oranges do best when there is considerable heat, they have been known
to do well as high as 3,000 ft.; but the usual limit of elevation
for the growth of oranges in this district is probably about 1,000 to
1,500 ft. The orange of the Khasi Hills has always been famous for its
excellence, and Sir George Birdwood, in his introduction to the "First
Letter Book of the East India Company," page 36, refers to the orange
and lemon of Garhwál, Sikkim, and Khasia as having been carried by Arab
traders into Syria, "whence the Crusaders helped to gradually propagate
them throughout Southern Europe." Therefore, whereas the potato was
imported, the orange would appear to be indigenous in these hills.

_Nurseries_.--The seeds are collected and dried by being exposed to the
sun. In the spring nurseries we prepared, the ground being thoroughly
hoed and the soil pulverized as far as possible. The nursery is walled
with stones. The seeds are then sown, a thin top layer of earth being
applied. The nurseries are regularly watered, and are covered up with
layers of leaves to ensure, as far as possible, the retention of the
necessary moisture. When the plants are 3 or 4 in. high, they are
transplanted to another and larger nursery, the soil of which has
been previously well prepared for the reception of the young plants.

An orangery is prepared in the following manner:--

The shrubs, weeds and small trees are cut down, leaving only the
big trees for the purpose of shade. The plants from the nurseries
are planted from 6 ft. to 9 ft. apart. When they have become young
trees, many of the branches of the sheltering trees mentioned above
are lopped off, so as to admit the necessary amount of sunlight
to the young orange trees. As the orange trees increase in size,
the sheltering trees are gradually felled. The orchard requires