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CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Chapter VIII. Orange seedlings should, however, be given greater 

 distance apart than is usual for deciduous trees, because the orange 

 remains longer in nursery, and because it is often desirable, when 

 taking up, to sack the ball of earth embracing the roots. If the 

 roots are not to be sacked, about nine inches will do between the 

 plants ; if to be sacked, the distance should be twice as great. The 

 rows should not be too close in the orange nursery. If horse cul- 

 tivation is to be used, at least four feet between the rows should be 

 allowed, and even greater distance is desirable. In taking the seed- 

 lings from the seed beds, a few should be lifted at a time, and their 

 roots kept shaded and moist until the ground closes on them in 

 the nursery row. To get an even stand in the nursery, small and 

 weak plants should be placed by themselves, or set in boxes to take 

 another year before going into nursery. 



Young trees in nursery are very liable to frost injury, and it 

 is wise to protect them by some sort of a cover during the winter. 

 A framework covered with cypress brush is often used, the whole 

 being cleared away in the spring, to allow of summer cultivation. 

 Cultivation of trees in nursery is about the same as with deciduous 

 fruit trees. The horse should be used, and the surface kept per- 

 fectly pulverized. The cultivator should follow irrigation as soon 



Bearing Pomelo budded to orange: leaving side branch 

 to keep up circulation. 



as the soil will admit of it. Frequency of irrigation of nursery 

 depends, of course, upon local conditions. Some give two or three 

 irrigations, by running the water in a little trench alongside the 

 rows, at intervals of two weeks, for a time after planting, and then 

 irrigate once a month during the summer. It is important that 

 irrigation should not be continued too late into the fall, because 



