CHAPIER XVII. 



Age atwhich an Orange Orchard will begin to Fruit. 



This is a question that can be modified, to a great degree, by 

 a number of contingencies, among which the following may be 

 mentioned : Cultivation, irrigation, seedlings, buds, varieties of 

 buds, location of orchard, method of planting and pruning, and 

 fertilizing. 



Proper cultivation and irrigation are the foundation on which 

 rests the result of early fruiting. A small, dwarfed tree is unsat- 

 isfactory, even when fruiting, both the crop and the fruit being 

 small. A tree must have size, strength and vigor when fruiting 

 to produce a paying crop; hence the preceding chapters on cul- 

 tivation, irrigation and fertilizing should be carefully considered 

 to obtain fruit in the shortest time. The pruning must simply 

 be well done and in due time. Seedlings usually begin to fruit 

 the seventh or eighth year from the seed, or in four or five years 

 after planting an orchard. Budded trees, of selected native va- 

 rieties, are but a trifle in advance of seedlings. Trees budded 

 with some foreign varieties, notably the Navel, Carey's Mediter- 

 ranean Sweet and the Malta Blood, if budded on two or 

 three-year-old roots in the nursery, are in prime condition for 

 transplanting in two or three years thereafter, and will fruit at 

 once. It is best, however, to remove nearly all of the fruit for 

 the first two or three years. The gain in the growth of the tree 

 more than compensates for the loss of fruit. 



It will pay to thin out fruit to a reasonable degree annually, 

 or every bearing year. The exact quantity of fruit to be allowed 

 to remain on the trees must be governed by good judgment and 

 experience. If properly reduced in quantity, the quality will in- 

 crease in a corresponding ratio. A tree fifteen years old, and 



