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 con-
siderable 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 deUghtful 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 re-
peat 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