696 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



With regard to culture, as soon as the trees are bare of fruit the pmner com- 

 mences his work. All dead branches are cut out, as also are all rickety shoots and 

 the crooked branches which cross one another. After the pruning is finished the 

 surface of the soil is manured and cultivated and the ground irrigated. The soil 

 between the trees is plowed shghtly twice during summer, but not after the month 

 of October, when the fruit begins to turn yellow. If the weather be cold the grove 

 is irrigated, and thus the trees suffer less. As to irrigation in general, it is the ex- 

 perience of cultivators about Valencia that the groves may pass from four to five 

 weeks during the summer season without being irrigated. In the winter the ground 

 can be well left for eight or nine weeks without ii'rigating. 



Among the diseases of the orange tree the Mai de Goma is the most to be feared. 

 Tliis disease consists of a gummy oozing, generally occurring either in the spring or 

 in the autumn. It attacks either the trunk of the tree just above the surface of the 

 soil, or else the roots themselves. This disease commences to show itself by some 

 drops of gum appearing on the trunk, which still appears sound; but this spilling 

 continues increasing, the bark is perforated, and the flow of gum augments, being 

 fluid, tui'bid, and grayish in color; the bark then raises, drying or rotting on the 

 roots, and the plant, which commences turning yellow, weakens and dies. 



Recent studies of tliis disease have proved that its existence is to be attributed to 

 a microscopic fungus belonging to the group of spheroids. The best remedy for it 

 is sulphurous acid, mixing 15 bulks of the acid, concentrated at 66' Baume, with 

 100 liters of water. 



ERNEST L. OPPENHEIM, CONSUL, CADIZ, SPAIN. 



The orange tree, when raised from a cutting (which is the most usual mode), comes 

 into bearing five years after planting, though the acme of productivity is not reached 

 with most varieties before some ten or twelve years more. How long they remaia 

 fruitful is an undetermined question; that is to say, when the ti-ees are in favorable 

 environment and well cared for. There are in the garden of the Alcazar, at Seville, 

 several orange trees yet in bearing to which very old age is attributed, one being 

 said to have been planted at the time of King Pedro I, about 1350 to 1866; sever^ 

 others dating from the time of Charles I are in a better state still. The age ascribed 

 to them is about three hundred and forty years. 



Propagation and cultivation. — The trees are occasionally raised from seed, but 

 this mode, although practiced by careful growers, is not generally resovted to in this 

 district on account of the longer time required in bringmg the orchards into bearing. 

 In Seville and adjacent provinces the seed of the sour orange is preferred to all 

 others, as it appears to develop more rapidly; the trees thus raised are used for 

 stocks upon which selected varieties are grafted. 



The general mode of propagation is by cuttings. Large fine twigs of the previous 

 summer's growth are planted , either in November or m February . In Western Andu- 

 lusia the cutting is origmally chosen from the variety which it is desired to repro- 

 duce, and of course no grafting is necessary. In Valencia, however, and adjacent 

 districts the cuttings are taken from kinds which are considered best for stocks, 

 and these are grafted or budded with the best-selected varieties. 



The orange tree, which in the interior of Andalusia is hardly found beyond lat- 

 itude 37° 30, tlmves on the Mediterranean coast of Spain up to 42°. This is ex- 

 plained by the well-known moderating influence which the vicinity of large bodies 

 of water has upon the chmate. It is generally admitted that orange culture cannot 

 weU be carried on where the mean winter temperature is much below 9° to 10° C, 

 or where a fall below —4° C. is experienced. There are some very fine prolific 

 orchards in the rear of Tarifa, on the Sti-aits of Gibraltar, as well as on the delta and 

 the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir. On hillsides or uplands the trees thrive 

 well, provided the altitude is not such as to act virtually in the sense of latitude. It 

 is also considered desirable to have the trees sheltered from very sti'ong winds from 

 any quarter. Very steep hillsides are an undesirable locatiqn on account of the in- 

 suflicient retention of moisture; very low grounds are open to the contrary objection, 

 and though large yields are frequently made in such locaUties, the trees are apt to 

 suffer in wet seasons, and drainage is usually imperative. 



Orange groves in Western Andalusia requhe irrigation during the hot season at 

 intervals vai-ying from ten to fifteen days, according to the greater or lesser porosity 

 of the soil. The first irrigation commonly takes place after the dropping of the 

 blossoms, though many practical growers recommend that it be not begun before 

 July, alleging that irrigation before that period is generally hurtful. Irrigation is 

 to be discontinued in October. 



March is the month when plowing is first done in the orchards, at which time 

 the irrigating ditches are restored or renewed. The second plowing takes place at 



