128 Oranges and Lemons of India. 



case the soil were totally devoid of it, it could be 

 easily added in the shape of the cheap cassis, or 

 sulphate of iron of the Bazars. 



In North Western India, and in all places where 

 hot winds prevail, shelter from hot winds is a very 

 important provision for many varieties, especially 

 those of the suntara type, so much so, that, in my 

 opinion, the mandarin orange, the most delicate of all, 

 cannot be grown in places subject to the hot winds, as 

 it is all but killed by them every year. 



In places where the soil is suited to orange culture, 

 and where there are facilities for irrigation, it would 

 pay to have high mud walls, tiled on top, all round 

 the orchard. They are not very expensive to make, 

 and with an annual plastering of cow-dung would last 

 long. If the soil be of tenacious character, the mud 

 for the wall might be dug from the ditch outside, 

 which would make the wall still higher for thieves. 

 This would admit of the orchard being under lock 

 and key, which is of great advantage when the fruit 

 begins to ripen ; because then a caretaker by day 

 and night with a couple of country dogs to help him 

 would completely secure the crop from thieves, how- 

 ever late it might be left on the trees. 



If, however, the orchard be on a large scale, and 

 no facilities at hand for erecting mud walls, then other 

 means of shelter might be available. Mr. Ridley 

 recommends for this purpose guavas, kumruk, jacks, 

 seedling mangoes, &c. But I think that perhaps a 

 more useful wind-break, at the same time that it acts 

 as a hedge, is to be found in the common kaghzi 

 nimboo tree.* If raised from seed, or from layers, it 



* Curiously enough, in the " Botanical Miscellany," vol. iii., p. 29, 

 Dr. Macfadyen recommends the lime tree also for a fence in 

 Jamaica. 



