i 5 o TROPICAL AGRICULTURE CHAP. 



trees take from five to seven years to come into bearing, the 



land would be kept idle for too long a time if inter-cropping 



Cultivation were not resorted to. In the Azores, melons, pumpkins and 



Azores. annual vegetables are raised between the bearing trees, and 



the stirring of the soil by this cultivation exerts a beneficial 



effect, provided the orange trees be manured so as to keep 



up the fertility of the soil. 



Necessity of PRUNING. The trees require pruning from the first. 

 After the plants are put out and vigorous growth takes place 

 a lot of stems sometimes spring up around the central one. 

 These must be carefully pruned off, and the young tree must 

 be trained to send up a clean, straight stem branching about 

 How to five feet above the ground. As the tree grows up, the lateral 

 tree"? l branches close to the ground must be removed with a clean 

 cut close to the stem, so as to enable the bark to grow over 

 the wound. But too many of these branches must not be 

 taken away at a time, as heavy pruning retards the general 

 growth greatly. When the trees are mature, dead and ill- 

 shaped branches should be removed with the pruning saw, 

 the wound being trimmed with a knife, and tar being painted 

 over it to prevent decay entering into the heart of the tree. 



CROPS. In the West Indies the crops are usually in from 

 September to February, some trees bearing earlier and some 

 Advantages later. The earlier the produce gets to the market, the 

 greater are the prices obtained, as the Mediterranean oranges 

 are not in full season until the beginning of the year, and 

 so every attempt should be made by the planter to induce 

 How to get his fruit trees to bear early crops. A good deal in this direc- 

 early crops. t j on can ^ e ^one ]-,y irrigation, careful pruning, and by keep- 

 ing back the fruiting period, and when a very early bearing 

 orange tree is obtained it should be propagated by budding 

 and grafting. 



The yield of The yield of oranges varies very much soil, climate and 

 indmdual m cultivation being important factors in determining the extent 

 trees. of the crops. In California from 400 to 600 oranges are 



