Fruit Growing 59 



cept to things which are demonstrated to be profitable should not 

 be undertaken, and where one does not need immediate returns is, 

 as a rule, undesirable. The growth of a strip of alfalfa, if one is 

 careful not to submerge the trees by over-irrigation, would be the 

 best thing one could undertake for the purpose of improving the soil 

 by increasing the humus content, reducing the amount of rellcctcd 

 heat from a clean surface, and is otherwise desirable wherever 

 moisture is available for it. You could also grow cow peas for the 

 good of the land if not for other profit. You can, of course, grow 

 small fruits and vegetables for home use if you will cultivate well. 

 Common field crops, with scant cultivation, will generally cause you 

 to lose more from the bad condition in which they leave the soil 

 than you can gain from the use or sale of the crop. 



Navels and Valencias. 



Navel trees are being budded to Valencias in southern California, 

 because of the higher price received for the late-ripening Valencias. Are 

 the orchards in central and northern California being planted in Navels, 

 and is there any differnce in soil or climate requirements of Navels and 

 Valencias? 



There is no particular difference in the soil requirements of 

 Valencia and Navel orranges. They are both budded on the same root. 

 The desirability of Navel oranges in the upper citrus districts arises 

 from the fact that the policy of those districts at the present time 

 is to produce an early orange. This they could not accomplish by 

 growing the Valencia. The great advantage of the Valencia in 

 southern California, on the other hand, lies in the very fact that it 

 is late and that it can be marketed in midsummer and early autumn 

 when there are no Navels available from anywhere. 



Orange Seedlings, 



What about planting the seed from St. Michael's oranges or of grape- 

 fruit for a seed-bed to be budded to Valencias f 



Good plump St. Michael's seeds would be all right if you desire 

 to use sweet seedling stock. Grapefruit seedlings are good and quite 

 widely used, though the general preference is for sour-stock seed- 

 lings. 



Acres of Oranges to a Man. 



In your op)iion, is it possible for one man, of average strength, to 

 take perfect care of a twenty-acre citrus orchard? Are the services of 

 a man ivho takes the entire responsibility of an orchard (citrus) worth 

 more than those of a common ranch hand? 



It depends upon the man, upon the age of the trees, upon the 

 kind of soil he has to handle, upon the irrigation arrangements and 

 upon what you mean by "perfect care." If you contract the picking 

 and hauling of fruit, the fumigation and allow extra help when con- 

 ditions require that something must be done quickly, whatever it 



