422 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ December 3, ie68. 



these groves has an important bearing upon the prosperity of 

 the State, as we shall see. 



The wild Orange of Florida is of two kinds — the sour and the 

 bitter sweet. Neither of them is palatable. The tree is very 

 beautiful — far more beautiful than the cultivated varieties — 

 and exceedingly productive. A grove loaded with its golden 

 fruit is a sight one may afford to travel hundreds of miles to 

 Bee. 



The Sweet Orange has been cultivated iu Florida almost from 

 the first settlement of the country by the Spaniards, in the 

 sixteenth century, but has not till lately become a prominent 

 interest. The earliest groves were at St. Augustine — our 

 " Ancient City " — and constituted for a long time almost the 

 only source of income possessed by the iuhabitants. In Feb- 

 ruary, 183.5, the " great frost," as it is called, killed every tree 

 to the roots ; and not only every Orange tree but every fruit 

 tree of all kinds iu East Florida north of the twenty-ninth 

 parallel of latitude. 



Groves subsequouHy planted at St. Augustine and elsewhere 

 were attacked by the scale iusect (Coccus hesperidum), and 

 most of them rendered worthless. 



Within the last ten years there has been a revival of the 

 interest in the Orange culture. The scale insect seeracd to 

 have ceased its ravages. The groves planted since 1858 have, 

 where any tolerable degree of attention in the way of cultivation 

 has been given them, flourished iiuc-ly. In fact, some of them 

 are now bearing heavily under almost total neglect. 



It is not true, as some have asserted, that the scale insect 

 has disappeared. It is still present in mpny if not in all groves, 

 but it seems no longer to be capable of its former destructivencss. 

 At any rate, trees planted iu suitable soil and properly culti- 

 vated do not now suffer in any appreciable degree from its 

 presence, and some of the old groves formerly ravaged by it 

 and rendered unproductive, are now again in bearing. 



The cost of planting an Orange orchard must vary greatly in 

 different localities, depending partly upon the original cendition 

 of the land and partly upon the expense of getting the trees 

 from the wild grove. Formerly the wild trees were considered 

 as free to everybody, and people wishing a few to plant dug 

 wherever they pleased; but now they are beginning to have a 

 market value. It is not in all cases convenient or possible for 

 a person to buy land with wild groves on it. A certain sum, 

 then, must be allowed for stocks. 



One gentleman with whom I am acquainted, and who has 

 already planted several acres, estimates the cost iu his case as 

 only 25 dollars per acre. He does not, however, include the 

 cost of clearing the land. I estimate as follows for ten acres of 

 fresh hammock land with its natural forest growth upon it : — 



Doll.irs. 



Cost of ten acres at 10 dollars per acre 100 



Clearing aud preparing 250 



Inclosing with rail fence : 200 



1000 trees at 25 cents each 250 



Planting and hudding 100 



Incidental , 100 



Dollars 1000 



The use of the ground for other crops will fully pay for all 

 the cultivation the grove will require fur the first threo years, 

 after which there will be an income from the grove itself. 



With regard to the productiveness of the Orange tree, it is 

 impossible at present to arrive at any very satisfactory con- 

 clusion. This is partly because there has been no systematic 

 mode of culture pursued, and the real production has varied 

 greatly in different groves ; but mainly because people in Florida 

 never weigh, measure, or count anything, and really have no 

 idea how many Oranges one of their trees produces. Some of 

 the old trees at St. Augustine are said to have produced annually 

 at least 8000 Oranges each. Mr. C. F. Eeed, of Mandarin, on 

 the St. John's r.iver, gathered 12,000 from three trees last year, 

 one tree bearing 3200, another 3300, and the third 5500. I 

 have been told that thrifty trees sometimes bear as many as 

 1000 Oranges the third year from the bud, but such productive- 

 ness I think must be rare. The conclusion I have arrived at, 

 from personal observation, is that a well-planted and properly 

 ctUtivated grove at ten years of age will average 2000 Oranges 

 per tree. Taking one half of this, however, as a basis of calcula- 

 tion, ten acres will produce 1,000,000, which, at 25 dollars per 

 thousand, the lowest price of the last season in Jacksonville, 

 amounts to 25,000 dollars. The crop of the present season has 

 in some cases been bargained for in advance for 25 dollars per 

 thousand at t'-ie grove. 



Florida Oranges are the best in the world, and will always 



command the highest piice in all markets. Some of the best 

 were sold in Jacksonville during the last winter as high as 

 50 dollars per thousand. 



