488 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



Orange Seedlings. — Sour orange seed for stock purposes is in general 

 obtained from Florida; sweet orange seeds are usually taken from any 

 sweet seedling grove. Seed must not be allowed to dry out. The seed is 

 usually sown about one inch apart in a bed or may be drilled in rows. It is 

 a good plan to cover the seed about one-half inch deep with clean river 

 sand. It is desirable in most places to cover the seed-bed with a partial 

 shade of some sort, as of cheesecloth or a lath shed. The seedlings are 

 usually dug when they are about a foot high and transplanted to the nur- 

 sery. Before transplanting the 

 tops are cut back to about 7 

 or 8 inches above the crown. 

 The Orange Nursery. — The 

 nursery should be on a good 

 porous soil that contains 

 enough clay so that the trees 

 can be balled if this method of 

 transplanting is desired. The 

 seedlings are set about 10 to 12 

 inches apart in rows 3| to 4 

 feet apart. The planting is 

 usually done with a spade or 

 dibble. Care must be taken 

 not to let the roots get dry, 

 and each tree should be set as 

 nearly as possible at the same 

 relative height it occupied in 

 the seed-bed. The soil must 

 be well firmed around the 

 roots, and the plants should 

 be watered as rapidly as 

 planted. Small seedlings and 

 those with imperfect roots 

 should never be planted. Only 

 the best and largest seedlings 

 should be used. The nursery should be thoroughly cultivated, and the 

 trees must be pruned occasionally to lead them to develop a single 

 trunk for 6 or 10 inches above the ground. It usually requires from 16 to 

 18 months to grow trees to the right size for budding, an ideal size being 

 a diameter of from three-eighths to one-half inch at about 3 to 5 inches 

 above the soil. 



Budding the Nursery Stock. — Trees should be budded from 4 to 8 

 inches above the ground. Budding is done mainly in the spring or in the 

 fall. In the latter case, it is expected to keep the trees dormant until spring. 

 Budding is almost universally done by the so-called eye-budding method, 



Shield Budding with Angular Wood. 1 



A — Cutting the bud. B — Bud cut ready to in- 

 sert. C — Bud showing cut face. D — Bud 

 inserted, bark on right side only being raised. 



1 From Farmers' Bulletin 539, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



