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THE SOUTHERN WORLD, JULY 1, 1882. across and the bud slipped carefully down inside the flat part next to the tree, until the whole of the cut part is hidden; at the time that the bud is inserted, the buds of the sour growth are pinched off to throw more sap towards the new bud; if the latter "takes,” it will be found, after the lapse of two weeks, to be still plump and green, and then the remainder of the sour growth is cut off, thus concentrating the full rigor of the roots upon the sweet bud; the result is a most astonishing growth. As an instance in point, the writer bud ded two Sicily lemons on "native lemon” stock; the buds commenced growing late in November last, and as a result, In May, 1882, could be seen two rigorous young trees with branching stems, eight and nine feet in height, and still growing rapidly. Such trees, orange or lemon, will bear fruit In two years or less, while seedlings usually require eight or ten years. For this reason many growers prefer budded stumps to orange seedlings, but as it is the general idea that the latter make the larger and more endur ing trees, after a lapse of some years, most grove owners, while setting out budded trees, ulso set-out another grove of seedlings for a reliable "stand-by.” A few years ago nearly all agreed as to this difference in the relative permanent value of “stumps" and seedlings; now, however, it Is becoming a mooted question, a number of noted botanists asserting positively that budding the common lemon or orange does in no wise dwarf, or injure the permanency of the trees. It is impossible to say whence the idea first originated, for certainly there has not been tlmo enough in Florida culture to au thorize a verdict against the budded trees; so far they hold their own right right roy- ally, as fully the equals of seedlings of the same bearing age. In California this is the case likewise. Along the shores of the Mediterranean, where the citrus family is cultivated with the experience of generations, the sour or ange is planted for the express purpose of serving as stock upon which' to bud the sweet orange; it is claimed that in addition to bearing so much earlier than the sweet seedling, the sour “stock" is hardier, more precocious, grows faster and is less liable to the few maladies that attack orange trees; in ten years, according to some very exact observations made by the RoyalAgricul t ural College of Sicily, the sour stock gained fifty I«r cent, in diameter over the sweet seed lings. Another advantage possessed by the sour stock, is that it will grow upon moist land, where the sweet seedling cannot be Many of the wild groves of Florida are found upon such land, and where, as is sometimes the case, sour stumps transplant ed to pine land, either die or remain barely alive; it is owing to the fact that they have removed from moist spots, where as they wero not needed, Dame Nature bad not pro vided them with the numerous fine rootlets that are so necessary to plants growing on drier land, in gathering in a sufficient quan tity of moisture from the earth; any tree, therefore, removed from moist to drier spots, is very apt to die of thirst and starvation. Only two or three years ago, every one set ting out a grove was compelled to bud his own trees, now the case is different; fine, thrifty, one year budded stumps can be bought for fifteen cents each; sweet seed lings, one, two, three, four or five years old, can be purchased for ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty cents each—an advance of ten cents for each year of age; but it is not con sidered advisable to set them out after the third year, as their roots, after this period, are large, and apt to suffer so much in the removal, as to be put back fully a year in growth, while if set-out at two or three years, carefully, of course, they need not be put bock in growth beyond a few weeks. And now the trees safely planted, and thriving in their new home, comes the question. "How are they to be treated?” As we have seen, it will not do to starve or surfsltthem; fortunately there is a happy medium course, which, as in other trades, leads to success. First, as to their proper food: A very few experiments were sufficient to prove to all growers that animal, or commercial manures, especially those containing ammonia, are not adapted to the wants of the orange; on the contrary they are very injurious, unless used with extreme caution, therefore, they are best not used at all. An analysis of the fruit shows that water predominates enormously in its texture; the pulp contains ninety-one per cent of water, the seed fifty per cent, and the skin seventy-eight per cent, the remaining por tions of each distinctive part are made up of organic matter and asb. The saccharine principle of the sweet orange is not, as was once supposed, glucose, or grape sugar, but pure cane sugar; nor is its acid wholly mal* lie, but equally citric as well; the varieties of'ash contained in the orange are several; giving them in the order in which they pre dominate, they are as follows: potash, lime, phosphoric acid, soda, magnesia, silica, sul phur and ferric phosphate—of these, potash forms thirty-eight parts, lime twenty-three, and phosphoric acid fourteen parts. With this analysis before us, it is easy to see that the chief food required by the orange tree is a combination in which the potash and phos phoric elements preponderate; water fur nishes all the rest of the food they need, and this they are usually able to draw for them selves from the earth and atmosphere. With this understanding, it is no very diffi cult matter to supply their wants; their de mands are surely not excessive; a box of two hundred oranges, weighing one hundred pounds, takes from the soil only two and a half pounds of ashes, and this fertilizer is neither expensive nor difficult to procure. The muck found along the shores of Flori da’s numerous large and small lakes, can readily be dug out during the low water pe riods, and may either be hauled away at once, or left on the spot in small piles to dry, and thus make lighter carriage before removal. This muck, whether obtained from swamp