216 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



a stock might not be so pronounced. Its precocity in throwing 

 the bud into early fruiting, makes it desirable however, 

 wherever immediate results are wished for. As a matter of fact 

 this article is not written as a plea for the Citrus trifoliata, 

 but simply to record comparative results based upon what is 

 perhaps the most extensive and comprehensive line of experi- 

 ments with it that have ever been systematically undertaken 

 in this country. G. L. TABER. 



Glen St. Mary, Florida, July 26, 1902. 



SWEET ORANGE (C. AURANTIUM). 



The sweet orange is not so harcty as the sour and tri- 

 foliate oranges. For colder regions, other things being 

 equal, one of the latter two is to be preferred. It has 

 been pointed out that in California sweet stock is not 

 deep rooted, most of the roots being found in the top 

 eighteen inches of soil. J. W. Mills, on page 11 and 12 

 Bulletin 138, California Experiment Station, states the 

 results of his investigation in these words: "In short, 

 the general experience on all kinds of soils and under 

 different methods of cultivation shows that it is the na- 

 ture of the sweet orange seedling to form a shallow root 

 system," and further: "To sum this up, the sweet orange 

 is a surface feeding stock which has few or no deeply pen- 

 etrating roots." In Florida, investigations have not been 

 carried far enough to prove w T hat the conditions are, but 

 of nursery trees it may be said that the sweet stock is 

 equal in root development to sour stock. 



Sweet stock is subject to the attacks of mal-di-goma 

 and hence should not be used on soils where this disease 

 is likely to occur. Damp soils, such as are found in the 

 hammocks and flat woods of Florida should not be planted 

 with trees on sweet stock ; even on higher ground they are 

 frequently attacked. On the other hand, it may be pointed 



