172 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [lL Ava., 1899. 
According to Dr. Lindley, the orange tribe live to a very great age in a soil and 
climate that suits them, and even under artificial circumstances there are some 
wonderful instances of their longevity. The orange tree at the convent of St. Sabina, 
at Rome, is 31 feet high, and is said to be upwards of 600 years old. At Nice, where 
the tree may be said to be naturalised, growing quite in the open, there was, according 
to Risso, a tree which generally bore between 5,000 and 6,000 oranges, and which was 
quite 50 feet high, with a trunk which required 2 men to embrace it. In Cordova, 
the noted seat of Moorish grandeur and luxury, in Spain, there are orange trees still 
remaining which are considered between 600 and 700 years old. The largest orange 
tree which Mr. Wallace measured in the Azores was 30 feet high, the stem bein 
7 feet in circumference at the base, but many large trees destroyed by the cocos hai 
been cut down. ‘Lhe productiveness of these trees is almost incredible; props are 
always used to prevent the weight of the fruit from breaking down the branches. 
Sufficient time has elapsed since the orange “was first introduced into this colony for 
the development of large trees, but for various reasons few really fine specimens are 
to be met with. 
SELECTING THE ORCHARD SITE. 
In order that an orange plantation may be of lasting benefit one of the indis- 
pensable conditions is that the site should be free from stagnant water in the soil, and 
the bedrock should be free and porous so that all superfluous water can at once pass. 
off without injuring the roots of the trees. The surface should be of a free, porous 
texture, either sandy Joam or friable volcanic formation, and the greater the depth the 
better will the trees withstand seasons of drought. Inno case should this class of tree 
be planted in soil of a retentive or clayey nature, for under such conditions the trees 
will suffer more or less from excessive moisture, and no system of artificial drainage: 
can have sufficient influence on such soils to render them comparable in any particular’ 
with those in which requisite conditions are provided by Nature. Land intended for 
orchard purposes should be thoroughly cleared and stumped, so that the work of 
cultivation may be carried on without interruption, and also with the object of pre- 
“ yenting an injurious fungus which generates about decaying stumps when left in the 
ground, causing the destruction of young trees when planted in close proximity. 
In the selection of varieties for planting the greatest care should be exercised in 
choosing only those which have been proved beyond doubt as being vigorous and 
productive under similar conditions, haying due regard to value of product. Too much 
reliance is often placed on the enticing descriptions invariably given of new varieties,. 
which instead of being improvements on standard kinds are frequently rank failures, 
or for some reasons quite unprofitable. The Japan Seedless Mandarin, so much in 
demand a few years since, is a striking instance of the fraud practised on the planter” 
in this direction, and appearances indicate a repetition in some of the late introductions.. 
GRAFTING on SUITABLE Stocks. 
Tt is also of the greatest importance that the trees be grafted on suitable stocks. 
Grafted trees are frequently referred to as being short-lived, and being ultimately 
inferior to seedlings, but this comparison is only applicable when inferior stocks have: 
been used. It has been, and unfortunately suis a common practice to use both the 
citron and the lemon, and the fact that the grafts take with Jess than half the trouble, 
and that the stocks are multiplied almost without effort, is the very sutticient reason 
from the nurseryman’s point of view. The orange on the lemon stock makes most 
robust growth for the first few years, but soon after commencing to bear fruit a decline 
is noticeable, and the graft gradually dies back to the junction of the stock. The: 
same applies to the better kinds of lemon when worked on the Bergamot or citron. 
On the other hand, in budding and grafting on the orange the percentage is frequently 
very low, and the growth, until thoroughly established, comparatively slow. This 
disparity in growth arises from the ‘stock supplying the scion with a greater or less 
amount of nourishment than it would receive from its natural root, and consequently 
producing a more or less vigorous growth; and, further, if a weak growing variety is 
worked on a stock that is too vigorous, a strong growth will be induced in the first 
instance, but in such cases a disparity in the rate of increase in the size of the stem 
checks the free circulation of the sap at the point of juncture, and the tree ultimately 
becomes stunted. For permanancy the only reliable stock on which to graft is the! 
seedling orange, and where lasting benefit is the object a written guarantee should be 
demanded from the vendor that no other stock had been used. The growth may not. 
be so robust, but it is lasting, whilst on the lemon the rapidity of growth in early 
stages only serves to denote that over-luxuriance and consequent weakening of 
constitution are inseparable. Citrus trifolata has been recommended as a stock, but 
he fact of its being deciduous tends to the conclusion that its permanency is very” 