or lake shore, is rich in potash; so are the ashes from the burned roots of the saw- palmetto, and may either be used alone, or better still, in a compost formed of weeds, grass, dead animals, fisli and birds, and the other refuse that ever collects where a fam ily dwells—the whole pile being kept well wetted by the slop-water and soap suds, un til thoroughly rotten. Crops of corn, English peas, bunch beans, cucumbers, white potatoes, and other low- growing plants can be raised among the young trees to advantage until they nearly approach the bearing age; cow peas form an excellent mulch for their tender roots, and when plowed in just as they are coming into bloom, furnish a fine fertilizer also, as they draw nearly all their nutriment from the air, decay quickly, and are rich in potash. A small cart load of manure should be fur nished each bearing tree every spring, to Jceep it in full vigor; Jt should be spread early over the whole grove, turned over by horse power in the clear spaces, but beneath the branches of the trees, which serve as a guide to the spread of the tender rootlets they shade, the ground must be stirred with a hoe only. Deep plowing should never be allowed in a grove at all; the roots of the orange tree lie near the surface, and the plow, unless handled with care, is sure to tear up and de stroy many of these industrious little cater ers, who are ever wandering forth seeking what they may find wherewith to feed their beautiful charges. Many argue, and we think rightly, that no plowing should be allowed after the trees have passed their fifth year, as by that time the ground is interlaced with a net-work of fine rootlets lying near the surface; but the fastgrowing weeds must be kept down, and a monthly stirring of the ground is necessary; this, however, can be done with a light cul tivator or harrow, and thus the minimum of injury be done to the rootlets. As for pruning the trees, they do not need it, nay, are better off without it, except it may be, a very little in the early spring, where branches threaten to interfere with each other; dead limbs should, of course, be cut out; instead of pruning after the tree has arrived at maturity, It is far better to secure the proper pyramidal shape, and sin gle trunk, by the careful pinching off of objectionable shoots when both they and the tree are just setting out on “life’s ardu ous journey;” by this method the desirable "open center” for the proper admission of sun and air to the interior fruit, is easily se cured as a permanency. Some of the earlier growers trimmed up their trees so os to keep them bare of branch es to a height of six or seven feet from the ground, thus directly thwarting Nature’s wise efforts to shield their trunks and root lets from the heat of the summer sun, but they are wiser now by sad experience, and the trees are allowed to droop their lower branches almost to the ground. And now a few words about the “rusty" orange -of Florida: every one is familiar with its appearance—it is among oranges as the russet apple among apples, only that the latter has become a distinct variety of recog nized and uniform quality. No one dreams of rejecting the russet apple because of its color, yet many are those who reject the Florida "rusty” orange for this reason, be lieving it to be of inferior quality; now this is very far from the truth; the “rusty" or ange is borne on the same tree, aye, on the same branch and in the same cluster with fruit of the brightest, clearest yellow, and its quality is identical. Its rusty cost is caused by a fungus growth, whose primary cause has, until very recently, been an un solved mystery, but as it has now been demonstrated that the application of lime around the "rusty” tree when the fruit is forming, will surely prevent the appearance of any rusty oranges, it is clear it was the poverty of the soil in this necessary con stituent to the health of the orange tree, that causes the fungus deposit on a portion of the fruit. To sum up in brief: in locating a grove, choose dry, not depressed land, and a spot protected from the semi-occasional cold winds of winter, by a large body of water, a desideratum easily obtainable in Florida, the land of placid watery mirrors; the southern shore is the best always, a cold blast from the north that will injure trees without water protection, will leave un touched those thus sheltered; allow no weeds among the trees, rake them out and put them in the compost heap, or else use them in mulching the young trees in sum mer; the moment a sign of the coccus (scale insect) or any other insect appears on the leaves or branches apply liberal drenching of whale oil soap, one pound to six gallons of water; this is easily and thoroughly done by means of a hand-pump with a rose sprinkler. The money value of a bearing grove, is by this time, so well known, as to need no ex tended reference in this article; the business of orange raisingis destined to be a fountain of wealth to those who patiently and intel ligently engage in it, and that people are rapidly awakening to this truth, is abun dantly attested by the thousands who are now flocking to the “Land of Flowers” in tent upon buying or “making" orange groves and becoming owners of these famous trees, which are "things of beauty” forever and at all times, whether in fruit or flower, or only clad in their dark green suits.