206 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Skptkmber, 
wliicli was published in the Report of Proceedings of that interesting meeting. 
From that paper we make the subjoined extracts :— 
“ The difference between Oranges freshly gathered from the trees, and the 
very finest imported, is most remarkable ; there is a crispness and fine aroma in 
Oranges freshly gathered difficult to realise, unless they are promptly compared 
with imported fruit. They are, indeed, a luxury, and as such will be cultivated 
ere long in every good garden. 
The houses best adapted for their cultivation are the large span-roofed, 
24 ft. wide, 6 ft. high at each side, and 15 ft. high in the centre. A house of 
this size will require eight 4-in. hot-water pipes, four on each side, as artificial 
heat is required all the year to ripen oranges in one season perfectly. 
“A smaller span-roofed house, 5^ ft. high at each side, and 12 ft. high in the 
centre, heated by four 4-in. hot-water pipes, two on each side, is almost as eligible 
for orange culture as one of the larger size [or even more suitable for varieties of 
small growth like the Tangierine]. A house of these dimensions, with a central 
path, and a border on each side planted with orange trees, would form a pleasant 
and productive orange garden; but to form an orange grove, so as to have trees 
of fine growth and to give abundant crops, the large house must be resorted to. 
“ From the experience I have gained, I firmly believe that no conservatory, no 
orchid-house, nor greenhouse, is half so beautiful or interesting as an orange- 
house constructed on the principles I now advocate, and provided with fixed roofs, 
rafters 24 in. apart, glazed with large pieces of glass, and admitting abundance of 
light, so that in December, when the trees are covered with their golden fruit, 
and many of them showing their snow-white perfumed flowers, the scene is indeed 
enchanting, and is enhanced by the agreeable temperature, which need not be 
higher than from 50'^ to 60° Fahr. (10° to 15° Cent.) in cloudy weather. It is not 
frame-heat in winter that ripening oranges require, but an even agreeable tem¬ 
perature, such as is experienced in the Azores during that season of the year. 
The houses above-mentioned should have side-ventilation as in orchid- 
houses,—viz., an opening on each side of the large house 2 ft. wide, for the 
smaller houses 1 ft. wide; these openings should be in the centre of each side, 
and shutters of wood or sashes employed to close them, the latter, of course, being 
the most agreeable. 
“ The cultivation of dessert Oranges in pots or tubs is very simple. The com¬ 
post they require consists of equal parts of peat, loam, and manure thoroughly 
decomposed ; the two former should not be sifted, but chopped up with the 
pieces of turf and roots so as to form a rough compost. The'trees will grow in 
this freely, and bear abundantly ; but they should have gentle, constant root-heat. 
This is best given by enclosing hot-water pipes in a shallow chamber of bricks, 
and placing the pots on a flooring of slates or tiles forming the roof of the 
chamber. 
“ One of the most charming and prolific of dessert oranges is the Tangierine; 
the tree has small leaves, and seldom attains a height of more than 7 ft., even in 
