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ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA.
Swe*f or Soirr Stocks —Time and Mode of Planting,
Budding, Tiie Lemon, Lin* and Guava, etc.
I promished to give you an article on the Or
ange and its cultivation in this latitude, which,
I think, will be equally applicable to your region.
1 will now proeeed to carry out this promise as
succinctly as possible; premising that I do not
profess to be a scientific Pomologist; and simply
give my mode of procedure which has been very
successful.
In the first place, select a location with an op
en exposure to the Northwest (this being the
point from which our coldest freezing winds
come), with as broad a sheet of water as possible
to the Northwest!of the site chosen. In pass
ing over this sheet of water, ice winds lose a por
tion of their cold and are rendered less damag
ing to tender vegetation than where no water
exists. This exposure also retards the flow of
sap, rendering the trees less sensitive to the effect
of sudden cold. The land should be sufficiently
high to drain itself; if it does not, it must be
drained artificially. It is by no means necessa
ry that the soil should be very rich ; a sandy
loam that, in this region, will yield twelve to fif
teen bushels of com, will do. It should be well
prepared by deep plowing and harrowing. The
holes should be dug three feet deep, and accord
ing to the size of the tree, two and a half to five
feet in diameter; a bushel or two of swamp
muck thrown into each hole and w T ell mixed
with the surrounding soil. The holes should
not be less than twenty-five feet from Center to
center. Trees do better wiiile young at a less
distance, but when fifteen to twenty years old,
will nearly double or quite shade the space at
twenty-five feet. The distance gives a free
grow th and makes a more shapely tree, allowing
it to expand equally in every direction. A row
of Peach or Guava may be planted immediately
between the rows of Orange without ifljury
to them.
Second. As to the kind of trees, whether
Seedlings, or the Wild or Sour Orange stock. If
the Wild or Sour Orange is chosen, a trunk
or stem from two and a half to four inches in
diameter is the best. In fact a bearing stock of
any size will do; with a sharp spade or axe,
make a circular cut around the tree, three to
four feet in diameter, cutting square or outw rard
ly all the lateral roots; then, with a hoe or shov
el, undermine on one side till you can reach the
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR.
tap root, say tw T o and a half feet below’ the sur
face ; cut it off, slanting downwards ; then, if the
lateral roots have been well cut, the tree may be
heeled over to one side and easily taken out. It
should then be sawed off sloping about four feet
above the surface roots. The roots, especially
the small fibrous ones, should not be allowed
to get dry, which they do very easily; and w hen
such is the case, tL e tree, when planted, may live
and grow, slowly or vigorously, according to the
degree of injury received by these roots —they
being the principal feeders for the Orange tree.
The tree should be set so as to bring the upper
roots not more than two inches under the surface
when the whole is filled up. The earth should
be w T ell worked in around the roots by hand, oc
casionally throwing in a quantity of W’ater, say
from two to four gallons. If this is well done,
leaving no hollows about the roots, ninety out of
every hundred trees should be saved. The best
time for transplanting is from the fifteenth of No
vember to the first of March, the sap being more
dormant and sluggish at that period than any
other. The Orange may be transplanted at al
most any season if proper care and mulching is
attended to. Too much watering in many in
stances is injurious and frequently causes the de
cay of those fibrous roots, when they have be
come partially dry before being put in the
ground. On account of their dormant condition,
one thorough watering is sufficient in ordinary
seasons.
As to the choice between the Sour Stock and
the Seedling: The Sweet is the most
hardy ; will stand a greater degree of cold. It
therefore sometimes happens that the cold is
sufficient to kill the Sour Stock, and not- serious
ly injure the Sweet Seedling. In this event, of
course, the sweet bud on the Sour Stock must
die, and the grow r er has to wait until the Sour
Stock sprouts from the root and grows la-ge
enough to admit of being re-budded; w T hereas,
when the Seedling is killed, the new sprouts
from the roots will besw r eet and will bear in
three years. Again, lam convinced the Seedling
makes the most durable tree, and the most lus
cious fruit It is true, fruit mayfbe had from the
budded tree in from two to four years, when it
requires from four to six for the Seedling to
bear. I have had budded trees to bear in twelve
months from twenty to fifty Oranges, but this is
not usual; I have also gathered two hundred to
two hundred and fifty-five ripe Oranges from
buds of two and three years growth.