22 ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



well for a few years, but when the limited amount of soil is 

 filled with roots, the trees receive a check in growth, and fruit is 

 the result. Trees that are stunted or bark-bound, or trees the 

 growth of which is checked from any cause whatever, will show 

 a tendency to early fruiting. Trees of vigorous growth spend 

 their energies in making wood instead of fruit. Budded trees 

 fruit earlier than seedlings, and some varieties of budded trees 

 fruit earlier than other varieties; but even with budded trees 

 the more vigorous the growth the less liable are the trees to 

 fruit early. He wanted deep soil for orange, with hard-pan 

 from four to six feet below the surface. A thin soil is preferable 

 for peaches. Adobe soil is best for pears. Apples require a 

 soil more friable than the adobe ; they ought not to be planted 

 on a sandy soil. It is very frequently the case that many kinds 

 of soil can be found on a small tract of land. On such a place 

 an intelligent orchardist will study his soils and plant his or- 

 chard accordingly. 



Isaac Kinley thought success depended largely on the me- 

 chanical conditions of the soil. Some soils contain ingredients 

 that would prove poisonous to certain plants, and such com- 

 binations should, of course, be avoided; but much depends 

 upon the mechanical condition of the land. Some soils left un- 

 cultivated bake hard ; the same soils remain friable if properly 

 cultivated, and are in condition to furnish plant food readily. A 

 ball of packed clay will dry and bake as hard as a brick, while 

 the same quality of clay will retain moisture if properly loosened 

 up. A soil pulverized on the surface is protected from baking; 

 the cultivation acts like a mulch. He thought adobe soil was 

 not objectionable to orange growth so much on account of its 

 chemical analysis as upon its close compactness. Anything 

 that arrests the growth of the tree tends to develop fruit buds 

 instead of leaf buds. This is why stunted orange trees in nur- 

 sery put forth fruit buds. A diseased tree will also fruit. 



Gen. Shields, of Florence, thought adobe soil should be 

 loosened; it is richly supplied with plant food, but if improp- 

 erly cultivated, yields it up with difficulty. He had improved 

 adobe soil by scraping sand upon it, and vice versa. 



Mr. Shorb said, in substance : "The subject under discussion 



