AND C0N3EEVAT0ET. 193 



quality as that of the tree from which the graft was taken, pro- 

 vided of course that the routine of cultivation is what it ought 

 to be. In all cases of grafting the object is chiefly to ensure 

 that the fruit shall be of good quality, but as the process pro- 

 motes early fruitfulness, there are two good reasons in favour 

 of it. 



There is not a tree or shrub in the garden more worthy of 

 the care required for its perfect development than is the 

 orange. Its fragrant flowers produced in profusion during 

 winter and spring amply repay the care bestowed upon it, but 

 the fruit that follows makes a still further return — a sort of 

 cent, per cent, upon the outlay, whether of money, skill or 

 patience, or of all these requisites combined. 



All the citrus tribe are shade-loving plants and must there- 

 fore be protected from the full glare of the sunlight in high 

 summer, but throughout the winter they should have all the 

 daylight that can be secured for them. To shut them up in 

 dark houses is a mistake ; and it is one of the wonders of 

 modern horticulture that until quite recently orange trees 

 were shut up in dark houses in all great establishments, and 

 were so much injured in consequence that they might as well 

 have been shut up altogether and forgotten for ever. Another 

 peculiarity of the family is that it will not endure extremes of 

 laeat or cold, and hence, if orange trees are allowed to freeze 

 in winter and roast in summer, they become, if they are not 

 killed, unhealthy and unproductive, and more plague than 

 profit to keep them. The shaddock and the lime are the 

 hardiest of the family and may be grown with the aid of a 

 glass wall and without artificial heat in the most favoured 

 districts of the south of England and the Isle of AVight. As 

 a rule the lowest temperature that orange trees should be 

 subjected to in winter is 45°, but the average winter tempera- 

 ture should be 50° at least, but in summer a good greenhouse 

 temperature is quite sufiicient. 



The Orange and the Lemon have higher claims on the 

 English amateur than any others of the family. To do them 

 perfect justice they should be planted out and never be pruned 

 except to keep them somewhat shapely and within bounds. 

 "When enjoying fair root room in a wide border with plenty of 

 moisture above and below, they are proof against all pests 

 and all diseases, and it is a question of temperature solely 

 whether they produce their proper quantity of flowers and 



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