CHAPTER II. 



Selection of Seed, and How to Raise the Plants. 



The foundation of a successful orange grove is the stock 

 from which it is grown. If the stock be diseased, or stunted in 

 growth from any cause, ceaseless vexations will be the legiti- 

 mate result. The first requisite is the seed and its selection. 

 This part of the subject belongs properly to the nursery de- 

 partment ; it may prove valuable to beginners, and may be of 

 use to those who have been long in the business. 



The seed should be selected from large, well-formed, fine- 

 flavored, ripe fruit, particularly if the trees be intended to fruit 

 as seedlings ; and, even if the trees be budded or grafted, the 

 origin of the stock is of first importance. A poor, shrunken, 

 immature seed never produces a first-class plant. Having pro- 

 cured the fruit, take the seed out carefully, and partially dry it 

 in the shade, but never allow an orange seed to become dry, as 

 very few such seeds, if any, will germinate. 



Prepare your seed-beds for convenience with reference to 

 future care, by making them from three to five feet wide, and 

 leaving a pathway about two feet wide between them, exclusive 

 of a foot for borders on each side of the bed, thus admitting of 

 weeding from either side to the center of the bed. This is im- 

 portant, as there will be weeds to contend with, which must be 

 plucked up with the lingers. There should be a slightly raised 

 border on each side of the bed. To prepare the bed for the 

 srrtl, pulveri/e the soil deep and thoroughly, and finish with a 

 hand- rake, making the bed level. Sow the seed in drills, an 

 inch or two apart in the drills, or sow broadcast, using judg- 

 ment in so doing not to sow too thick. The number of plants 

 in a square foot ought not to exceed fifty. The number of 



