770 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



the seeds of the citron or orange, as it may happen, are sown in beds in the open ground 

 in February or March, and in September planted out in compartments, in rows generally 

 about eighteen inches wide, and the plants six or eight inches in the row. They are 

 placed thus close to draw them up with clean straight stems. There they remain 

 generally four years, and in April or May of the fifth year they are taken up, their roots 

 cut within four or six inches of the tap-root, which is also shortened to six or eight 

 inches, according to the size of the tree. The stem, if it has any side shoots, is pruned 

 clean, and sawn off horizontally, at such a height as that the section is from half an 

 inch to an inch in diameter. {Jig- 517. a) The 

 general heights are one foot, which forms the 

 lowest-growing plants ; eighteen inches for 

 trees to be sold in Italy; from two to four 

 feet for trees to be sent abroad ; and five or 

 six feet for extraordinary orders. These last 

 are not so common ; as the stocks require six 

 or eight years' growth, and some care to attain 

 that height with clean stems, and a diameter 

 of three quarters of an inch. The plants thus 

 pruned are budded, sometimes when out of 

 ground, and sometimes after planting. One 

 bud is inserted on each side of the stock (a), 

 within an inch of the section. In a month 

 buds and roots begin to push, and in Decem- 

 ber or January following these plants are in 

 fit state for taking up for exportation. After 

 being taken up, the roots, now well furnished 

 with fibres, are enveloped in a ball of stiff 

 clay ; this is covered with moss carefully tied 

 on, and in this way they are laid in boxes, or 

 in casks, and sent not only to most parts of 

 Europe, but to North and South America. 

 The chief defect in this system is the naked 

 horizontal section at the top of the stem (a), which, not being smoothed with the knife 

 and covered with clay or any other protection, to cause the bark to grow over it, indurates 

 and cracks with the drought ; retains moisture and decays, so that in almost all trees 

 that have > been budded in this way, a dead stump or a rotten hole, may be observed 

 during the whole period of their existence. This evil is often lessened by covering with 

 a cap of lead or a patch of wax ; but it might readily be obviated by peeling off a piece 

 of bark from one side of the part of the stock to be sawn off (d), letting it remain attached 

 to the lower part or stem ; and after removing the head, bringing it down close over 

 the section, inserting its end under the bark in the opposite side, somewhat in the man- 

 ner of saddle-grafting ; or the manner employed by surgeons in amputating a limb 

 (e) might be adopted. A similar object might probably be effected by removing a 

 wedge-shaped section from the top of the stock (f), and then compressing its sides, so 

 as to present a wedge-shaped termination covered with bark (g). But the gardeners at 

 Nervi are too indolent and obstinate to hear of any thing new, and will persist in their 

 present plan till the credit of Genoa for orange-trees is gone, or till some strong necessity 

 urges them to improvement. 



5909. The Maltese, aware of the defects in Italian trees, make a sloping section (5), paring it clean, and 

 budding on one side only; the consequence of which is, that the section becomes covered with bark, and, 

 which it never does in the Italian method, as sound and healthy as any part of the stem. The French 

 graft and inoculate in a very neat manner (c), and indeed their orange-trees, though small, are much 

 handsomer than the Italian ones. 



5910. By grafting. This mode is occasionally resorted to in Italy, and is that most generally adopted 

 in the nurseries at Paris. The stocks, when of two years' growth, and not much thicker than the scion, 

 are cut over within six inches of the ground, and then grafted in the whip manner. The trees continue 

 small, but have clean stems of from one to three feet, and generally make handsome plants, prolific in 

 flowers and fruit, of a small size. Grafting, both by the whip manner and by approach, is frequently 

 practised in England, in nearly the same circumstances of age, size, and effect, as practised in France. A 

 variety of the whip-manner is described by Cushing, in which the top of the stock is left on, but the scion 

 is cut off as in grafting. "Form the scion as for the common whip-graft, and then, without taking off 

 the head of the stock, cut from the clearest part of its stem an equal splice as smoothly as possible ; do not 

 tongue the scion, but tie it on neatly and firmly with matting and clay, in the manner of a graft : plunge 

 them in a hot-bed, and cover with a cap-glass till the scion begins to grow, and then cut away the top of 

 the stock, and remove the matting by degrees." {Exotic Gard. 103.) 



5911. Whip-grafting in the common way has lately been successfully performed, even with fruit or 

 flowers on the scion, by Nairn, who gives the following account of the process : " Let the operator select 

 as many orange or lemon stocks as he wishes to work, and place them on a moderate hot-bed for a fort- 

 night, by which time the sap will have risen sufficiently to move the bark; the stocks must then be cut 

 off, about two inches above the surface of the pot, and an incision made with a sharp knife, similar to 

 what is done for budding, separating the bark from the wood on each side. Let the scion be cut thin, in 

 a sloping direction, and thrust between the bark and wood, and then bound tight with woollen yarn ; but 

 very great care must be taken, in binding, to prevent the bark from slipping round the stock, which, 

 without attention, it is very apt to do. After it is properly and neatly bound, put a little loam or clay 



