lo Feb., 1909. 



The Orange in Eastern Spain. 



67 



Naraja de extraccion or export orange. This is a variety most largely 

 cultivated throughout the Levante. 



The lemons were chiefly of two sorts, an early and a late one; the 

 former is said not to keep well. Another variety of lemon, known as "La 

 Reina," was remarkable for its strikingly aromatic fruit. 



Oranges and lemons were all planted at 16 feet x 16 feet on the square 

 system. The most remarkable peculiarity in connexion with the cultiva- 

 tion of citrus fruits in the Levante is the system of growing the trees over 

 a hole, with the collar and starting point of the main roots exposed to the 

 air. This system is very generally followed. It was at the Granja 

 Valenciana (Experimental Station and School at Valencia) that I first 

 remarked this curious method, but all the orange trees which I saw subse- 

 quently were treated in the same way. 



The photograph on this page shows this clearly. The tree is reared, 

 budded, and planted in the usual way, and until about three or four years 

 old is treated much as we would do in Victoria. By this time its surface 

 roots have become suflficiently strong to support it ; a hole is dug under- 

 neath it and the tap root is entirely cut off with a saw. 



SPANISH SYSTEM OF GROWING ORANGE TREES. 

 By the adoption of this system, the collar and the starting point of the main roots 

 of the tree are exposed to the air. 



The hole, which is a foot or so in diameter, and of about the same 

 depth, is not filled up. It remains always open, any dirt or rubbish 

 which may fall into it being regularly removed. When irrigating, which 

 is usually done by flooding, a small dam is made around the tree at a 

 distance of a couple of feet from it to prevent water from getting into the 

 hole. The appearance of these trees is very striking; their bases may 

 be compared to large spiders sitting over holes in the ground. The 

 object of the treatment is to prevent collar rot and gumming {Mai de Goma), 

 which used to be prevalent, but now seem to give little trouble. The 

 sour orange stock is the one usually employed, even for lemons ; lemons 

 worked on lemon stock are said to be liable to Alal de Goma. 



The trees struck me as being very healthy. They were loaded with 

 an abundant crop of fine fruit; in fact, everything seemed satisfactory 

 excepting the price. 



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