90 



A DISCOURSE 



BOOK II. Standard, by cutting away the collateral branches, and maintaining one 

 "^"^^^"^ stem, it will rise to a very considerable tree, resembling (for the first 

 twenty years) the most beautiful-headed Orange in shape and verdure, 

 and arriving in time to emulate even some of our lusty timber-trees ; so as 



method than covering the beds with litter, which, if neglected to be taken off when the 

 frost is over, will retain the rains which generally succeed such weather, sodden 'the beds, 

 and make them so wet, as frequently to destroy the whole of the expected crop. The seeds 

 being sown, and preserved with the above care, will appear in the spring. During tlie 

 following suinmer they should be kept clear of weeds, as well as watered in dry weather ; 

 and all the ensuing winter they must remain untouched in their beds, the furze hedge still 

 standing till the frosty weather is past ; for if these young seedlings are planted out in the 

 autumn, the major part of them will be in danger, before the winter is expired, of being 

 thrown out of the ground by the frost ; and not only so, but of being really killed by it, as 

 they are. not very hardy at one year old. In the spring, therefore, when the bad weather 

 is over, let them be planted out in the nursery-ground, in rows two feet asunder, and the 

 plants a foot and a half distant in the rows, where they may stand till they are planted out 

 for good. 



Trees raised from seeds generally grow more upright, and seldom throw out so many 

 lateral branches as those raised from cuttings ; nevertheless, as the expectation of a crop 

 from seeds has so often failed, notwithstanding great care has been used, and as the dif- 

 ficulty of procuring the seeds, and preserving them from the birds, has been very great, the 

 most certain and expeditious method of raising quantities of these trees is by cuttings, and 

 is as follows : 



In the month of August, the cuttings should be gathered, about a foot and a half 

 in length. They will thrive the better for having a bit of the last year's wood at the end, 

 though without this they will grow exceedingly well. The under-leaves should be cut 

 off a foot from the thick end of the cutting, which must all be planted about a foot deep 

 in the ground ; the other half foot, with its leaves, being above it. No distance need be 

 observed in planting these cuttings, which may be set as thick as you please, though the 

 ground for raising them should be sheltered, lest the winds, which are frequently high at 

 this time of the year, or soon after, should loosen the plants just when they are going to 

 strike root. 



When the cuttings are to be planted, the weather should be either rainy or cloudy ; and 

 if no showers should fall in August, the work must be deferi'ed till they do ; for if cuttings 

 are planted in August when the weather is parching and dry, they will be burnt up, 

 without great care and trouble in shading and watering. Neither is cloudy or rainy 

 weather only to be recommended in planting these cuttings, but a shady situation also, 

 either under a north-wall, or in beds which ai"e covered the greatest part of the day with 

 the shade of large trees. The shady situation is very necessary for them ; since, though 

 the weather be rainy and cloudy when they are planted out, yet should it prove fair 

 afterwards, the sun will soon dry up the moisture at that season, and endanger the plants. 



