STOCKS FOR CITRUS TREES. 215 



off from a section of a row sixty feet long of two-year-old nursery 

 trees trees one foot apart in the row. I am not at all sure 

 but what these trees planted four to six feet apart in the rows 

 and rows twelve to fifteen feet apart to leave room to fertilize 

 and cultivate one way would be a good investment. The fruit, 

 for the first few years at least, would be a sight to behold. 



The above suggestion is perhaps unfair to the C. trifoliata 

 as applied to all varieties budded on it, from the fact that 

 several years of experiment prove that there is quite a distinct 

 difference in the varieties, as to their comparative growth, when 

 budded on this stock. In fact out of the twenty-three varieties 

 summarized in this article there are two varieties of orange, 

 Jaffa and King, and one variety of pomelo, Duncan, that actu- 

 ally average larger on C. trifoliata after having been planted 

 a little over three years than the corresponding varieties on 

 sour alongside. 



In addition to the varieties above mentioned, the following 

 on C. trifoliata compare well, as regards growth, with those on 

 sour: Du Roi, Early Oblong, Homosassa, Madam Vinous, Mag- 

 num Bonum, Nonpareil, Pineapple and Tangerine. There are 

 quite a number of these kinds that would put a man to guessing 

 as to which stock they were budded on unless he ex- 

 amined the roots. And speaking about the roots, here 

 is an illustration showing how facts may and often 

 do, confound theories: The C. trifoliata, although naturally a 

 much more dwarf tree than are most of the varieties that are 

 budded on it, will invariably keep ahead of the bud inserted on 

 it. In other words, if the diameter of the bud is, say three inches 

 just above the point of union, the C. trifoliata stock just below 

 the point of union will be about 3 1-2 inches. The stock of C. 

 trifoliata always develops growth faster than the bud inserted 

 on it, although the natural inference would be that, as the stock 

 itself is of a dwarfish nature, the bud would outgrow the stock. 



* * * 



Comparative results so far are distinctly in favor of C. 

 trifoliata as a stock for this section. I know of no reason why 

 this should not apply equally to other sections subject to fre- 

 quent freezes. In the Islands, or at points outside the range 

 of Jack Frost's visitations, the reason for using C. trifoliata as 



