422 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



up the soil to the branch. It is done in this way : A flower-pot, or box is made with 

 a slit in its side, so as to receive a growing branch, which is first of all prepared by 

 wounding or wringing the bark, so as to cause it the more readily to throw out roots. 

 The flower- pots or boxes are then filled with soil and secured in their places by cords 

 or props. The earth in the pots is kept moist by frequent waterings ; and the result 

 is that in a short time roots are thrown out, after which the branch may be sawn off 

 below the flower-pot, and it is ready to be planted out. This plan is now greatly re- 

 sorted to by the Portuguese in the Azores ; and I should like to read the following 

 short extract from the account of their method by a visitor to the orange groves of 

 the island of St. Michael. He says : 



" The trees are increased in a curious way. The mode of propagation was derived 

 from the Chinese, and has been much in use of late years. A branch of the diameter 

 of 4 or 5 inches is chosen, around which a circular incision is cut. Around this straw 

 matting is wound in the shape of a funnel, and filled with beaten earth from the mid- 

 dle of May to the middle of June. Roots soon begin to push, and by the following 

 winter it is provided with sufficient to support it when detached from the parent 

 stem. The young plant thus obtained often bears fruit at the end of two or three 

 years." 



This mode of propagation has simplicity for its recommendation. By its means the 

 possessor of any good kind of orange tree could soon establish a considerable number 

 of the same kind, and without the exercise of any special skill. But it is a slow pro- 

 cess of multiplication compared with budding and grafting, which in fact are the 

 modes adopted by nurserymen. For these modes stocks are necessary. Stocks may 

 be raised from seeds, or fall-grown bitter orange trees, or sweet-orange trees of inferior 

 kinds may be cut down to stumps and a bud or graft inserted. For the theory on 

 which budding and grafting depends I must refer you to horticultural works, and also 

 for the details. Let it suffice here to state that the process is by no means difficult, 

 and may be acquired by any persevering grower simply by attending to the direc- 

 tions. 



*****! 



To return to the orange tree and the question of pruning. The orange tree differs 

 from coffee trees and most fruit trees in that very little skill or labor in pruning is 

 required. As already stated, the fruit is formed on young shoots of the current year's 

 growth, and consequently pruning this tree can not exert the same influence as in 

 pruning coffee, which requires ripened wood for the bearing shoot. Fertility in the 

 orange is promoted by manuring, and pruning may be simply restricted to cutting 

 out dead wood and misdirected branches, or to giving a desirable shape to young 

 trees. To stimulate a bearing tree to its utmost productiveness, the following plan 

 may be followed : Let a cord be passed loosely round the trunk of the tree, and with 

 the distance of the uttermost branches from the stem for a radius, let a circle be 

 marked on the ground round the entire circumference of the tree. A deep trench, 

 fully a foot wide, should be dug along this line and be filled up with a mixture of 

 bone-dust and well-rotted manure ; finally, let the trench be covered by the loosened 

 soil. The effect of this treatment will be to stimulate a growth of young rootlets, 

 which will feed upon the enriched soil of the trench ; the result of this vtill be that 

 a strong growth of young shoots will everywhere take place amongst the branches; 

 and, as a final consequence, the tree will be full of flower and fruit. When the sea- 

 son's growth has taken place, it will be found that the tree has gained in size to the 

 outer dimensions of the trench. 



Of the preparation for market be says : 



Within the past few years great improvements have taken place in the modes of 

 collecting and packing the fruit. At first, in the early history of our fruit trade, the 

 oranges were rudely knocked down from the trees by means of long sticks, with no 

 more care than a pe,n -keeper's cattle-man would take in knocking down a lot of bitter 

 oranges as a fee-el for the jiigs. They were carried loose in carts to the port, and at tha 



