i
M.
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486G. iv/iei-e o rango tre e s a r e to be tra in e d a g a in st the hack w a ll or a trellis, under the glass, th e forms
¡.donted for common peach-houses or vineries are perfectly suitable; but as by trainmg close under the
glass as is done with vines, much o fth e beauty o fth e foliage would be lost, train in g on a trellis a few
feet distant, with a space between it and th e glass, is preferable. ^ i , *
4867 P la n s fo r tubs, pots, a n d boxes. Unglazed pots o f earthenware are preferable to glazed stone
ware or China pots: th e form need not be different from th a t in common use, and the size must depend
on th a t of the plants. At Florence, where the largest and best garden-pots m Europe are made, the
rim and part of the outside of pots destined for oranges and ornamental plants, are often decorated with
festoons of flowers or fruit, and lions’ heads, or other ornaments, which some potters near London have
*^?f868 %M6.fmay be of any size, and in these and in boxes, trees thrive better th an in pots. One ad van-
taee of tubs is. that, bv unhooping them, th e staves are instantly removed, and the roots examined and
dressed, and by having a cooper at hand they are immediately replaced; thus savingrauch of th e trouble
necessarily incurred in shifting plants in pots or boxes. _
4869. B oxes. All boxes which are larger than the largest-sized pots should be contrived to take to
pieces, in order to examine the roots, or to shift into large r boxes. Square boxes held together by an
iron hoop, and taking to pieces on th e principle of tubs, are most convement for trees which do n^ot
require more than 5 or 10 cubic feet of ea rth ; and such as are u s e d a tth e 7 uileriesand l>y Mean {§ 1840.)
answer verv well for plants requiring from 10 to 60 cubic feet. Those of Mean contain 64 cubic feet of
compost. M'hitosh’s boxes 1841.) afford still greater facilities for removing or examining plaffis.
4870 P ro p o r tio n in s the size o f boxes to th a t o fth e p la n ts . The general opinion of gardeners_is m favour
of small pots or b o x e s ; aud where the object is dwarf plants, or merely to preserve th e trees without m uch
increasing their size or regarding their fruit, they are th e most proper. But where the object is luxuriance
of growth and fruit, it appears to us th a t th e pots or boxes cannot be too la rg e ; unless, as Van Osten
observes, it is meant to be asserted that plants grow larger in pots than m the free ground. It is, how-
ever, expedient to piant at first in small boxes, and remove into larger ones by degrees. The
boxes in use in Holland and France are 4 ft. square, which serve for trees with sterns frqrri 6 It. to 811.
high, with globular heads of 6 ft. in diameter, and above a century old. Henderson h ^ always tound
th a t the citrus tribe, and plants in general, grow best in pots or boxes, regarded as ra the r small m pro-
portion to th e size of the plants.” (Caied. Me?«., vol. iii. p. 303.) _
4871. Choice o f sorts. Where the object is principally ornament, a selection may be m a ^ from the
varieties of each species a t pleasure; but where theobjec t is fruit for the dessert, th e following sorts are
to be preferred: thecommon, bloody-fruited, Bergamot, Maltese, sweet China, Seville, a n dM p d a rin
oranges : th e common lemon, citron, and lime, and one or two plants of the shaddock. These include
all the essential varieties of the orange tribe as far as respects fruit, variations m the leaves, and mode of
Choice o f p la n ts. F or moderate-sized trees to be treated like gi-eenhouse plants, such ^ are
raised in this country or in the Parisian nurseries are preferable; but where the object is large handsome
trees in boxes, standards in th e free soil, or trained trees, then plants from Genoa or Malta are decidedly
preferable: indeed, no plants fitting for the purpose of standards could be elsewhere procured. Miller is
bf this opinion, observing, th a t “ by much the quicker way of furnishing a greenhouse with large trees,
is to make choice of such as are brought over every year in chests from Ita ly ; for those which are
raised from seeds in England will not grow so large in their stems under eighteen or twenty years, as
those are when brought over ; and although th eir heads are small when we receive them, yet in three
years, with good management, they will obtain large heads, and produce fruit. When th e plants are
purchased in London, at the Italian warehouses, without names, th e greater number will be found to bo
of Ihe shaddock and citron kinds ; as the Italian gardeners find these sorts make Wronger shoots and
more showy plants, and therefore send a greater number of them than of th e less lu x u r i^ t , b u t more
useful varieties. But th e best way is to send an order through a British merchant who has a cor-
r e s ^ n d e n t at Genoa, f^ jiam c d sorts, ordering so m any oi each class, either from the table of D r. Sickler,
° ^ 4 8 n ™ & S S ? p o i The management of dwarf Engli^i or French plants m moderatesized
pots or boxes, for th e greenhouse stage, consists m common greenhouse treatment. Being potted
