xiv PREFACE 



with dealers' interests on a mutually fair basis, and other similar achievements 

 are plain indications of the effectiveness of intelligent, organized effort among 

 growers which should be instructive to all groups of producers of horticultural 

 merchandise. 



"Third.— The orange industry also exhibits the effort which is general in 

 American fruit-growing to improve cultural operations, and to adapt them to 

 local requirements of the trees on various soils and under various climatic con- 

 ditions. The California orange -growers are probably better cultivators than 

 any other group of fruit-producers, and have become so by the terms of their 

 problem, which is to grow an evergreen tree, which is practically always 

 active, with a combination of rainfall and irrigation, and this necessitates the 

 recourse to tillage in nearly all its forms, and for many different specific pur- 

 poses. During the last few years the desirability of deeper tillage to admit 

 water to the subsoil, to prevent formation of liardpan and to check surface 

 evaporation, has been widely demonstrated. It is clear that adequately deep 

 tillage must be, at intervals, secured, although the most frequent sui-face 

 working may be shallow. The orange-growers are also foremost among Cali- 

 fornia horticulturists in large scale insecticidal operations, and in original 

 devices and materials. They also lead in the use of fertilizers, and in the 

 recourse to cover crops to enrich the soil in humus, which the dry climate and 

 constant cultivation, under a hot sun, have a tendency to reduce. 



"Fourth.— The orange -growers of California have perhaps gone farther 

 than auy other orchardists in holding strictly to a commercial standard in 

 restricting vai'ieties to the smallest number which the market favors, and in 

 producing them in the largest quantity which the trade can profitably handle. 

 This has led, during the last five years, to the rejection of many and the 

 increase of a few — the change being rapidly accomplished by the process of 

 top-grafting, or by budding in the old bark, which is very successful if well 

 done. The result is a vast increase in the acreage of the Washington Navel 

 and the Valencia Late (syn. Hart's Tardif). These two varieties nearly cover 

 the year — the former extending from November until May, and overlapping 

 the latter, which continues by itself during the summer and early autumn, and 

 commands the highest prices of the year. These sales have popularized the 

 Valencia, and the present danger is in excessive production of it, for the con- 

 sumption of oranges during the height of the deciduous fruit season must needs 

 have limitations. The fact is, however, that all other varieties of oranges 

 have shrunken to very small acreage compared with the two mentioned." 



Distinct advance has been made in the treating of insects and diseases. 