It should be observed here, that north of the tv,'enty-eighth 

 parallel of latitude, crops are occasionally cut off by frost ; but 

 a total failure from this or any other cause is rare. — D. H. 

 Jacques [The American Horticulturist.) 



WOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



Deaikino, trenching, and digging, should now bo carried on 

 with vigour, and the ground, if naturally heavy, should be 

 thrown up in ridges, when a greater surface will be exposed to 

 the ameliorating and pulverising influences of frosts and 

 thaws. Compost heaps should bo frtquently turned over 

 during frosts. The planting of vegetable crops should now 

 merely bo confined to a few sorts of Cabha/jes, Coleworts, and 

 late Celery for soups. CauUjlowcr and Lettttce plants in 

 frames and under handliglrts, to be protected with mats, or 

 long litter, in frosty weather. The hoe may be used occasion- 

 ally in dry weather to destroy weeds between the rows of ve- 

 getables, and to draw earth to the stems of late Broccoli, Cab- 

 bages, &o. 



FRUIT GAKDEK. 



Although November is tho preferable month for planting and 

 pruning fruit trees, if, owing to any of the many causes for 

 delay, these operations were not carried into execution, I would 

 strongly advise commencing such work as soon as possible, in 

 order to finish it while this open weather lasts. Iu cases where 

 several branches of a tree have become so luxuriant as to pre- 

 vent a fair distribution of sap, or v.herethe grov.'th has been so 

 rampant as to prevent the formation of blossom buds, the 

 cutting of the stronger roots, so as to check the too luxuriant 

 branches, or the genera', pruning of the roots in cases of too 

 vigorous, though uniform growth, will be attended with ad- 

 vantage, inasmuch as vigorous growth and fruitfulncss are 

 severally promoted by means directly tho opposito of each 

 other. Though root-pruning is now frequently referred to as 

 something new, it is nearly thirty years since I saw it resorted 

 to, and then it was not thought anything remarkable for no- 

 velty. The practice, frequently reoommendsd, of cutting fie 

 roots every year or so, and then surrounding them with a trench- 

 ful of rich manure, though, no doubt, attended with good re- 

 sults, possesses this anomalous feature, that the system owes 

 the whole of its success to a perpetual doing aud undoing, pro- 

 ducing fertility by rendering the tree deficient in nourishment 

 at ono time, and supplying it with too much at another. When 

 trees are deficient in fertility from over-luxuriance, I should 

 prefer the raising o* the roots nc-artr the surface, giving no 

 manure but as mulching, and attending to early and judicious 

 Bummer pruning, rather than a yearly mutilation of the roots, 

 unless iu circumstances where it was desirable to have cs many 

 fruit-bearing trees upon as small a space of ground as possible. 

 Whero the roots of Apples, Pears, &c., are within from 9 to 

 18 inches of the surface, the trees may soon be deprived of 

 extra luxuriance by judicious summer pruning, merely preserv- 

 ing as many leaves on the shoots as will insure a healthy action 

 between the roots and the branches, and not so many as will 

 shade those buds at the bases of the shoots, and on small spurs, 

 that can only be rendered fruitful by a free exposure to Ught 

 and air. In extreme cases, as in fine old Pear trees that have 

 become barren in the centre, the raising of the roots, and sup- 

 plying the tree with young wood, would, doubtless, be attended 

 with good results ; but with trees of moderate ago and equality 

 of growth, it will seldom be necessary, unless in the case of 

 trees of peculiar habit. 



FLOWEIl GAEDEN. 



This being about the best time for procuring a few Koses for 

 the flower garden, those who are desirous of collecting a small 

 group of good sorts, should obtain the following, which are 

 mostly Perpetuals, or which flower from June until late in the 

 autumn, when frost puts an end to their beauty— viz., Acidalie, 

 Bouquet de Flore ; »Dnchess of Sutherland, ^Madame Lafiay, 

 Aubernon, 'Fulgora, Due d'Aumale, Bernard, Crimson Per- 

 petual, Prince Charles, Bougere, Goubault, Elise Sauvage, 

 Comte de Paris, Triomphe du Luxembourg, S.vlvain, 'Lady 

 Fordwick, 'Lamarque, aud *Jaune Desprez. The above are 

 good, and not expensive to buy. Those marked with an asterisk 

 (•) are well adapted for covering walls, or for training up pillars, 

 &c. If planted in a bed they had better be placed in the centre, 