in the proper soil, the roots are to be annually examined before the growing season in spring, and when
matted: or diseased, trimmed off, and th e trees repotted, or sfofted mto larger pots a t discretion. Henderson
says, “ the general management of the orange trees from th e middle ot March till th e 1st of Oc-
?obS may be discussed in a few words. I give the trees a good watering a 1 over the leaves once a week
with the engine, excepting when they are in flower. T ill th e end of May, this watering is given ¿ o u t
11 o’clock ih th e forenoon. After th e end of May. I give them a good dashing over th e leaves tiyice
a week with the engine, and now I do it in th e evening. In very hot weather I repeat the engine-
watering thrice a week. I never set th e orange trees out of doors during summer ; for, from thirty-eight
vears’ experience, I find it is much against them in the climate of Scotland. In hot weather I keen them
in th e back of the vinery, under the shade of the vines, or behind th e stage of th e greenhouse. Orange
trees delight to be in the shade in sunny weather ; they here grow freely, and keep a fine dark-green
colour. From the frequent waterings over th e leaves in summer, th e pots require less water, but they
must be carefully attended to, and when the plants are making their young shoots, th e pots or tubs
require a good supply ofwater. From October to March, I give them a gentle sprinkling over th e leaves
once in two or three weeks, b u t only in fresh weather, taking th e opportunity of a mild day, when there
is a little sun, and always in the forenoon.” {Caled. H o rt. M em ., vol. in. p. 303.)
4874. F o r th e m a n a g em en t o f I ta lia n p la n ts , d e s tin e d to g row large trees and produce crops of tru it
in boxes or tubs, the treatment requires to be more particularly detailed.
4875 The follotv ins a r e Mille r's directions ; — Having furnished yourself with a parcel of trees, ¿ e p a r e
a moderate hotbed of tanner’s bark, in length and breadth according to the number of frees to be forced;
then put vour trees into a tub of water upright, about half way of th e stems, leaving the h e ^ and upper
part of the stem out of water, the better to draw up and imbibe th e moisture. In this situation they may
remain two or three days, according to their plumpness when you received th em ; then take them out and
ciean their roots from all filth, cutting off all broken or bruised roots, and all the small fibres which are
quite dried by being so long out of the earth, and scrub the stems with a hard hair brush, cleaning them
afterwards with a cloth ; then cut off the branches about 6 in . from the stem, and having prepared a
quantity of good fresh eartli, mixed with very rotten nea t’s dung, plant your trees therein, observing
never to put them into large pots; for if the pots are but big enough to contain their roots, it is sufiicient
at Iirst planting. Wrap the stems round with hay-bands from bottom to top, to prevent the sun from
drying their hark: plunge the pots in the bark-bed, watering well, to settle the earth to their roots
frequently repeating the same all over their heads and stems, being very careful not to over-water them
before they have made good roots, and shade from the sun in the middle of the day. Ifth e y have grown
kindly, they will have made strong shoots by the beginning of Juno ; at which time stop them, to obtain
lateral branches to furnish their heads; harden them, to admit their removal into the open ground in
Ju ly ; house them about the end of September; and, during winter, water frequently but moderately,
gimrcUng against frost. In the followmg spring clean th e stems and leaves of the plants, top-dress the
earth, and mulch, with rotted cow-dung, round the edges of the pots, taking care that none touch the
stems. Remove to a sheltered situation in the open air by the end of May. As the trees advance, stop
strong irregular-growing shoots in the summer season, to force out lateral branches, to fill the head, and
render it regular and free from weak trifling branches. The trees will require to be shifted and new-
potted, every other year, m April. In performing the operation, having drawn the trees out of the pots,
cut off all th e roots round the outside of the ball of earth, and take away all mouldy roots • then with
a sharp iron instrument get as much of th e old earth from between the roots as possible • then set the
root of the tree into a large tub of water, for about a quarter of an hour, to soak the under part of the
ball of earth, then clcan th e stems. Repot the trees, and wator, letting them remain in the house till
they have taken root. The trees, or ra the r sticks bought in London, says one of the best cultivators of
the orange in England, will be found to thrive rapidly by soaking them in milk-warm water for five or
six hours, then planting them in pots, disproportionately small, filled with good maiden earth and
vegetable mould, and plunging them into moist heat. If the sticks are become very dry and hardened
by the voyage, it will be well to bind them round with wet moss, and so leave them, wetting the moss
daily with wann water, till they have shot forth. {G a rd . M a g ., vol. iii. p. 276.)
