450 SELECT VAEIETIES OF FRUITS. 



tivation, an orange grove must be quite as profitable as 

 the best of our Northern orchards. 



The trees bear annually, coming into bearing at four 

 or five years from bud or graft, and continue to improve 

 from year to year for a long period They live to a great 

 age, under fnvorable circumstances — trees are recorded 

 that are some four hundred years old. 



The orange flourishes best in a rich calcareous soil. 

 The most thrifty and fruitful plantations we saw were 

 on shell lauds, which occur frequently in Florida — a dark, 

 ricli loam, mixed with small shells. In the absence of 

 shells, lime will, no doubt, be beneficial. The propaga- 

 tion is similar to that of other fruit-trees. 



Stocks for grafting are either procured by raising seed- 

 lings of the Bitter or Wild Orange, which can be worked 

 at the age of one or two years from seed ; or plants may 

 in some places be procured from the woods. In many 

 localities in Florida, the Wild Orange abounds in the 

 woods, and seems to be as much at home as though it 

 were indigenous. The trees are planted in groves at 

 twenty to thirty feet apart. It takes ten or twelve years 

 to bring the trees to a really remunerative condition. 



After the fourth or fifth year the crop will probably 

 pay for cultivation. 



VARIETIES. 



There are a great many varieties in cultivation, intro- 

 duced from China, Spain, and other orange-growing 

 countries, but that generally grown in Florida, which 

 was no doubt introduced by the Spaniards, has no su- 

 perior. It is known as the 



St, AHSiistine Orange, a variety of the Sweet Orange, 

 often sold in the markets under local names, such as 

 *'MellonviUe/' "Indian River," etc. It is a large. 



