438 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



planted when the ground is hard and dry. The best time for transplant- 

 ing is at the first sign of growth ; one is then sure that the sap is active. 

 Death often results through moving when dormant. 



All the twisted and bruised roots should be carefully pruned ; this will 

 simplify the actual planting operation, and prevent loss of time taken by 

 the healing of bruised and torn roots. 



If the plants have to travel some distance they should be tied in 

 bundles of fifty. The roots should be well watered, and then sprinkled 

 with moist soil and wrapped in banana trash — previously soaked in 

 water— and finally wrapped and tied up in coarse baling, the top of the 

 bundle being left open. In this way the plants will travel safely overland 

 for several days without much harm resulting. Budded Citrus plants have 

 a tendency to spread ; therefore plenty of space should be allowed for 

 lateral development. For general Citrus cultivation a distance of 25 feet 

 each way should be allowed. 



Stakes with white painted tops should be placed at these distances, 

 care being taken to see that the lines run straight, as this will naturally 

 add to the general appearance of the grove in later years. 



The soil within a circumference of three feet of these stakes should 

 be thoroughly forked to a depth of 1^ feet and cleared of all roots and 

 stumps. The soil in these circular beds should be slightly drawn towards 

 the stake so as to raise the centre about one foot above the surrounding 

 level. The plant should be set on this raised bed and all the crown 

 roots should be carefully spread out in their natural positions. The 

 surface soil should then be drawn from the inner spaces to the plant and 

 pressed firmly around the roots, which should be covered to a depth of 

 two inches. 



Great care must be taken to see the plants are not planted too deeply ; 

 nothing is more fatal in Citrus cultivation than this. Such planting 

 results in numerous evils ; the plants are slow to grow, often dying back 

 and falling easy victims to the ravages of scale pests. If care is taken to 

 see that the highest crown root is not lower than an inch below the 

 surface of the soil this evil will be obviated. A piece of spun-yarn should 

 then be passed round the base of the plant and attached to the stake, thus 

 preventing the plant being loosened by the wind. 



The grove must be kept free of weeds : this may in a great measure 

 be accomplished by the growing of catch crops, such as Sweet Potatos, 

 Cassava. Pigeon Peas, Corn, Plantains, and Bananas, &c. Such crops, 

 however, must not be grown where they would prove detrimental to the 

 Citrus plants. 



The circular beds in which the trees are planted must be carefully 

 hand weeded. No implement should be used for this purpose, as it would 

 be likely to injure the roots ; the weeds, together with others, should be 

 spread thickly around the roots of the plants to form a good mulch 

 which will protect the young roots from the direct rays of the sun and 

 keep them moist. 



The circles should be widened from time to time by forking, thus 

 enabling the root system to develop with the head of the plant. 



A sharp look-out must be kept for all suckers which spring from the 

 stock, and these must be immediately removed. Cases have been known 



