THE ORANGE NURSERY 371 



BUDDING THE ORANGE 



The orange root is the best foundation for an orange tree, and 

 seedlings of the Florida sour orange are now being used almost to 

 the exclusion of other stock, for its great hardiness and thrift and to 

 escape gum disease being less subject to that trouble. Oranges 

 have also been worked upon pomelo seedlings, which force a strong 

 growth, root deeply and are satisfactory. Of course, many lemon 

 and recently many pomelo trees have been worked over to the 

 orange, but in these cases the orange root was below the other wood. 

 All lemon roots are not suitable for the orange. The Japanese prac- 

 tice of dwarfing with the citrus trifoliata has never prevailed in this 

 State. Recently the trifoliata stock has been used to some extent to 

 secure earlier ripening of fruit, and it is claimed that the tree is 

 sufficiently free growing, also that the effect of free-growing top 

 increases the development of the root, but experience favors the 

 other roots for standard trees. 



Budding is almost exclusively employed. The best time to bud 

 is about the time the new growth starts on the seedling in the 

 spring, though some practice budding in midsummer and fall. Good, 

 well-matured buds only should be used ; those from both base and 

 tip of the shoots are frequently defective. Buds should be taken 

 only from fruiting branches ; not from sterile sucker growth, and 

 from trees which are known to bear abundantly a good type of 

 fruit.* For spring budding, buds can be taken from fruiting trees 

 and kept dormant in moist sand in a cool place until the seedlings 

 show a sap-flow suitable for budding. 



The method of budding described in Chapter IX is that usually 

 employed in budding citrus trees, and the rules for loosening the 

 ligature, etc., are similar. Midsummer buds are apt to have soft 

 growth at the coming of cold weather; fall buds remain dormant 

 until spring; spring buds start to grow almost immediately, and 

 have the benefit of the whole summer season for growth and 

 maturing of wood. 



Budding Nursery Seedlings. A detailed description of the way 

 budding of nursery seedlings is rapidly done by Mr. H. A. Randall 

 of Whittier, who has budded 1600 seedlings in a 9-hour day, is 

 graphically given by Mr. R. E. Hodges, as follows : 



When the bark slips nicely on the stocks, and when the weather is likely 

 to be clear and warm, is the time to bud citrus seedlings. The buds "take" 

 finely when sap is flowing vigorously on warm days in February and March. 



Fat buds on plump sticks are selected. Long narrow buds make it hard 

 to close the bark evenly over them, as is very necessary. Leaf stems are 

 left % inch long when cutting bud sticks, for convenience in handling the 

 buds. 



The transverse cut on the young stock is made with the edge ot the 

 blade sloping upward, and the vertical cut made upward from that, so there 

 would be every chance to shed rain. Buds are inserted six to eight inches 



*The importance of selecting buds from prolific trees of the best types and of taking 

 buds from fruiting wood has been fully demonstrated by A. D. Shamel. Details of his 

 work are published by the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agr., Washington, D. 

 C., in a series of publications of which definite citation can be had by application to the 

 Bureau. Buds from selected trees are furnished by the Supply Department of the Cali- 

 fornia Fruit Growers' Exchange of Los Angeles, and are chiefly used by propagators. 



