Cultivation of the Orange and Lemon. 119 



taking off the bell glass or opening the glazed box or 

 frame. 



"When struck, which will be known by their begin- 

 ning to grow, they should be gradually hardened. 

 This is done by opening the glass, or removing the 

 bell, for a short time towards the early morning, and 

 keeping it open for half an hour. The second day it 

 might be kept open for an hour, and so on till the 

 plants are thoroughly hardened. A week or ten days 

 is sufficient for the hardening process. When the 

 cuttings can stand the open air all day long without 

 injury, they are ready for potting. 



" The rooted cuttings should then be turned out of 

 the pots, and the sand and charcoal washed away. 

 Each rooted Cutting should then be carefully potted 

 separately in 4-inch pots, taking care that the new and 

 tender roots are not broken. The best soil for them 

 at this stage is a mixture of two parts leaf mould, one 

 part roasted turf, and one part sand, well mixed 

 together. (I should feel inclined to add a good 

 sprinkling of pounded demolition mortar or lime. 

 E.B.) After they have been- carefully potted and 

 watered, a piece of potsherd should be applied to the 

 drainage hole at the bottom to prevent its being 

 stopped by the outside earth, the pots should be 

 buried up to the rims in the open ground. For a few 

 days, however, they should be protected from the sun 

 by means of a mat covering, removing the latter at 

 night. Here they can remain for six weeks or so, 

 when they require a shift into larger pots. When 

 these pots are filled with roots, the young trees are 

 ready for the final planting out. 



" For this operation I dig holes in the ground 6 ft. 

 wide, and 4 ft. deep. The soil dug out I remove, 

 and replace it with silt from the bottoms of tanks, 



