CHAPTER III. 



THE WILD ORANGE GROVE BUDDED. 



fHIS grove yields so readily under so simple treat- 

 ment that we shall consider it at once. Of course 

 nature has already determined the location, and 

 in many instances the location has been wisely 

 chosen, not only with reference to best protection 

 from frost, but also in many instances with refer- 

 ence to cheap and easy transportation, on the banks 

 of navigable rivers and creeks. Wherever a wild 

 grove can be found so located, the purchaser can 

 afford to pay a liberal price if he has to buy, or the 

 owner can afford to improve by the most approved 

 methods. 



Many, however, have been the blunders made in 

 attempts to improve such valuable property. I 

 know of many groves greatly damaged, and some 

 completely sacrificed, by bad management. The 

 two mistakes most frequently made in the treatment 

 of such groves are, first, the reckless destruction of 

 the forest trees furnished by nature for the protec- 

 tion of the orange, and, second, the continued pull- 

 ing off of the young shoots from the stumps cut off 

 for the purpose of budding. The first and second 

 buds having failed, the cultivator continues to re- 



