CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



POT CULTURE OF CITRUS FRUITS. 



All varieties of citrus fruits may be grown in pots or 

 tubs. The perfumed flowers and the rich, glossy foliage 

 of well-kept specimens make them exceedingly desirable 

 plants for the greenhouse or house conservatory. Fruit 

 can be secured in greenhouses if care is exercised, but 

 when grown in an ordinary livingroom, the chances for 

 fruit production are not so good. The writer has grown 

 the pomelo so as to secure a box of fruit from a single tree, 

 fruit, too, that was juicy and of good quality. 



Specimens for planting in pots can usually be secured 

 from nurserymen in the citrus-growing districts. They 

 should be of small or medium size, with well-developed 

 root systems. Plants may be propagated if so desired. 

 Cuttings may be made, rooted and afterwards either bud- 

 ded or allowed to retain their own tops. Specimens 

 raised from cuttings of such varieties as can be raised 

 from cuttings, are quite satisfactory. It is possible to 

 raise Otaheite and trifoliate oranges, lemons and citrons 

 from cuttings, but it is not practicable to root cuttings of 

 sweet orange, pomelo and lime. If so desired, citrus seeds 

 may be procured and sowed in flats (Fig. 41). When they 

 have germinated and reached a height of three or four 

 inches they should be transferred to pots. As soon as 

 they are as thick as a lead pencil or a little larger, they 

 may be budded. Buds can be secured from any citrus 

 nurseryman. 



Perhaps the most desirable stock for potted plants 

 is C. trifoliata, but the Otaheite orange is also good. 

 Either of these, it is believed, will make the potted plant 



