32 FLORIDA FRUITS ORANGES. 



height of twelve or eighteen inches they are ready to be 

 removed from the seed-bed to the nursery, and further 

 shelter may be dispensed with. The same canopy protec- 

 tion may be used over the seed-beds as well as over the 

 plants already up. 



In raising plants of the citrus family, especially in the 

 open ground, there is an active little enemy to combat 

 against, an enemy whose name is legion, and who, if al- 

 lowed to follow out its own plans, will nip off the embryo 

 leaves of the plants the moment they appear above the 

 ground. We refer to those very industrious creatures 

 whom the primers hold up to us as an example to emulate, 

 but it could be wished that their proverbial industry was 

 more tempered with judgment in consideration for strug- 

 gling humanity. We mean ants of course ; they evidently 

 regard young citrus leaves as especial dainties, and must 

 be taught to keep their distance. An application of air- 

 slacked lime or hard-wood ashes will dampen their ardor. 



And now, having got our trees ready for the nursery, 

 let us see what is the proper location for the latter, and 

 how best to remove the embryo "gold mine" to its nour- 

 ishing care. 



It is an important thing to make a good selection for a 

 nursery; because the plants are small is no reason why 

 they should not have the best possible care, unless you 

 want them to remain small indefinitely. Hammock land, 

 dry, with the roots thoroughly cleared out, and mellowed 

 by frequent workings, is good, but pine land is better ; trees 

 reared from their earliest infancy in rich hammock soil, 

 and then transplanted at three or more years of age to 

 pine land, will be apt to droop and pine, and either die 

 outright or else linger along for years only half alive, just 

 as a child, tenderly reared and cared for, will droop if 

 suddenly transplanted to a life of exposure, with coarse 



