194 THE amateue's greenhouse 



fruit. But there are many who must grow them in pots or 

 tubs, and our advice on this part of the subject is that the 

 management should be characterised by liberalit}^ for potted 

 orange trees are usually ghostly things, the victims of some 

 sort of starvation. 



The compost required for potting purposes is one consisting 

 of four parts of rich turfy loam to one part each of thoroughly 

 decayed manure, leaf mould, turfy peat, and sharp sand. The 

 siftings of the sweepings of a gravel walk are preferable to 

 sand if clean, but if containing many fragments of dead twigs 

 may prove injurious by promoting growth of fungus on the 

 roots of the orange trees. The drainage should be perfect, 

 and the soil should be well rammed in to render it firm about 

 the roots. Empty flower pots or pans may be advantageously 

 employed to assist the drainage of large pots and tubs, for if 

 the surplus water does not readily escape, the trees will soon 

 become unhealthy. The potting should be finished with a 

 layer of fat manure on the surface. 



Regular and plentiful watering is a matter of the greatest 

 importance. It is not suflBcient to give so much water at 

 such and such a time, but the cultivator must ensure that the 

 whole body of the soil is moistened. If a tree that has long 

 stood in the same tub appears to be languishing it may be 

 desirable to probe the soil with a crowbar to ascertain if it is 

 moist within, for it is likely enough that the water all runs 

 away and leaves the tree, like Tantalus, dying of thirst in the 

 midst of plenty. If it be found that the interior of the ball is 

 dry, several holes should be bored in it with the iron bar and 

 several copious waterings should be given, and as soon as the 

 ball is well wetted, weak manure water should be supplied for 

 the remainder of the season, and then the plant should be re- 

 tubbed and as much as possible of the old soil removed from 

 the roots in the operation. 



The best boxes for orange trees are those made of slate with 

 movable sides as in the subjoined figures. The rapid decay of 

 wood and its tendency to produce fungus are serious objections 

 to its use. The slate boxes are not only imperishable but in-, 

 capable of producing fungus. However, boxes of wood made 

 to the same pattern may be preserved in sound condition 

 for many years by the use of paint without and pitch within, 

 and the removal of the sides (a) is easily efiected by merely 

 lifting the side bars which brace them together. 



