TIME TO PLANT. 



The best time to plant the orange tree is undoubtedly 

 when the sap is dormant, from December to March. The 

 weather is cool and the buds not yet active ; the young 

 trees will suffer less from mutilation of the roots than at 

 any other season of the year. Trees may be planted any 

 month in the year under favorable circumstances, and even 

 in the summer months if care is observed in watering, 

 mulching and shading But, from long observation and 

 experiments, we are forced to the opinion that the winter 

 months, when the tree is entirely dormant, is the right time 

 to plant. Our most experienced orange growers, we think, 

 will agree with us that planting at that time will produce 

 the best results. 



PLANTING THE TREES. 



When it is determined to plant on newly cleared land, 

 large holes should be excavated, three or four feet in diam- 

 eter and two or three feet deep ; all roots should be care- 

 fully shaken from the soil taken out. and the soil thor- 

 oughly mixed and returned to the holes. If the soil is 

 poor it will be well to mix, when returning, one pound of 

 fine ground bone ; but if it is of the rich hard wood ham- 

 mock land, no fertilizer will be needed, and the holes may 

 be filled after sifting out the roots and rubbish. This por- 

 tion of the work may be done at leisure, weeks before setting 

 the trees. If the grove is to be planted in an old field, 

 either bone meal or well rotted stable manure should cer- 

 tainly be well mixed with the soil before the trees are set, 

 and if the work can be done some days or weeks previously, 

 so much the better. 



The distance apart of the rows is a matter of some 

 importance. Some recommend twenty, some twenty-five, 



