Horticulture. 



334 



[April, 1910. 



deal of improvement in the growing of 

 oranges in Ceylon ; and I also think that 

 if better varieties were propagated and 

 grown in a systematic manner, they 

 would return good interest on the out- 

 lay, even if sold at a reasonable price. 

 I have grown the Washington navel 

 orange, and the Sicilian lemon in Ceylon, 

 the plants being imported from Aus- 

 tralia, and it is pleasing to note that 

 they are bearing heavy crops. 



Propagation. 



The seeds from thoroughly ripe 

 oranges should be taken and planted in a 

 bed, well prepared and enriched by ad- 

 ding and mixing with the soil some well 

 decomposed farm-yard manure. If the 

 land is of a clayey nature some sand 

 should be mixed with it to make it free. 

 The seeds should be planted an inch 

 deep and covered over with some loamy 

 soil, and a thin layer of fine manure 

 applied on top to act as mulch. Water- 

 ing should be done daily, by means of a 

 watering can, a light watering will suffice 

 at this period. Once the seeds begin to 

 burst they should be protected over- 

 head by a light covering ; a few un- 

 weaved coconut leaves put on top of 

 a light frame work would answer the 

 purpose. The covering should be of 

 sufficient density to prevent the fierce 

 rays of the sun playing on the tender 

 plants, which should nevet be allowed to 

 become dry, as it must be remembered 

 that any young plant checked in its grow- 

 ing period will never turn out a healthy 

 strong tree. Once the plants have 

 established themselves watering every 

 other day will be sufficient. If the 

 plants have grown well, they will at the 

 end of the first year be from 10 to 12 

 inches high. They must now be put out 

 in nursery form, that is one foot apart 

 in the rows by 3 feet the other way. 

 They had best remain in the nursery for 

 another year. Weeding should be care- 

 fully done, and the soil well worked so 

 as to allow the young roots free access 

 into the soil to collect all the plant food 

 they require. Watering now and again 

 will be beneficial. The time when water- 

 ing is necessary can easily be ascertain- 

 ed by digging in the middle of the 

 rows which will at once show the state 

 the soil is in. 



The usual ways of reproducing plants 

 of a known kind i9 by budding and 

 grafting, I myself prefer budding to 

 grafting. I will at a future time go 

 fully into the question of budding, so, it 

 will suffice here to say that for budding 

 orange trees buds should be taken from 

 a tree which has borne good fruit- 

 Buds too near the base of the scion 

 must not be used as they generally do 



not make good vigorous trees, and some- 

 times they prove barren. 



Preparing the Soil for Planting. 



A great deal of attention should be 

 paid to preparing the laud for receiving 

 the young trees. The soil should be 

 trenched to a depth of 18 inches, which 

 is easily done by digging a foot wide 

 and 9 inches deep, and throwing the soil 

 away from the land. The remaining 9 

 inches of bottom soil is then dug up, 

 then another one foot wide by 9 inches 

 deep of surface soil is dug up and 

 thrown into the trench, and so on till 

 finished, when it will be found that 

 9 x 12 inches of soil is necessary, to 

 which is carted the soil originally 

 thrown out. If good ploughs are avail- 

 able sub-soiling by their means is the 

 easiest and cheapest— one plough follows 

 the other, the second plough having its 

 mold board removed. If this work is 

 done a few months before planting so 

 much the better, as it allows a free 

 access of air into the soil which is 

 so necessary for nitrification. Before 

 planting the soil must be forked up 

 again and thoroughly pulverised. The 

 " Planet Junior " single cultivator is an 

 excellent tool for this purpose, it will 

 soon repay its value by the saving of 

 labour otherwise necessary for success- 

 ful cultivation. 



Soil. 



The soil most suitable for the growing 

 of Citrus trees is one that is deep, rich 

 and mellow with a fine substratum, but 

 of a nature to allow water to percolate 

 easily. Gravel or coarse sand on the 

 surface is all right as long as the sub-soil 

 is good. Suitably good soils should al- 

 ways be chosen it fruit of a good quality 

 and big crops are to be expected. Low- 

 lying ill-drained land will not grow 

 trees of the Citrus family. 



Transplanting, 

 Orange trees can easily be transplant- 

 ed if the following instructions are care- 

 fully carried out: — Dig up the young 

 plants, avoiding as much as possible 

 doing any damage to the roots, any 

 damaged roots must be trimmed by a 

 clean cut before planting. Do not let 

 the roots be exposed to the sun 

 or wind, and do not let them dry. 

 This precaution is most important other- 

 wise a large number of plants will be 

 lost. The plants must be planted at the 

 depth they were in the nursery, in a 

 hole large enough to receive the roots 

 without cramping them. The earth 

 must be pressed firmly all round, and 

 some water added to settle the soil. The 

 planting had better be done dming the 



