Another condition which orange trees do not tolerate is very light soil 

 in which water is not held for any length of time. In this soil the Mosambi 

 is more sensitive than the Santra. The young tree flowers at a prematurely 

 early age and soon after turns yellow and dies. The Santra also suffers 

 but not to the same extent as the Mosambi trees. The above remarks point 

 to the necessity of choosing soils possessing the property of holding a fair 

 amount of water. 



Orange trees are also very sensitive to a layer of impervious rook, 

 mtirum or stiff clay at a short distance below the surface of the soil. In 

 such a case trees will grow apparently all right for a year or iwo or more 

 accord iog to the depth of the soil ; then the flowers and fruits, if set, will 

 commence to fall oil on account of the unhealthy condition of the soil. 



It is a mistake to plant orange trees in plots which have been used for 

 sugarcane cultivation for some years and particularly BO when the cane was 

 grown on canal water coming from a long distance. Sugarcane requires 

 heavy irrigations which make very favourable conditions for the growth 

 of weeds like lavala and hariali (Cyperus rotundus and Cynodon 

 dactyl on). If these deep rooted plants get once established in the field, it 

 is very difficult to eradicate them. Orange trees do not thrive in fields 

 infested with these and similar weeds. 



Sometimes it happens that by injudicious watering, salts from lower 

 strata are brought up near the roots of orange trees which suffer gradually 

 and ultimately become useless. 



To sum up, typically orange-growing soils in Western India are 



(1) medium black soil as in Poona, Saswad and surrounding villages, 



(2) reddish alluvial soils on the river banks, (3) loamy whitish soils such as 

 are found at Rahuri, (4) loamy or medium black soils of Khandesh underlaid 

 with yellowish subsoil mixed with lime nodules and (5) goradu soils of 

 Gujarat. Before finally selecting a soil for Citrus in Gujarat it is desirable 

 to determine if the water with which the trees are to be irrigated is sweet. 

 Many places which are very good in themselves for Citrus gardens have to 

 be abandoned owing to the fact that the only irrigation water available 

 is salt. The most important factor to be taken into consideration by the 

 Citrus growers is how far the soil is naturally drained. Different varieties 

 have different requirements as to drainage. As pointed out ab >ve, Mosambi 

 plants will stand a much more retentive and less drained soil than Santra 

 plants. One of the reasons why 8aswad is so famous for Santras is that a 

 number of small rivers rise from the Pnrandhar hills and flow heavily ia 

 the rainy season. In their brief life they often wash away large blocks of 

 Boils, thus leaving behind small islands. The land is, hence, vory much cut 

 up and the islands thus formed have excellent side drains. The level of 

 these islands is sometimes ten feet above that of the river beds. On such 

 islands many of the orange gardens are situated. Whatever be the nature 

 of the soil, water does not remain in it for a long time ; hence when water 

 is cut off for resting the trees, the effect of the stoppage is very quickly 

 seen. Thus at Saswad three weeks' rest is quite sufficient for Santrat, but 

 on poorly drained soils six weeks' rest has only a slight effect. In some 

 very well drained soils of Khandeah some of the Santra trees bear fruit 

 without any special treatment such as resting, exposing of roots and manur- 

 ing during the ourth year. 



