260 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



THE EEED SYSTEM OF TRANSPLANTING. 



A system of transplanting citrus trees that has been 

 used by Mr. J. H. Reed, of Riverside, California, has 

 proved very successful. The method is hardly applica- 

 ble to Florida conditions on account of the loose nature 

 of the soils, but wherever practicable, it is an excellent 

 one to follow. Prof. J. W. Mills thus describes it in Bui 

 138, Cal. Agri. Exp. Station: 



"According to this method, vigorous trees are selected 

 in the nursery, and are well watered before removal. 

 The longer branches are but slightly cut back, leaving 

 most of the foliage on. The trees are then lifted with 

 large balls of earth, and are taken directly to the plan- 

 tation, where holes two feet deep and two and a half feet 

 wide have been prepared, into which they are placed, 

 and the earth is walled in around each ball, not firmed, 

 but settled with water, so that the trees will stand at 

 the same height as they did at the nursery. No planting 

 should be done unless there is irrigation water availa- 

 ble at the time. After the ground has been soaked for 

 several feet on all sides of the newly set trees, thorough 

 cultivation should follow, as soon as the land is in a 

 proper condition. Under this system of transplanting 

 this is a good practice." 



"Mr. Reed says further: <A small amount of ferti- 

 lizer is applied soon after planting, for the young roots 

 to use when they first start out from the balls. A pure 

 bat guano with a high percentage of nitrogen, about three- 

 fourths of a pound to the tree, has been found to give 

 the best results; but any commercial fertilizer rich in 

 nitrogen, or animal fertilizer, if placed properly and kept 

 moist, answers well. It is applied in trenches each side 

 of the ball, at right angles with the irrigation furrows, 



