54 



PROPAGATING AND BUDDING. 



The orange is propagated by seeds, layering, cuttings 

 and .grafting or budding. The object of raising plants 

 from seed is to furnish stock for budding and for obtaining 

 new varieties. Seedlings do not generally come in bearing 

 with any degree of regularity ; some trees will bear at 

 seven or eight years old, and all the way up to twenty and 

 twenty-five years ; hence the necessity of budding or pro- 

 curing budded trees when starting a grove, if early fruiting 

 is desired 



The operation of budding is very easy and simple, and 

 maybe performed by any one having a little tact and 

 patience. The best time to bud is when the sap is in brisk 

 motion. March, in this climate, is usually chosen, but it 

 mav be performed in any month when the sap flows freely. 



The operation consists in making a vertical incision, 

 where the bud is to be inserted, about one inch long, through 

 the bark down to the wood, and a cross or horizontal in- 

 cision at the lower extremity of the vertical cut, that is in 

 the form of an inverted letter T, thus, . Raise the angu- 

 lar corners of the cut bark slightly ; prepare the bud by 

 cutting it from the stick a ha'f-inch above and below the 

 bud, and crowd it upwards into the slit prepared for it. 

 Tie the bud firmly in its place by wrapping it with candlc- 

 wicking, bass, or strips of clo h. Thirty minutes' practice 

 with an experienced budder will impart more information 

 than reading volumes on the subject. The other modes of 

 propagation are seldom practiced in this country. 



FORF8T PROTECTION. 



We cannot close this little volume without again urg- 

 ing upon orange growers the absolute necessity of forest 

 protection to the grove. It is an easy matter when se^ct- 

 ing your location to choose a spot protected on the wind- 