4876. The operation a f s h iftin g , when the plants become very large, is much facilitated by adopting
boxes which admit of being taken to pieces, as already described ; tho balls of earth can thus be slid
from one box to the other, instead of being lifted out o fth e be-;. Where the boxes do not separate, the
tree and ball must be lifted out by fixing one end of a rope to the stem of the tree, and passing th e other
over a pulley suspended from a triangle. This mode is recommended by Van Osten, while some French
authors recommend a carriage-lever and rope. T h e tree and ball of earth are thus, by either mode
suspended m the air, th e latter is examined, th e roots pruned, &c.; and this done, the same or a larger
box IS placed directly below the ball, with a proper quantity of compost a t the bottom, and into this the
tree is lowered, and th e sides filled with earth, &c. The worst thing attending this mode is tho liability
of injuring the bark of the stem by the noose of the suspending rope.
4 ^ 7 . H ende rson shifts oranges only once in two years, and frequently after a long interval. “ I never
shift any plant till the pot is very full of roots. In shifting the oranges, I always take as much of the
exhausted mould away as I c a n ; and, on account of the light and free nature of the compost used.
It comes easily from among the roots. The best season for this operation is about the beginningof
March. Having turned the plants out of the pots or tubs, pick as much of the old exhausted mould
trom the ball as you can, without injuring the roots. They should be shifted into the pots or tubs only
one size larger, and some of th e plants will perhaps do better if replaced in th e same pots again. Let
the pots be all clean washed and dried before any plants be again put into them. P u t a piece of crockery
or b r o ^ n pot over the hole in the bottom o fth e pot, with the convex side down; then cover the bottom,
above the piece laid over th e hole, three quarters of an inch thick, with coke made from pit-coal, broken
small’ about the size of peas. 1 his both Iorms a dram, and prevents the entrance of worms. Un the top
ot the charred cinders place a layer of dried moss {//ypnum), which prevents the compost mould from
getting down amongst the coke, and lets the water pass off freely from the roots of the plants. The
bottoms of the pots being prepared in this way, put in a little of th e compost; then introduce th e roots
Oi the plant into th e pot, and fill it up with the compost, observing to keep a little of the mould betwixt
the side of the pot and th e roots. T h e plants may be sot partly in the peach-house or the vinery, and
some m the greenhouse, which will give a longer succession of their flowers. The orange trees that are
placed m the vmery or peach-liouse, if there be any fire-heat used a t the time, must be watered as soon
as put in ; but those put into the greenhouse where there is little heat, may stand a day without getting
any Alter th a t space they may get a moderate wate ring; and this may be repeated once a week till the
weather become wann, when they will require it oftener. Tliose placed in the vinery or peach-house will
M«?«*''^voMij"p''304 to th e degree of heat kept up in the house.” {Caled. lio r l.
4878. R en o v a tin g old trees in p o ts o r bo.ves. Where orange trees have been ill managed, and their
heads become ragged and decayed, Miller directs to restore them by cutting off the greatest part of their
heads m March; drawing them out o fth e pots or tubs, and shaking off the earth from th eir roots: then
cutting away all small fibres and mouldy roots ; and n ex t soaking and cleaning their roots, stems, and
branches, planting them in good earth, plunging them in a hotbed, and treating them as directed for
trees received from abroad. °
4879. R em o va l o f trees in tu b s o r boxes. Where a number of large trees are kept in boxes or tubs thev
are generally romoved from th e orangery to a warm sheltered situation in the open air for three of the
warmest months, and brought back again ancl replaced in autumn. This is not only a laborious operation,
but, where the boxes and trees are large, one requiring considerable skill. The French have a
nityhine for mding in this qpcTation, which we have already described, § 1917.; but a much more scientific
and commodious one tor the British gardener (.^^.835.) is thus described by Mr. Moore, in th e G a rd e n e r s
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