PACIFIC TREE AND VINE 



Citrus Fruit Growing 



By JOHIN ISAAC 



A prominent orchardist once in- 

 formed us that there were only two 

 kinds of pesirs, ihe Baitleli pear 

 and pears. On the same piinciple 

 it may be said that, in California at 

 least, there are only two kinds of 

 oranges, the Navel and oranges, 

 and we do not know but what we 

 might safely curtail this li^t and 

 say there is only one orange in Cal- 

 ifornia, the Navel. Certain it is 

 that this queen of citrus fruits has 

 won its way to the public favor, that 

 it stands at the bead of all others 

 and is practically the one variety 

 grown here. The Valencia late, 

 comes in second, but is a long way 

 behind its companion. The last 

 named has the desirable (jualily of 

 extending the season, as it comes 

 in after the navel, and can be left 

 on the trees until it is desired to 

 ship it, and is therefore a very de- 

 sirable variety for shipping late in 

 the season, when it sometimes com- 

 mands good prices, owing to other 

 fruit being out of the maiket. But 

 the navel is ahead of all, and, dur- 

 ing a recent tour of the orange 

 growing districts of the State, the 

 writer found a large number of or- 

 chards of other varieties being 

 worked over, and in every case it 

 was some former favorite variety 

 which was giving way to the navel. 

 In Tulare county a number of lem- 

 on groves have been top-grafted to 

 navel oranges, and in Riverside we 

 found some old groves being dug 

 out iu order that more profitable 

 young navel trees might take the 

 place of the old trees. 



In view of the fact that much in- 

 terest is being taken in the orange 

 iu the northern sections of the 

 State, and that the growing of this 

 fruit is no longer confined to the 

 few southern counties, a few facts 

 concerning this fruit may not be 

 out of place here. In the first 

 place, the orange will stand for a 

 short time a very low degree of 

 temperature, as low as 24 degrees 



or even 22 degrees without .serious 

 injury to the tree, but we should 

 not advise planting oranges where 

 this temperature is common. The 

 orange requires a warmer tempera- 

 ture to do well than does the lem- 

 on. The latter will do well in a 

 much cooler location than the 

 orange, but will not stand so low a 

 temperature, and the trees will kill 

 down in a frost that would do an 

 orange no material damage. It is 

 now claimed, however, and from 

 our own observations we think 

 justly, that by grafting the navel 

 i.n the deciduous or trifoliata stock 

 the tree is rendered more hardy, 

 and oranges can be grown with a 

 lower range of temperature than 

 can l)e done with ordinary stock. 

 The orange, being an evergreen, 

 has several periods of growtii in the 

 season, and is apt to be cauglil by 

 a cold sujp at the time it is least 

 resistant. The trifoliata stock be- 

 ing deciduous, rests during the win- 

 ter season, the wood has hardened 

 bel'ore the cold weather comes, and 

 it is therefore in a condition to re- 

 sist any ordinary cold weather that 

 we may have in California. If 

 these claims for this stock are true 

 then it will very largely widen the 

 citrus area of the Stale. 



Citrus trees may be planted at 

 any time, except when they are 

 making their new growth. When 

 the new growth has hardened they 

 may be removed to their new loca- 

 tion, and this in Southern Califor- 

 nia is usually during the hottest 

 weather of July. The trees should 

 be taken up with a good ball of 

 earth attached, removed to their 

 new location with the least possible 

 delay, and find there a hole ready 

 for planting. They should be set 

 at the same depth at which they 

 grew in the nursery, and be kept 

 well watered. Before planting the 

 leaves should be removed, leaving 

 only the petiole attached to the 

 twigs. It is easier for the tree to 



make new leaves than to revive the 



old ones; which will drop off in time 



if left. 



The orange requires good soil, 



well drained, and as they say in 

 south, wants its feet dry. That is, 

 it will not do well in stagnant 

 water. A loose, friable soil, a sandy 

 loam, or even a gravelly loam is 

 the ideal .soil for the orange. It 

 should be free from hardpan and if 

 it can be irrigated, so much Ihe 

 better. 



It is not improbable that sections 

 of the SanJoa([nin and the .Sacra- 

 mento valleys will yet become the 

 principal orange portions of the 

 Slate. In the extreme southern 

 counties the nights during the sum- 

 mer are chilly, owing to the cooling 

 effects of the sea breezes, and the 

 growth and ripening of the fruit is 

 retarded in consequence, often be- 

 ing so long delayed that the frosts 

 of winter overtake it before it is 

 ready for market, thereby entailing 

 heavy losses on the grower. The 

 warmer summer nights of the in- 

 terior counties enable the fruit to 

 grow continually, and in conse- 

 quence it ripens much earlier and 

 is ready for market before any kill- 

 ing frosts arrive, or is so far ad- 

 vanced as to resist them. These 

 points of superiority are .so well 

 recognized that many of the larger 

 orange growers of Southern Cali- 

 fornia are reaching out to the 

 northern counties, and many of the 

 principal orchards here are owned 

 by them. 



One of the most serious pests 

 with which the orange growers of 

 Florida have to contend, is the 

 White Fly of the orange and lemon 

 of that State, but which, from re- 

 liable information received by the 

 California State Board of Horticul- 

 ture, has now spread over » he whole 

 of the State, and there is now no 

 section tree from its ravages. The 

 aleyrodes is a very small insect, 

 which in its earlier, or larval form 

 resembles the scale insects, and it 

 was originally classed with the 

 scale family. It has a marked dif- 

 (Continiied on page 29) 



