ORANGE 



ORANGE 



2371 



Florida. By far the greater number of trees are dormant 

 budded, the buds being inserted by the ordinary 

 inverted shield method, the cross cuts being made at 

 the bottom of the downward incisions and the buds 

 shoved up from below. Wrapping is usually done with 

 strips of waxed cloth. These are allowed to remain on 



2616. Compound leaf of orange, with only one leaflet. 



from ten days to three weeks, depending upon weather 

 conditions. Frequently, in the colder sections, these 

 dormant buds are banked with earth, using a plow and 

 a celery-hiller, to protect them against possible frost- 

 injury in winter. In spring, the seedling tops are cut 

 off and a stake driven beside each bud, to which it is 

 tied as it grows. These stakes (4 feet long and % inch 

 square, made of cypress) insure straight trunks on the 

 young trees and prevent the buds from being broken 

 off when young and succulent. Careful attention is 

 given to keep off all sprouts which come out on the 

 stock and on the bud growth too low down. The work 

 of sprouting and tying requires each bud to be handled 

 five or six times by competent workmen, during the 

 summer growing season. This adds greatly to the 

 expense, but is necessary in the production of quality 

 stock. At about 30 inches, the buds are topped and 

 allowed to branch. Good buds of one season's growth 

 will caliper % to % inch, 2 inches above where the buds 

 were inserted. Usually the buds are placed rather close 

 to the ground. 



One-year buds are used by many planters, but two- 

 and three-year buds are preferred by many, particu- 

 larly among the older planters. These latter trees 

 caliper from 1 to 2 inches, depending upon the variety 

 and the stock on which they are grown. 



Planting, 



Opinions vary considerably as to the best distances 

 at which to set orange trees in Florida, but 25 by 25 

 feet may be taken as a reasonable distance for standard 

 sorts, or sixty-nine trees to the acre. Some prefer to set 

 trees farther apart one way than the other, as 20 by 30 

 feet. Satsuma is usually planted 20 by 20 feet. The 

 rectangular system is used almost entirely. 



Land is prepared for planting, by plowing deeply and 

 pulverizing thoroughly. Nearly all Florida soils are 

 greatly benefited by applications of lime, and by having 

 a cover-crop of some kind grown on them during the 

 summer and turned under the autumn before planting. 

 This increases the humus-content of the soil and leaves 

 it in the best possible condition for the trees. 



Sometimes orange trees are planted out during the 

 early summer months, just after the summer rains set 

 in; but by far the best season for planting the trees is 

 during the winter months of December, January, and 

 February. Planting should not be delayed too late. 

 as best results are secured if the trees are established 

 in advance of the dry spring period, which usually 

 begins in March. 



In the actual setting of the trees, the chief points to 

 be observed are (1) that the roots be not exposed, (2) 

 that the trees be set at the same depth as they grew in 

 the nursery row, (3) that the soil, naturally rather open, 

 be well packed and firmed about the roots. Balled 

 trees are not used in Florida on account of the character 



of the soil, nor are they considered necessary. Water 

 at time of planting is advantageous, as it helps to 

 settle and pack the soil about the roots, and at times 

 there is an actual lack of moisture to be supplied. Sur- 

 face soil is used in filling in about the roots and some 

 commercial fertilizer is often thoroughly mixed with it, 

 from a half-pound to a pound, depending upon the 

 size of the trees. The use of stable manure is not 

 advisable. 



Cultivation. 



Clean cultivation throughout the year, though at 

 one time attempted in Florida, is a practice which has 

 entirely disappeared. It did not take many years to 

 demonstrate that it was a failure, because the basic 

 necessity of maintaining and increasing the humus- 

 content of the soil was not taken into consideration. 

 At the present time, two systems of cultivation are in 

 use: (1) the usual system of clean cultivation in spring 

 and summer, followed by a cover-crop; (2) a system 

 of non-cultivation, under which the vegetation which 

 covers the soil is cut from tune to time and allowed to 

 mulch the surface. 



By far the greater number of plantings is handled 

 by the first system. Under the clean-culture-cover- 

 crop or the 4-C system, cultivation begins in early 

 spring as soon as danger of frost is past and the trees 

 have started into growth, and is continued until about 

 the middle of June or the beginning of the summer 

 rainy season. During this period the grove is cultivated 

 shallowly once every ten days or thereabouts, and a 

 dust mulch is constantly preserved to prevent the escape 

 of moisture from the soil. When cultivation ceases in 

 June, a cover-crop is either planted or allowed to come 

 on voluntarily, consisting of cowpeas, velvet beans, 

 beggarweed or native weeds and grasses. If the growth 

 of this crop is so rank as to make it difficult to handle 

 in fall, it is cut with a mowing machine and allowed to 

 remain on the ground for some time before incorporating 

 in the soil. In autumn the coyer-crop is either plowed 

 under or cut into the soil with a dire-harrow. It is 

 advisable to have the ground bare and frie from vege- 

 tation in winter as a safeguard against fires, and when 

 the soil is bare, the trees suffer much less from cold 

 than when the soil surrounding them is covered by a 

 dense mat of dead or living vegetation. On heavier 

 soils the cover-crop may be plowed under, but on lighter 

 soils best results are secured by disposing of it with 

 disc-harrow, cutting it over several times if necessary. 

 In Florida, it is not advisable to incorporate a green 

 coyer-crop with the 

 soil. The advantage 

 of the 4-C system is 

 that clean culture 

 during the spring 

 months conserves 

 soil-moisture when 

 most needed, while 

 the cover-crop dur- 

 ing the summer helps 

 to take care of the 

 excess supplied by 

 the rains. At the 

 same time, vegetable 

 matter is added. In 

 handling young 

 groves, the plan is 

 often followed of 

 cultivating the soil 

 in the narrow strip 

 along the tree rows 

 throughout practi- 

 cally the whole season 

 and growing a cover- 

 crop on the middles. 2 617. Otaheite orange in a pot. 

 The implements com- Citrus taitensis. 



