CALIFORNIA CITRUS CULTURE. 83 



such cases would it not be more correct to apply the term "decadence" 

 to the manager or management than to the citrus trees ? If our groves 

 are failing in vigor then we should cast about and look sharply to the 

 care which they are receiving. Is the soil rich in fertility; is there 

 always abundant moisture ; is aeration perfect ; is there no show of hard- 

 pan or cemented subsoil; is there no disease, either fungoid, physio- 

 logical or insect attack ? If the orchardist can answer * ' no " to all these 

 questions, then I believe he can give an emphatic "no" to any question 

 of decadence. I saw lemon trees in Sicily said to be one hundred or two 

 hundred years old. There they do not force their trees and expect little 

 or no fruit for the first eight years. The famous orange grove of 

 Mr. N. "W. Blanchard of Santa Paula did not produce till eleven years 

 old, since which time it has been an enormous producer and the trees 

 have shown no decline of vigor. 



SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF CITRUS TREES. 



Citrus trees belong to the family Rutacece, which includes our Amer- 

 ican prickly ash and hop tree. The genus Citrus comprises the orange. 



FIG. 56. Branch and fruit of Citrus trifol- 

 iata. Half size. (After Lelong.) 



lemon, citron, pomelo, lime, etc. They are aromatic, glandular, shrubs 

 or trees, usually thorny, leaves alternate, with petioles more or less 



