WHERE TO PLANT. 53 



culture, flat pine woods, with clay and hard-pan only 

 eighteen inches from the surface. 



In very rainy weather the soil becomes so saturated with 

 water that it fills up and runs over into the furrows and 

 ditches prepared to carry off the surplus moisture ; yet in 

 defiance of this and of the ' ' croakers " w T ho declared the 

 trees would die as soon as their tap-roots reached the hard- 

 pan, Mr. Hart's grove is to-day one of the finest in the 

 State, although, as he says, " on several occasions the river 

 (St. John's) rose to an unusual height, and stood for sev- 

 eral weeks a foot or more deep in the lower parts of my 

 grove, the higher ground being also completely soaked by 

 reason of no drainage. So far from suffering injury, the 

 trees appeared rather benefited by the irrigation." Also 

 this same orange grower, having ditched his grove after- 

 ward, decided that a simple, shallow furrow was all that 

 was needful. 



In Sardinia there is a famous grove, a square mile in 

 extent, where a stream of water running through the cen- 

 ter is employed to lay the whole grove under water every 

 two weeks, all through the summer. 



Now, here are well-authenticated instances going to prove 

 that the orange is more ' ' given to drink " than used to be 

 believed, and that it will grow on low lands if properly 

 looked after ; and by ' ' properly " we mean that, in plant- 

 ing, the trees should be set a little higher than the sur- 

 rounding land, and that shallow ditches or furrows, a hun- 

 dred feet apart, should be run through the grove. There- 

 fore, while we would not advise the settler to select "flat 

 woods" for a grove, other things being equal, yet if such 

 lands offer decided advantages as to price, location as to 

 transit lines, society and health, over other lands offered in 

 the desired vicinity, we would say, * ' take them, set your 

 trees high, furrow your grove to lead off superfluous water, 



