ORANGE— CITRUS FRUIT GROWING 



1477 



of the very best fruit being marlieted 

 from areas wliere the trees every vs'inter 

 are in danger of being frozen out. 



Soil 



It will be shown under the heading 

 "Varieties" that citrus trees are exceed- 

 ingly variable, and consequently will 

 readily adapt themselves to almost any 

 kind of soil in which plants can grow. 



While the rich, alluvial soils produce 

 citrus trees of rank growth which often 

 bear enormous crops of fruit, the finest 

 and highest-priced fruits are produced 

 upon the nearly sterile soils. In fertile 

 soils the plant food is seldom properly 

 balanced and present in the condition 

 best suited for producing the finest fruits, 

 nor is it possible to influence the con- 

 tents or quality of the fruit by applying 

 different forms of chemical fertilizers. 

 If, therefore, a field is normally suffi- 

 ciently fertile to produce a citrus crop 

 for an indefinite number of years, it is 

 usually impossible to influence the qual- 

 ity of fruit markedly by means of fer- 

 tilizers. Upon soils which are nearly 

 sterile, however, trees may be started 

 and fed with just such chemicals as will 

 produce the finest quality of fruit. It 

 therefore happens that soils which for- 

 merly were considered absolutely worth- 

 less for agricultural purposes are now 

 made to produce large crops of most 

 excellent fruit. 



The variation of the soils in the West 

 Indies and in Louisiana, Mississippi and 

 California is not so sharply marked as 

 that in Florida. There are, however, 

 characteristic soils in each of these re- 

 gions that are better than others. In 

 all sections a soil must be chosen that 

 is not underlain with a heavy substratum 

 known as "hardpan." The land should 

 be elevated sufficiently to permit free 

 drainage, and, in the sections where irri- 

 gation must be practiced, should be so 

 located that water can be easily supplied. 



Frost Protection 



*After determining that the desirable 



• In recent years the practice of "smiui'.' 

 Injr'* or heatinj; the orchard in sections where 

 frost is lil^ely to occnr has reacherl a lii-'h 

 state of efficiency, and in California, csppcinlly. 

 many prrowers reeiilarly provide for artiflcinl 

 heating. See article on Metiiops op Frdst 

 Pbeventiox. under Frost. — Ed. 



features specified are to be found in the 

 location under consideration, it is very 

 important to see that the land is well 

 protected from the occasional frosts 

 which visit the citrus-growing sections. 

 Frost protection is imparted by large 

 bodies of water, such as make citrus 

 growing in Louisiana and Mississippi 

 possible, and in Florida near the lakes 

 in the central part of the state, along 

 the Indian river on the east coast, and 

 on Tampa bay. In the West Indies and 

 the southernmost part of Florida this 

 factor does not enter into consideration. 

 In fact, it seems that those places in the 

 West Indies which are subjected to the 

 lowest winter temperature produce citrus 

 fruits of the highest excellence. The 

 temperature in the vicinity of Mandeville, 

 Jamaica, is said to go as low as into the 

 fifties during winter nights, and yet this 

 is probably the best citrus-fruit section 

 on the island. 



Protection from High Winds 



A location chosen so as to combine all 

 the qualifications already mentioned may 

 still be undesirable if it is exposed to 

 the force of high winds, which may occur 

 in any portion of the country. It is quite 

 impossible to protect a grove against 

 tropical hurricanes, but the more com- 

 mon high winds of annual occurrence 

 must be considered. They carry off the 

 moisture and bring with them a dry, 

 parching air which is injurious to citrus 

 trees, and they are also very likely to 

 cause " thorning" or to mutilate the fruit 

 in other ways. Sometimes it becomes 

 necessary to erect artificial wind-breaks 

 for protecting a grove not well located. 

 These artificial wind-breaks may later be 

 supplanted by some natural growth that 

 can withstand the force of the wind. 



Tarieties 



The group of plants which is desig- 

 nated by the generic term "Citrus" is 

 fairly well circumscribed, but when it 

 comes to a segregation of the different 

 species and varieties scientists do not all 

 agree; the writer has adopted the classi- 

 fication worked out by Dr. Herbert J. 

 Webber in the Cyclopedia of American 

 Horticulture. 



