The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-05-22
INDOOR ORANGE CULTURE.

INDOOR ORANGE CULTURE.
Some Suggestions Relative to the Guilt
walton and Grating of the Orange Plant.
The culture of orange trees in their
native cline and the raising of speci-
men tree or two for the adornment OF
home in winter are very different
matters. But to successfully rear a
healthy orange tree from seed to fruit
bearing is the ambition of many who
never expect to attain to much greater
proficiency in horticulture. ASIDE
from the rich glossy foliage and
golden fruit. the crop Of bloom which
thrifty tree will bear makes il
ia thing OF beauty" while the pleas
ure of raising, grating and training
it affords as much pleasure to the
grower as the tree itself when grown.
The ever-varying changes which occur
| from the time the tree sprouts until il
brings forth its ''crop of gold" are an
interesting study. ~
The seed may be sown at any season,
in soil of almost any texture, if it ie
| well drained and loose, though per-
haps the best and nearest approach to
| its native element is loamy or
peaty sand. Until the seeding tree is
| a year or two old little can be done
but to keep it in thrifty condition and
trained to the proper shape for graft
| ing. The tree should be trained to one
stem if it is to be grated singly or but
once. and no very large branches
should be allowed to grow. 1t is more
convenient to graft an orange tree
when quite young. say one or two
wears old. as the branches are then less
woody and more supple, and thus
easier to manipulate.
Though SPOKEN of in a general way
as grating. there are different methods
| of changing the variety of an orange or
lemon tree. ~ Grating proper. by
inserting cion cut from another tree;
| (2) budding. as peaches and other trees
are budded; (3) .'in-arching," which
consists of uniting the branches of the
tree to be changed and the parent tree.
| To perform the last successfully the
bark should first be cut away from both
branches at a suitable he ght to form a
| shapely head for the young tree, and
about two inches in length on each
stem. These two prepared surfaces
should be pressed fatty and firmly to-
gether and bound tightly with soft mat
ting, which should be covered closely
with grating or other wax to exclude
water and air After the trees have
been united about six weeks. the parent
| tree may be severed from the young
one. and when the graft begins to grow
freely the bands NAV be cut loose. The
newly grated tree should never be
placed in high heat or a strong sun
shine. This method of propagating
orange trees is the safest for the anna
teur, as there is scarcely any danger OF
failure IL the operation is reasonably
well performed Even should il fail.
the work can be repeated, as there is
usually enough of the tree left.
The proper time for ''in-arching' the
orange is when both trees are in a
growing condition. as the sap is more
active and the parts unite more read ly
| than at any other time. The branch OF
part marched on theyoung tree should
be of recent growth.
When the graft begins to grow
strongly the branches of the natural
stock may be cut away by degrees I'M
I'll nothing remains but the new top.
The new head may be trained in any
desired form, though the globular
shaped head is perhaps as good as
any. This form can best be obtained
BY starting the branches from COM
mon center and keeping them judi
ciously shortened in. The Mandarin
variety of orange can be trained very
prettily in this way. 1t is one OF the
best varieties for pot culture, and is
lilliputian in every respect-has small
flowers. small leaves and small fruit,
but of exquisite flavor. The large va
rieties of oranges are much coarser in
| growth.
The lemon tree makes very strag.
Cling growth, and it is difficult to train
it to form pretty head. Its propaga
ton is identical with that of the or
ange.
The insect enemies of the orange tres
when grown indoors are the scale lie,
and the mealy bug. The former is tn,
most insidious. as it is scarcely appar
emit to an ordinary observer. 1t ha
the appearance of thin dark yellow
or brOwnish spot, from one-eighth Z,
one-fourth of an inch in diameter. ant
SO closely does it cling to the leaf tina
it can only be removed by hard rub
bling or with thin st OK or knife blade
Sponging the trees occasionally witt
tepid water containing a little soal
(whale oil is best), viii tend to proven
the accumulation of these insects an,
also keep the tree in fresh, health,
condition.
The mealy bug is small slug from
one-sixteenth to one-eighth Of an incl
in diameter when grown, butvery mucl
smaller in its younger stages, covere,
with loose fowery or downy whit
substance, in which the young and oil
insects are imbedded. A small brusl
is the best thing for its removal. in ad
dit:on to the sponging recommends
: for scale lice. The latter usually at
tacks the under side of the leaf, Will
the mealy bug is commonly found i'm
bedded in the leaf axis and in crevice
in the bark. When the mealy bug
present in large numbers, as in green
houses. solution of kerosene and mill
emulsion or Of alcohol sprayed on witt