ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 189 



"In the winter of 1878 and spring of 1879 there were sold 

 and planted in Placer county, California, about twelve thousand 

 orange trees, about one-half of which were on Chinese lemon 

 ro*t. So far as we have been able by careful inquiry to learn 

 results, from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of those on Chinese 

 lemon root have died, while of those on orange root, in the 

 same community, and often in the same orchard, only from two 

 to four per cent, have died. Last spring was cold and wet, as 

 is well known, and the soil in that district being underlaid with 

 bedrock, the roots were virtually submerged in mud and water; 

 hence the fatal result to the lemon root, while the orange root 

 was not affected. 



"On very warm soil with a loose subsoil, the lemon root will 

 succeed well for a few years, and it may bear fruit one year 

 earlier than an orange root, but under no circumstances will it 

 bear more than one year sooner. It is at best a miserable dwarf 

 of but a few year's duration, and the planter is destined to see, 

 when too late, that he has been duped and most shamefully 

 swindled. 



"To verify our statements about the results of trees on orange 

 and Chinese lemon roots in Placer county we would refer the 

 reader to David Lloyd, Penryn ; B. R. Wells, Penryn ; A. H. 

 Schnabel, Newcastle; D. H. Brown, Newcastle; Mr. Hatha- 

 way, P. M., Ophir; Rev. N. R. Peck, Ophir; Dr. J. R. Cran- 

 dall, Auburn ; George D. Aldrich, Lincoln. 



"We herewith append a circular voluntarily signed by as good, 

 reliable and practical men as there are in Southern California, 

 hoping that the most skeptical will be satisfied, and that this 

 much-vexed question will be forever settled. 



"We are, very respectfully, WILLIAMSON & Co. 



"We, the undersigned, citizens, orchardists and nurserymen 

 of Southern California, are fully convinced, after years of ex- 

 perience and observation, that the Chinese lemon as a stock on 

 which to bud the orange is a practical failure; and while trees 

 on that root can be grown very much cheaper than on the 

 orange stock, we would not, with our present knowledge of its 

 character, propagate them to sell to others, nor would we plant 

 them ourselves if they were given to us : J. De Barth Shorb, 



