Cultivation of the Orange and Lemon. 101 



is devoted to its cultivation. In Goorgaon they sell 

 oranges from four to six rupees per maund. I saw 

 there old trees, but they were gnarled and seedy-look- 

 ing, and the Mallees assured me that they were always 

 replacing these old trees by young ones raised by 

 budding." 



The little observation which is here made, viz. : 

 " apparently little or no care is devoted to its cultiva- 

 tion," may probably explain the reason why the orange 

 growers of Goorgaon "are always replacing these old 

 trees by young ones raised by budding." * 



Where the natural condition of the soil, as the 

 natives express it, kabool karta, or " consents " to 

 nourish vigorously a variety of orange tree, and make it 

 productive, little manure may be necessary at first, but 

 it should be always remembered that the right mineral 

 ingredients of a soil are not always in that condition 

 which enables the roots to utilize them freely, and, there- 

 fore, they are not inexhaustible. 



Someone might here ask, how is it that in primeval 

 forests, without any manuring and without any care, 

 immense trees go on growing, 'so to speak, for ever ? 

 The answer is not difficult to find. ist. The trees of 

 a natural forest have been specially selected on account 

 of their suitability to those surroundings. 2nd. Tons 

 and tons of produce are not removed from the forest 

 and taken elsewhere, in many cases to find their way 

 under other forms to the bottom of the sea. 3rd. 

 From the first year of life of a forest tree, it returns to 

 the soil, in the shape of fallen leaves, all it takes, ex- 

 cepting what goes to form its wood. The bark, in 

 many cases, is also shed, and when a tree decays and 

 dies, its wood also is soon reduced to powder by 



* Further on I have given my own experience of the orange 

 gardens of Delhi. 



