16 



CITRUS FRUITS IN CALIFORNIA: 



Another condition favorable to the 

 use of trees budded on this root is 

 the early ripening of the fruit. Ac- 

 tual tests made by us, on our 

 grounds, have proven it to be a fact 

 that Navels not only color somewhat 

 earlier, but that the fruit is much 

 sweeter and finer flavored than the 

 fruit from trees grown on sweet root, 

 growing in the same block of ground 

 and under similar condition. 



Taking all of these points into con- 

 sideration, we feel safe in recom- 

 mending the Citrus Trifoliata as a de- 

 sirable stock to bud on and are sure 

 that planters cannot make a mistake 

 by using trees budded on this stock. 



Care of the Orchard. 



The old adage that "what is worth 

 doing at all is worth doing well," ap- 

 plies to citrus fruit culture, as well as 

 to all other lines of horticulture and 

 agriculture, and in no other line are 

 the' rewards greater. 



While an orange or lemon tree will 

 stand as much or more abuse than 

 any other tree, yet no other tree 'will 

 respond more quickly and more prof- 

 itably to proper care and cultivation. 

 The grower who is careful not to let 

 his orchard want for care or for fer- 

 tilization, is the one who always reaps 

 a bountiful harvest. 



It would be a difficult matter to lay 

 down any hard or fast rule covering 

 the irrigation and cultivation of a cit- 

 rus orchard, as the soil and the cli- 

 matic conditions have a great deal to 

 do with the proper time and manner 

 of these two necessary requisites. 



Generally speaking, in California, 

 citrus orchards should receive from 

 three to four irrigations durinp- the 

 summer months. These should be 

 given from six to eight weeks apart. 

 By irrigation we mean a thorough 

 wetting; that is, the water should be 

 run long enough to wet up the sub- 

 soil as deep and as far out as the 

 roots penetrate. In light, sandy soils 

 the time required to do this is very 

 short, but in the heavier soils it often 

 requires several days to properly sat- 

 urate the subsoil and the only satis- 

 factory way to irrigate such soils is 

 by the furrow method: that is by 

 running several furrows, according to 

 the age of the orchard, between the 

 rows and allowing very small streams 

 of water to run down each furrow. 

 These streams should be of such size 



that it will take them from 24 to 48 

 hours to run across a ten acre tract, 

 which gives the water time to pene- 

 trate the subsoil. In some of the 

 heavier soils, if the water is allowed 

 to run through the furrows too fast 

 it will coat over the furrow with a 

 fine silt and it is then almost impos- 

 sible to get the water to penetrate the 

 soil. The result of this is that the 

 water goes to waste and the trees 

 remain in a dry condition. This con- 

 dition is only apt to occur on hillside 

 lands, where the fall is quite heavy. 



On the lighter sediment lands it is 

 not necessary to let the water run so 

 long, in fact, some of these lands will 

 become sufficiently wet by allowing 

 the water to run only a few hours. 

 Only on extremely level and sandy 

 lands is it advisable to flood citrus 

 orchards and then water should not 

 be allowed to stand around the trees 

 for any length of time. Ordinarily, 

 no irrigation is required during the 

 winter months, although in some sea- 

 sons it is necessary to irrigate up to 

 December. 



The length of time required for the 

 land to dry sufficiently for cultivation 

 after an irrigation depends largely on 

 the nature of the soil and weather 

 conditions. A light, sandy soil will 

 dry enough to cultivate within 24 

 hours after the water is taken off, but 

 heavier soils require several days of 

 sunshine before they can be properly 

 cultivated. The soil should be drv 

 enough so that it pulverizes or falls 

 apart as it is turned up by the culti- 

 vator. If it is inclined to stick to- 

 gether and turn up in solid masses it 

 should be left to dry another day or 

 two. In some of the heavier soils 

 where the drying process is very 

 slow, it is often times best to fill in 

 the furrows with a harrow as soon 

 as the surface shows signs of baking 

 or crusting, then follow with cultiva- 

 tor a day or two later. This prevents 

 the surface getting too dry while that 

 below is getting sufficiently so to cul- 

 tivate properly thus obviating the soil 

 breaking up in large clods. Outside 

 of the benefit of turning over and 

 aerating the soil, the main benefit of 

 cultivation is the forming of a mulch 

 of finely pulverized soil, which keeps 

 the subsoil from drying out and un- 

 less the cultivation is done so as to 

 properly pulverize the top soil a large 

 part of the benefit of cultivation is 



