224 ORCHARD CROPS 



feet and bears bright green, glossy leaves and highly fragrant 

 flowers. Its fruit is of a golden or yellow color, and is about th 

 size of an apple. It is not an uncommon sight to see an orange 

 tree which has buds just beginning to swell, flowers in full bloom, 

 green fruit, and ripe fruit, all at the same time. 



The trees generally begin bearing in February, and the fruit 

 continues to ripen until the summer season is well advanced. The 

 oranges are carefully clipped, or cut, from the branches of the 

 tree, and gently placed in a sack, carried by the picker. When 

 the sacks are filled, they are emptied into baskets or carrying 

 boxes, ready to be carried to the packing house. There the 

 oranges are cleaned, sorted, wrapped in tissue paper, and packed 

 in shipping boxes, ready for transportation to the large market 

 centers. In each box from sixty to three hundred oranges 

 are packed according to their sizes. The large oranges are gen- 

 erally inferior in flavor and quality to the oranges of medium size. 



There are about seventy-five varieties of oranges, which fall 

 into two general classes : (1) the bitter oranges, and (2) the 

 sweet oranges. The seedless navel orange, grown in Florida, 

 Arizona, and California, was brought in 1870 from Bahia, Brazil, 

 by the United States Department of Agriculture. It is now one 

 of our most popular oranges. 



The trees are budded in the nursery, where they remain for 

 two years, then they are set out in the orchard twenty to twenty- 

 five feet apart. The trees begin to bear when they are about 

 five years old, and if properly cultivated and cared for, they 

 continue to bear for half a century or more. 



The orange thrives the best in a deep, fertile loam along the 

 banks of rivers, lakes, and other water courses. Growth is espe- 

 cially stimulated by applying to the soil fertilizers containing lime. 



Oranges are highly esteemed as a dessert and for making 

 orange jelly, orangeade, orange sirup, and extracts. 



The Lemon. Lemon trees are grown from lemon buds, 

 grafted on sour orange stocks. They have light-colored leaves 

 and flowers tinged with red, and bear a pale yellow fruit with a 

 sour or acid flavor. Lemons are used for flavoring extracts and 

 sirups, and for making lemonade. They are cultivated, picked, 

 packed, and shipped in the same manner as oranges. 