- - It is impossible that the business should ever be over done, as some foolish individu als may be beard to Insinuate; a glance at the limited area of the orange belt of Flori da, as compared with that of the great mar ket of the whole United States, to say noth ing of Europe, where even now, a few Flor ida oranges have been sold by way of ex periment, at far higher prices than those ob tained for European oranges, is enough to show the complete fallacy of the idea. We will give in conclusion, a few instan ces of what orange trees can and are doing for their owners, with the sure promise of still better things to come. Ten years ago a clerk in a Palatka store, bought, for a trifle, a few acres of land on the St. John’s river, which included a wild grove. He could not dwell on the spot, having his bus iness to attend to, but he cut off and budded the sour stumps and placed a negro in a log hut to take charge of them; they commenced to bear in two yean, and yielded him a good and increasing income. In five yean from the time of budding the sour stumps, he sold the grove for $10,000, and now it could not be bought from its present owner for $50,0001 Its average yearly crop of oranges sells on the trees for from four to five thousand dollan, an income not to be despised by any one. On the Manatee river, from a group of fif teen young trees, are shipped yearly, an av erage of fifteen thousand oranges, which will be doubled in two yean more; another small grove of eighty trees, clean thirteen hundred dollan per annum. Again, near Leesburg, a growing town in the center of the lake and orange region (the writer’s home) may be seen a group of five or six trees, among the oldest in the State; one of them twenty-five yean of age, yields yearly an income of from seventy-five to eighty dol lan, and the othen do nearly as well. Yet once again, a doctor from another State, weary of toiling year after year to se cure a mere maintenance for his family came to this section a few yean ago, homesteaded hummuck land containing a wild grove (at a cost of fourteen dollan) budded the trees, and now says, with a sigh of supreme con tent : “At last I am a free man 1 I need work no more! I can support my family in luxury now on the income from my grove, which will increase constantly, till it amounts to from eight to ten thousand a year." Another case is that of a ruined planter, who nine yean ago could not afford to buy the commonest kind of furniture for his log hut, but made it, like his home, with his own hands; this past season pocketed five thousand dollars, and the coming 'year will bring him nearly double that sum. Yet one more instance, out of hundreds we could cite: two yean ago two young men who had “made” a large “budded grove,” but were tired and desired to leave it, tried to sell itfor twelve thousand dollan; failing in this they retained the grove; this last winter the crop of oranges returned them a clear profit of seven thousand, dollan, and next winter it will bring at least twelve thousand. That grove is not for sale now at any price. These are not exceptional cases, but the rule, wherever patience, industry and intel ligence go hand in band. All hail then to the orange groves of Florida, those beautiful ever-living mines of luscious fruit, the veri table "golden apples” of the South. A Bn.b.l, More or l>eaa—It» Immense Influence on the Country. There are now growing in this country, about forty million acres of wheat. A bush el, more or less, at harvest will make a differ- nee of eighty million bushels in the ag gregate crop. At $1.25 per bushel, the value would be $100,000,000. That sum diffused through the country, three-quarters to the producing farmers, and one-quarter to the railways, canals, lake and river shipping, and dealers—and from all these classes, pass ing from band to hand, to merchants for goods, to manufacturers for their products— from these to the workmen, and from these again to dealers in provisions, goods, etc., would be a wonderful stimulant to the en tire business of the whole country—an influ ence sufficient to turn the scale from pros perity to depression, or the reverse. But the above is for a single product. There are over eighty million of acres in corn and oats. A difference of a bushel, more or less per acre in the yield of these, at an av erage of only forty cents per bushel, counts up $04,000,000 more. .Then, of say sixteen million acres in cotton, the difference of only fifty pounds per acre, more oroless, at ten cents per pound, counts up $80,000,000 more. Passing over the dairy products, an immense interoat, the potato, barley, rye and tobacco products, we have in the previously named crops, a difference of $264,000,000, from so small a change in tbe-yield, as a single bush- . el of grain per acre. And a single week of favorable or unfavorable weather through out the country, between this time and the ingathering of the crops, will easily make all the difference wo have noted, and thus affect the interests of the whole nation. In this connection we may add, that if the Government Weather Bureau can in the slightest degree help the farming interests by early reports widely diffused, of the state of the weather, and tho probabilities for a day or two in advance, and thus aid the cultiva tors of the soil in their plans and opera tions, Congress should not haggle a day or an hour over a few hundred thousand dol lars appropriation to the Bureau to make It more efficient, while they vote away, with out hesitation, tens of millions to clearing out diminutive mud creeks and the erection of costly public structures wjiere their chief use is to put money into thepocketsof “con stituents.—Am. Agriculturist. Tax novel, interesting process announced sometime since in France, by which the wool on sheepskins may be transformed in to velvet, is likely to prove of industrial importance. Up to the present time sheep- skins, tanned with the wool on, have only been used for mats, lining for coats, etc., and the wool, not having been subjected to any preparation, is always matted or curled. Observing that the innumerable fibres are naturally disposed in the most perfect and regular order, peculiarly fitted for velvet ing, an ingenious chemist conceived the idea of cleansing the skin and wool of ail impurities, and of so preparing and dress ing them that the hairs would be well pre served and not entangled one with the other -the occurrence of the latter contingency beingof course, fatal to the success of the operation. After long and continuous ex periments success has been achieved, the article produced being alike beautiful and serviceable, and destined, it is thought, to become a permanent and important article of manufacture.—2«wu Farmer. A pretty fancy is for young ladies with floral names to wear their individual flower as a corsage bouquet Thus, Miss Lily con fines herself to lilies; Violet wears violets; Daisy and Morguorlte, daisies; while Rose has a wider choice among all the numerous family of her name-flower.