CHAPTER XIV.
THE ORANGE, LEMON, AND LIME.
It is a favourite and commendable pastime to raise orange
and lemon trees from seeds; and lady gardeners acquire considerable expertness in it; although it is a most rare event for them to meet with the encouragement they deserve and look for in the production of fruit by their seedling trees. The question is often asked of horticultural advisers if the trees should be grafted to render them fruitful, and it is but proper we should anticipate the question here. Any member of the citrus family, whether citron, shaddock, orange, lemon, or lime, may be raised from seeds with the greatest ease, and every seedling plant will become fruitful when of a proper age to produce fruit, provided it has the advantage of proper management. As a matter of course, a large proportion of the pretty little seedlings we meet with in ladies’ plant houses and window gardens are not properly managed, and are not likely to live to a fruit producing age. Having had many opportunities of observing the process of this particular phase of orange culture, we must confess that it is to us a matter of surprise that the seeds germinate and the plants live for some years, for as a rule, all the conditions appear to be against them. They are generally potted in black mud, low down in the pots, as if mud were a scarce article; they are watered and ventilated by accident rather than by system, and their tenacity of life affords a delightful proof of the accommodating spirit of the citrus tribe, which have this good quality at least, that they love life too well to be easily pushed out of it. We repeat that every seedling citrus will produce fruit some day if you only wait long enough and manage the plants properly. But then, it will be asked, for what purpose are they grafted? There are two purposes secured by grafting. The process hastens fruit production, and it ensures fruit of the same
