78 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



may be well to explain further. This development of 

 the crown roots is nature's plan when it is not in- 

 terfered with. Whoever will visit and examine a 

 natural forest, whether of orange or other trees, will 

 find the top of the crown roots from one to several 

 inches above the ground and running in many in- 

 stances, as great braces, well up the trunk of the 

 tree. This development of the crown is slow at 

 first, but increases in proportion as the upper sur- 

 face of the roots lift themselves above the surface of 

 the ground. This development can be hastened by 

 taking away the earth from above the roots for a 

 short distance from the tree, as mentioned above. 

 The principle is the same as that adopted for the 

 development of the bulb of the onion by taking the 

 earth from around it. The root of the plant, being 

 more porous than the stem, parts more readily with 

 its moisture at the point where it is exposed, and 

 hence the thickened sap lodges more readily at that 

 point, and so hardens into wood and increases the 

 growth. As the upward circulation passes only 

 through the new or sap wood, this enlarged base 

 furnishes, at the very seat of life and strength, new 

 and increased capacity to the tree. 



