 filling the empty space with the same good earth, which will 

 preserve the tubs from rotting in the bark ; and the trees will 

 do equally well as if planted into tubs at first, provided care 

 be taken, in removing the baskets, not to disturb their roots ; 

 and also to let them remain in the green-house a fortnight or 

 three weeks after planting, before you set them abroad. 

 Orange-trees are new-potted or tubbed every other year, in 

 the month of April : in the years wherein they are not shifted, 

 as much old earth as possible must be taken out from the tops 

 of the pots and tubs, and also round the sides, as can be re- 

 moved without injuring the roots : this must be replaced with 

 fresh earth : you must also wash and clean thei r stems and leaves 

 from filth, which will greatly strengthen their flowering, and 

 cause them to shoot vigorously in the following summer. 

 In the management of Orange-trees which are in good health, 

 the chief care should be to supply them with water duly, in- 

 stead of starving them in winter, as is sometimes practised, 

 whereby their fibres are dried, and become mouldy, to the 

 great prejudice of the trees. But they certainly must not 

 have much water at once, but should often have small quan- 

 tities. Care must be taken to secure a free passage for the 

 water to drain off, for if it be detained in the tubs or pots it 

 will rot the tender fibres of the trees. During winter they re- 

 quire a large share of air when the weather is favourable, for 

 nothing can injure these trees more than stifling them : hence 

 they ought not to be placed too near each other in the green- 

 house, but set at such a distance that their branches may be 

 clearof each other, and that the air may circulate freely round 

 their heads. In summer they should be placed where the wind 

 is not violent, and be exposed to the morning and evening 

 sun ; but if they be too much exposed to it in the middle of the 

 day, they will not thrive. The best situation for them is near 

 some large plantation of trees, which will break the force of 

 the winds, and screen them from the violent heat of the sun. 

 In this situation they may remain until the beginning of Octo- 

 ber, or later, according as the season proves lavourable ; for 

 if they be carried into the green-house early, and the autumn 

 should prove warm, it will compel the trees to send forth 

 fresh shoots, which will be weak and tender, and so liable to 

 perish in winter; and sometimes it will occasion theirflower- 

 ing in winter, which greatly weakens them ; nor should they 

 remain so long abroad as to be injured by morning frosts. 

 The best compost for Orange-trees is two-thirds of fresh 

 earth from a good pasture, which should not be too light nor 

 over stiff, but rather a hazel loam. It should be taken along 

 with the sward to the depth of ten inches, and mixed with 

 one-third of cow-dung twelve months before, to rot. It 

 should be turned over every month, to mix it well, and to 

 dissolve the sward, which will at the same time break the 

 clods, and produce finer mould. Before this mixture be 

 used, it should pass through a rough screen, to separate the 

 great stones and the roots of the sward from it ; but the 

 earth should on no account be too finely sifted, for that is 

 very prejudicial to most plants, particularly to Orange-trees. 

 Of late years many of these trees have been planted against 

 walls, where frames of glass have been constructed to protect 

 them in the winter; and some curious individuals have plant- 

 ed them in the full ground, erecting moveable covers, which 

 entirely enclose them in winter, and in the summer are with- 



