154 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



6x8 inches, made of mosquito-netting. For pomelos or 

 other large citrus fruits, the sacks should be 8x10 inches, 

 or larger, if a number of fruits are included under one 

 sack. These mosquito-netting sacks admit the air freely, 

 prevent many insect attacks on the young fruit and fre- 

 quently save the fruit by holding it if it should drop after 

 it is matured and before picking. 



When the fruit is ripe it should be carefully gathered 

 and the seed saved. If injury to the young plants from 

 cold can be prevented, the seeds may be sown immediately. 

 If there is danger from this source the seeds should be 

 stratified as described later on and kept until the time 

 is suitable for planting. In most citrus growing districts 

 this can be safely done by March. Give the seedlings good 

 care and by August, they will have attained a height of 

 about two and a half or three feet. 



Some seeds will give more than one plant, due to the 

 presence of more than one embryo in the seed. All the 

 plants should be saved as they may represent combinations 

 of the parent forms in different proportions. Some buds 

 may even be secured in. autumn and inserted in stocks 

 to start growth the following spring. In spring, buds may 

 be inserted in the tops of bearing trees. This will enable 

 one to secure fruit sooner. It may reasonably be expected 

 that fruit will be produced the third season after top-work 

 ing. Five or six years must generally elapse from the time 

 of pollinating until fruit is secured. Then, and not until 

 then, can the results be known. 



If desirable fruit is produced, well and good, if not, 

 further work must be done, and it will generally be best 

 to use one or more crosses or hybrids already obtained, as 

 one of the parents of the next generation, provided the 

 hybrid or cross obtained possesses a sufficient number 

 of desirable qualities. 



