624 THE ORANGE. 



of boards placed on edge and sunk deeply enough to exclude 

 them. 



The following year the young plants may be transferred to 

 the nursery rows, to be budded when of convenient size, or 

 grown as seedlings until large enough for removal to the 

 grove. Where seedlings are preferred the seed should be 

 selected from the best sweet oranges, growing by themselves 

 apart from lemon, citron, or bigarrade trees, so that the quality 

 may not be debased by intermixture with these. Some kinds 

 long grown by themselves, like the Bisry orange of Sidon, al- 

 most invariably come true to kind. Generally there will be 

 more or less variation in a grove of seedlings, though scarcely 

 apparent to a superficial observer, and if the seeds have come 

 of reputable stock, all will produce a fair quality of fruit. 

 Sweet seedlings usually begin to bear six or eight years after 

 planting. Ten inches or a foot apart in the nursery rows is a 

 good distance, and to get an even stand only the strong thrifty 

 plants should be used, leaving the weakly ones until they be- 

 come larger. 



Budding and Grafting. Although the orange can be suc- 

 cessfully grafted, budding is much preferred, and the opera- 

 tion is performed the same as with other trees, excepting 

 that more nicety is required. To prevent the entrance of 

 water, the shield is inserted into a cross-cut at the bot- 

 tom of the vertical slit and pushed upward. Only the lower 

 corners of the vertical slit are raised, and the shield is 

 made to open its own way. The shield should extend well 

 above and below the bud, be sliced off smoothly with plenty 

 of substance, and lie flat and snugly against the wood. The 

 bandage may be of soft cotton twine, the turns of which 

 are passed closely around and drawn tight. This is better 

 than husks or bast, which are apt to loosen and the bud per- 

 ishes. Better still are strips of muslin dipped in beeswax. 

 These can be wound around so as to cover all, entirely exclud- 

 ing air and water, and then it is immaterial whether the cross- 

 cut be made above or below. The addition of oils or fats to 

 the wax in very hot weather is liable to cause souring of the 

 sap, which is fatal. Large stocks may be twig-budded or 

 grafted, by inserting between bark and wood at the excised 

 end several slender twigs cut thin and sloping and pushed well 



