heifiht of IH 

 the budded 

 ■■nsiderablc 

 1 . 'o presen 



ezmg 

 r and 

 shift, 



forms of tents for cov. ring the whole tree have been 



devised, with heating apparatus. Sheds have also been 



made with tight walls, covering large areas of trees and 



Laving' cithrr slatted or movable roofs: during severe 



'■l by the high walls, keep the 



freezing point. There is also 



ag the air by means of sprays 



it nozzles by a steam pump, as 



.; water in Florida is constantly 



I Wt^Ksy-^' .'•■'iiuer. Under sheds trees may be 



^BF ''■ af the very highest state of growth, 



■■S* ;ria-s from time to time as it may be 



I < 'r:iii:rc i'n.|i may proceed some- 



what :u iiwiicf; |M^^inL,^ of course, pro- 



ceeds . ,,| ,1,,. ,1111,,,,. lit varieties, the 



early >. i , ;;;illirr in ( ictoher, weeks or 



montlis before iHini and late ripening sorts: all 

 varieties will Ue, In perfection for several weeks while 

 hanging on tho trees. 



The fruit from all citrous trees should be cut off, and 

 never pulled, as a rough treatment would cause early 

 decay. Packing Is carried on quite uniformly in a 

 great degree of perfection through all the Orange sec- 

 tions of the country; the main essentials to success 

 are a slight wilting of the fruit (two or three days), 

 and a firm, but not extreme degree of pressure, in each 

 V^^^?.^- E. N. Reasoner. 



OrangeCultuke in the Mississippi Delta. —From the 

 early settlement of Louisiana to the present day Orange 

 culture has received attention in the lower Mississippi 

 valley. Until recently the seeds of sweet Oranges were 

 planted and the young trees transplanted in and around 

 the yards and gardens. No extensive groves were grown 

 until after the close of the civil war. At first groves of 

 seedling trees only were planted and these proved ex- 

 ceedingly profitable up to the very cold spell of 1895, 

 which destroyed nearly every one in the state. In the 

 meanwhile extensive experiments had been made in 

 budding the choice varieties of sweet Oranges on various 

 kinds of stocks, and many of the experiments demon- 

 strated the power of resisting the cold by certain kinds 

 of stocks, notably the C'drna trifoUata. Accordingly 

 many of the old groves and a number of new ones 



down to 1j° p. in New Orleans, it was found that the 

 combination of the hardy Japanese varieties upon the 

 Vilruii trifoliata alone withstood the cold. This experi- 

 ence caused an adoption of the Citrus trifoliata as the 

 chief stock for future groves. Accordingly nearly all of 

 the groves planted since that time have been with this 

 stock. 



But there is a frost limit beyond which this combina- 

 tion is destroyed. This was evidenced by the unprece- 

 dented freeze of February, 1899, which again destroyed 

 nearly every grove in the state. Since that time Orange 

 planting has made very slow progress, and only a few 

 large groves are to-day to be found in the state. The 

 industry is, however, so profitable that a renaissance 

 may be expected at an early day. The budded trees 

 bear early and yield profitable returns in three to five 

 years after being transplanted in the grove. The city 

 of New Orleans furnishes a licum. market for all that 

 can be raised, and the Lciii [n,,, (i, i-j, i- .,l,,.ui ,,ne 

 monthaheadof thoseof Fl.Ti ' I , li, ■:! iluad 



of California in ripeniiif;, .m: ,i , ,, ,, ,, ,, i /, ,j,y 



market when, on account of -,.; i |,, ,, , ..;i 



These facts, coupled wifli 1 1^, iv....,:. ,,,, 



requirmt; 



soil. 



1560. The bankmeof Orange 



the Mississippi delta. 



gulf-ward the usually balmy climate and temporarily 



chills the groves. At rare intervals these blizzards are 



so intense as to destroy tree and fruit. 

 How to protect groves against these destructive 



frosts is to-day the "burning question "with the Orange 



growers. Flooding the orchard with water from the 



river upon the approach of a freeze has been practiced 



upon a large scale without complete success. 



The practice of banking the tree -piling the soil around 



the stem to a height of a few feet (Pig. 1500 1 -on tho 



approach of a blizzard whose intensity and time of coming 



are usually predicted by the government weather bureau 



is now almost universally mlopt 



against excessive !•( 1 1.1 IIm, Ii.,, 



main trunk, and « !i 



shoots will start fr -i 



and spring advaii. I- . ||i- |. 



protection. The tree is \iiiu 



shoots from the protected tni 



in a year or two the tree has i cs 



to bear a crop. The crop for t 



is destroyed, but by skilful ca 



to secure" a renewed plantation quickly. 



The sweet, the sour, the Mandarin (Pig. 1559), 



_ Tangerine and Satsuma, the Shaddock, the grape- 



fruit, the Kumquat and the trifoliata, are all 

 grown quite largely in Louisiana. The Myrtle 

 and the Otaheite are occasionally found as orna- 

 mental trees. 



The Orange is grown in this state directly 

 from seed and from buds. Budding is done at 

 any time of the year from early spring to late 

 fall. When performed in the fall, the buds re- 

 main dormant through the winter. The various 

 stocks have particular merits for special .soils 

 and other conditions, and several kinds are used, 

 as already said ; but when the chief obstacle to 

 successful Orancre culture is cold, all other 

 consid-Tnti"!,- mn.t )„- di,,,,,, ,,1 will, and only 



ly-;i • ■ -.1 ■ •• I : -"ur'urail'ge.' 



the 



"S 



were planted in budded stocks, using the buds of se- 

 lected trees of sweet Oranges and establishing them 



lings I 



rougli I 



tnfohiil /hi ,111 



the sneet Oi mgi 



Japanese varieties, 



and Tangerines, we] 



nous kind', of stock 



IS I ntirely superseded sweet seed- 

 -I the bitter-sweet Orange, the 

 ' fiuit or pomelo and the Ti^rirs 



Planting a grove is always preceded by a nur- 

 sery The latter is made by planting the seed of the 

 Citrus trifoliata or sour Orange. When the young 

 trees are one to two years old they are shield-budded 

 with buds from selected varieties. One year after, 

 these buds are large enough to be transplanted to the 



