CHAPTER VII. 



SELECTING A LOCATION FOR AN ORANGE GROVE. 



fpECIAL reference should be had to drainage, 

 soil, water protection, forest protection, prox- 

 imity to fertilizers, and facilities for transporta- 

 tion. The soil for a grove should be thoroughly 

 drained, either naturally or artificially. Not only 

 should the surface water be carried off, but the 

 drainage should be so deep as to allow roots, and 

 especially the tap-root, to penetrate for several feet. 

 Some think that less than ten feet is not sufficient. 

 But there are in this State groves of fine old trees 

 and good bearers with considerably less than ten 

 feet of drained soil. The sour stock will flourish 

 on a much wetter soil than the sweet. And it may 

 be that these groves that have long done well in 

 such localities are sour stocks budded. Where 

 choice of location can be made, and especially if 

 sweet stocks are to be planted, select a soil well 

 drained by nature. Art and labor can accomplish 

 a great deal, but it costs something, and the effect 

 is not so permanent as when nature has done the 

 work. If no positive evil arise from a wet subsoil 

 in close proximity to the surface, still there are 

 reasons why a deep, dry, or moist soil is better. 



