CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



age of lemons are more easily secured in the more equable tempera- 

 ture and moister air of the coast region. 



The lemon delights in a sandy loam, and probably our best or- 

 chards are on such soil, but the trees thrive in other soils. There is 

 a difference of opinion among growers as to what soil is to be 

 especially sought for. There are profitable lemon orchards in 

 Southern California located upon deep clay loams, and even upon 

 strong red clay soils. As with some other fruits, the choice of soil 

 is, to a certain extent, governed by the stock on which the lemon 

 is* worked, for it is no longer grown upon a lemon root as it was 

 in early days in California. 



PROPAGATING AND PLANTING 



The prevailing stock for the lemon is the orange seedling, either 

 the sweet or sour stock, under the same conditions that each is pre- 

 ferred for the orange, the sour stock resisting measurably the effects 

 of ill-drainage of heavy land or flat, low places. The orange root 

 thrives on a greater variety of soils than the lemon, and produces 

 a healthy lemon tree where the lemon on its own root would fail. 

 The growth of orange seedlings for budding has been described in 

 Chapter XXXII. If lemon seedlings should be desired they may 

 be grown in the same way. Plants either for permanent growth 

 or for stocks for budding can be grown from cuttings, as explained 

 in Chapter VIII. The budding of the lemon is practically the same 

 as of the orange, which has been described. An old tree can be 

 changed from one variety to another by the methods described for 

 the orange, and oranges can be worked into old lemon trees and 

 good fruit secured if the lemon tree is thrifty and growing upon an 

 orange root. Such working of old lemon trees is not always profit- 

 able and replanting would often be better. 



Planting of the lemon is the same as that of the orange. The 

 distance in planting varies from twenty to twenty-five feet. Irriga- 

 tion of lemon and orange trees is also similar. 



PRUNING THE LEMON 



The pruning of the lemon is essentially different from that of 

 the orange, because the habit of the tree is different. The lemon 

 requires constant attention to bring it into good bearing form and 

 keep it there; the orange, after it is well shaped, simply needs 

 attention to encourage it to retain the bearing form to which it 

 seems naturally disposed. The orange largely provides itself with 

 satisfactory bearing wood ; the lemon devotes itself, even when it 

 is old enough to know better, to a rangy rambling wood growth 

 with bearing wood upon the ends of willowy rods where it is swept 

 about in the wind and burned in the sun, instead of nestling it 

 neatly among the leaves as the orange does. 



The rational proceeding with the lemon is, then, to develop it 

 at first into a low, stocky and strong form, such as is described in 



