276 Culture of the Orange and Lemon. 



in a green-house, without light from above, and have built 

 orange houses on that construction. Do they suppose the 

 plant, in its native country, enjoys not vertical heat and light ? 

 The fact is, they do not thrive in such a situation ; they exist, 

 and that only ; and following up the system of placing them 

 out of doors during the summer, they can only be said to 

 thrive, or exist, in such houses during winter, from the cir- 

 cumstance of the temperature of those houses being more con- 

 genial to them at that season, than the either too hot or too 

 damp temperature of our summer climate. The large orange 

 trees in tubs of Paris and Versailles are treated in this man- 

 ner, and what a number of years have they been arriving 

 at their present size ! They are, however, so far better 

 managed than our own, in as much as they are never allowed 

 to set their fruit, and are as much, as often, and as neatly 

 pruned (clipped) as an English quickset hedge, or a yew tree 

 cut into the form of a peacock, and therefore they very much 

 resemble these objects. That they are fine trees and large we 

 must allow, but their chief beauty and their utility is alto- 

 gether destroyed. The spreading elegance of the orange 

 branch, the delicious scent of the orange blossom, the beau- 

 teous colour and exquisite flavour of the orange fruit, are not 

 allowed to unfold their treasures to the worthy and tasteful 

 inhabitants of Paris and Versailles. 



In order to have orange and lemon trees in perfection in 

 this country, they must have a house of glass, and in that 

 house they must remain throughout the year. More air than 

 they will require may be given to them by opening the top 

 lights ; and, with the exception of a few vines, which may be 

 trained to the rafters, they should have the house to them- 

 selves. The back wall will afford the best situation for 

 lemons, citrons, &c. &c. ; and these should be planted in the 

 earth, and not kept in pots or tubs. The orange trees will 

 thrive best in pots or tubs, which should be small, in pro- 

 portion to their heads, as I find the plants have invariably 

 thriven best when their roots have come in contact with the 

 sides of the pots. The best soil for -them is about two-thirds 

 of maiden loam to one of vegetable earth, manured with the 

 scrapings of the pigsty, or saturated with water of pigeon 

 dung. They require much water, frequent washing of the 

 foliage, and steaming, with occasional watering with liquid ma- 

 nure. The nurserymen in the neighbourhood of London are 

 said to recommend bog earth as the best soil for them. The 

 general appearance of their trees, however, if they adopt that 

 plan, would prove that it is not the soil in which they most 



