THE ORANGE. 639 



wondrously, set a few fruits, and then decayed at the base and 

 fallen over; and even palms, perhaps the most resistant of all 

 to such influences, have pushed up several leaves at once, with 

 leaflets distorted and folded back. It must be remembered 

 that the orange, although one of the toughest of trees in 

 many ways, is yet one of the most discriminating and sen- 

 sitive about what conies in contact with its roots. Strong 

 brine will kill it, and an instance is remembered where a little 

 London purple, spilled on the ground and dissolved by the 

 rain, caused three vigorous old trees standing by to wilt and 

 die in a few days. If strong manures must be used, the danger 

 is lessened or entirely obviated by depositing them in holes 

 or shallow pits dug here and there among the trees, instead of 

 broadcasting over the surface. 



The Scab is a minute fungus badly affecting the bigarrade 

 and lemon, and to a less degree the lime and citron. It has 

 hitherto troubled the sweet orange very little. It may have 

 previously existed in Florida, but did not become general 

 until a short time before the great freeze of 1886. It is ap- 

 pearing again in spite of the hopes of its extinction by the 

 last killing down of the trees. Before its first appearance 

 there was no difficulty in growing the most beautiful lemons, 

 with smooth satiny skins, fully equal to any in the world. 

 But now a large proportion are too rough and warty for 

 marketing, and the leaves are distorted and covered with 

 scars and excrescences. The growth of the trees does not 

 seem to be greatly checked, nor the acid of the fruit injured, 

 but it is terribly disfiguring. As the lemon is desired as 

 much for the fragrant peel as for the juice, it will be readily 

 seen how largely such an affection must detract from its 

 value. Many Italian lemons show marks of the same or 

 something similar. The copper sprays applied several times 

 a year have been tried with the result of a mitigation but not 

 an eradication of the evil. 



Mosses and Lichens growing upon the trunks and limbs may 

 be scrubbed away with a stiff brush, but any good fungicide 

 will cause them to die and drop off. Although they may not 

 do much harm while an abundance of moisture prevails, yet, 

 rooting as they do in the bark, many small branches are 

 strangled and the general health of the trees affected in times 

 of drought 



