84 



or bruised is carefully picked out. The frames are then 

 arranged in a slack oven, closed up, and left for twenty- 

 four hours. The fruit is then taken out, turned and picked 

 while the oven is being reheated to a somewhat higher 

 degree than before. Again the fruit goes in for the same 

 length of time, removed and examined. A third time the 

 oven is heated, and after remaining in it for a third twenty- 

 four hours, the fruit is finally removed and left to get quite 

 cold. Each separate prune is then rounded up by turning 

 the stone in the plum without breaking the skin, and 

 pressing the two ends together with the finger and thumb. 

 The frames carrying the manipulated fruit are now returned 

 to the oven for an hour. On withdrawal a pan of water is 

 set on the floor of the oven, and left for about two hours, 

 or till the space is filled with vapour. A final stoving for 

 twenty-four hours in this medium finishes the operation. 



THE ORANGE. 



If there are any fruits respecting which the Cape grower 

 should by this time have accumulated a good working 

 experience, they are first, the grape, and second, the 

 orange. It will hardly be said that the culture of the 

 latter has been dealt with skilfully. Success and failure 

 both seem to have come by the chances of site and soil in 

 most instances, and there appears to have been little con- 

 sideration of the requirements of the tree and careful 

 selection of places where those conditions will be fulfilled. 



Perhaps the first datum to be taken in orange culture is 

 the character of the tree itself as compared with the average 

 run of orchard trees, such as the apple and the pear. When 

 experienced gardeners talk of this difference, they will tell 

 you that citrus trees must be dealt with more or less as 

 \ard-wooded stuff. To them that phrase means a good deal, 

 and implies doing many things and not doing many others, 

 care respecting which is not so much required with soft- 

 wooded stuff. The root-system is far more delicate and 

 finely fibrous than in the latter. There is therefore 



