178 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Decejibeh 19. 
manuring substances, consisting of leaf mould, cow- 
dung, sheep-dung, deer-dung, all from one to two years 
i old, lumpy and hard from haying been dried in the 
shade, with a portion of broken bones. These should 
be mixed together and used directly. I have no notion 
of making many composts long before using them, 
especially if they are to remain in the open air, exposed 
to rains, &c. The manure, when thus dried under cover, 
is very different from the unctuous mass it becomes 
when exposed for a year or two to the open weather. 
Some will smile at mentioning so many things for a 
simple orange plant; but it will be seen that many of 
them may be used as substitutes for each other. For j 
instance, I would be satisfied with loam, road-drift, and i 
! cow-dung, if the other things were difficult of acquisi- | 
tion. Much, however, as the present generation may 
smile at the folly of the old gardening florists, who 
would almost weigh some twenty ingredients for a single 
i tribe of plants, it cannot be denied that most plants 
I under artificial culture succeed best in a mixed compost. 
| All being ready, the plants may be turned out of their 
I pots or boxes, part of the old soil removed, the roots 
traced out, and trained in the new soil, well wetted with 
water at 70° or 80°, but only as far as the roots go —a 
few pins may be put in to mark the extent, as it is better 
not to soak the rest of the soil before the roots begin to 
enter—performing the operation in April, just as fresh 
growth is commencing. The house should be kept 
close for a short time afterwards and syringings given 
two or three times a day, especially if sunny. If cold 
weather should prevent the temperature rising to 60°, 
during the day a little heat may be given. When growth 
in the branches and roots has fairly commenced, more 
air may be given ; and by the end of May the syringings 
may chiefly be given in an evening, until the middle of 
September. When the trees are established, the tem¬ 
perature may range in winter from 40° to 48°, with 5° or 
10° more for sunshine; from February to May it may 
gradually increase to 55° at night, 60° by day, and 10° 
for sunshine. From the end of June, for the best part 
of three months, 10° higher may easily be maintained 
by keeping the house closer—all that is necessary being 
frequent slight sprinklings with the syringe, and good 
soakings of manure water when requisite. In such a 
temperature—from 60° to 65° at night, and from 70° to 
80° during the day—the orange will ripen in perfection, j 
and there will generally be fruit and flowers in different 
stages at the same time. In very bright weather it will j 
,be necessary to draw a net over the glass, or otherwise 
darken it, as the foliage of the orange, until well used 
to it, does not stand the full sun well. 
I have been told of oranges thriving when trained 
several feet from the glass, on a trellis similar to 
peaches; but I have never seen them so managed, 
though I have no doubt they would thus make a splen¬ 
did appearance. 
In planting them against the back walls of con¬ 
servatories and greenhouses, the same plan may be 
adopted ; but as only one side of the plants will be 
exposed to the light, the plauts must either be placed 
: thinly, or if thickly to produce an effect quicker, then 
I the compost should be equally open and rough, but not 
so rich. If the roots work freely, it is an easy matter to 
j supply luxuriance by top-dressing and manure water; in 
the case of such plauts, where fruit as well as flowers 
are expected, it will lie necessary to have the centre of 
the house cleared of very tall plauts during the summer, 
that the sun may easily reach them. 
Trained against the back of forcing houses—such as 
vineries, &c.—the orange tribe also succeeds well. Here 
they have good light in spring where forcing does not 
1 commence early; the high temperature and shade in 
summer just suits them; and then they get light in 
, autumn again to solidify then tissues. Figs, it is true, 
: will often do well in such circumstances; but then, if 
we take into consideration the beauty and the fragrance 
of the orange, there is no comparison of appearance 
I between it and the fig—the one being a beautiful ever- 
! green, whilst the other is a rough-looking deciduous 
plant In order to guard against disappointment, it is 
requisite to state, that if there is a stage at all in such a 
house it must be a low one, and the plants set on it also 
be low, or the orange plants will be too much shaded 
against the back wall. In such positions the plants 
should be a good size before planting, and the soil open 
and rich. More than a dozen of years ago I bad the 
pleasure of seeing splendid fruit of all the varieties of 
the orange tribe against the back walls of the houses at 
Woodhall, near Glasgow. 
With common greenhouse treatment, all the year 
round, orange plants will succeed much better than when 
taken out of doors in summer, especially north of Lon¬ 
don. If the usual tenants of such houses are withdrawn, 
and their places supplied with tender annuals, &c., the 
oranges will just be in their element. In such positions 
they are generally grown in pots. A few large ones may 
be in tubs or boxes. It matters little what may be the 
material if kept in the house. Slate answers well, and is 
neat, but I do not consider it equal to wood when placed 
out of doors, as the roots are liable to be very much 
heated during the day, and as rapidly cooled at night. 
Wood boxes or tubs painted stone colour, and sanded, 
I consider preferable. For all large specimens, the 
vessels containing them should be so made as to be 
easily taken to pieces, and put together without much 
trouble, so that the roots may be easily examined ; old 
soil picked away, and fresh added; and even the opera¬ 
tion of moving into fresh boxes accomplished without 
greatly disturbing the plants. To be grown in the green¬ 
house in large pots, &c., in addition to those mentioned, 
I would recommend the Totness, it being a fine large- 
looking orange, and a free bearer. I know very little of 
its history. 
Shifting , or Repotting .—The first thing to be thought 
of here, is ample drainage. The second is soil of a very 
open texture, and, therefore, where such loam as I have 
spoken of cannot be procured, a portion of fibry peat 
should be added. A little soil of a finer quality may be 
spread over the surface, which will look neater, and pre¬ 
vent a too free penetration of air. The main part of the 
soil, however, should be coarse; riddling it if you choose, 
but only that yo\i may exclude all the finer matter. At¬ 
tention to this will prevent disappointment, and save 
labour afterwards; as if well done, unless in very small 
plants, several years may elapse before the oranges again 
want your attention—so far as potting is concerned. 
When grown in this stilted manner in pots, &c., they 
should rather be underpotted ; oranges in such circum¬ 
stances, drainage being secured, and the soil rough and 
open, preferring rich top-dressings, and manure-water¬ 
ings, when growing freely, to very extended root room. 
The top-dressing may consist of the manures specified, 
but not in a fresh state ; and they, and also guano and 
superphospate of lime, may be used in weak solutions for 
watering. The last may also be applied as a slight top¬ 
dressing on the surface. If, in large boxes, a good 
soaking of water is given late in autumn, little more will 
be wanted until fresh growth commences in the spring. 
Pruning .—The flowers and fruit are generally pro¬ 
duced at the termination of the short shoots of the 
current year’s growth, and upon small side shoots break¬ 
ing out from those that are longer and stronger, but well 
ripened. This must be kept in view, when the greatest 
quantity of flowers and fruit in a limited space is desired; 
and must be more attended to when the plants are grown 
against a trellis, than when shaped into symmetrical 
heads as standards ; in which case the fruit and flowers 
would naturally be studded all round the outside of the 
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