CITRUS FRUITS 491 



out accurately and the location of each tree staked. Before digging the 

 holes a notched board with stakes or some other device should be used 

 to insure the exact location and level of the tree in setting. The holes 

 are dug of the size and depth necessary to accommodate the trees. The trees 

 to be set should have their tops cut back severely and all but a few leaves 

 removed. In arid regions, if the trees are not balled, it is not a bad practice 

 to remove all of the leaves. 



In planting the trees care should be exercised to plant them at nearly 

 the same level as they were in the nursery. To insure this they must be 

 set about 4 inches higher ordinarily to provide for settling. Many growers 

 prefer to plant five or six inches higher than the level of the ground, having 

 the trees on a slight ridge. This the writer believes to be a good practice. 

 Balled trees are usually planted with the sacks surrounding the roots, these 

 being opened at the bottoms and the strings cut. The sacks rot away in a 

 short time. When trees with free roots are planted, the soil must be well 

 sifted in around the roots and firmly pressed down. Thorough watering 

 must immediately follow the planting. The watering of young trees is 

 facilitated by forming small basins around the trees into which the water 

 can be run. 



It is important to protect the trunks of young trees from the sun in 

 order to prevent sun-burning. This is usually accomplished by loosely 

 wrapping several thicknesses of newspapers around them or by means of 

 regular protectors that may be purchased for this purpose. 



Cultivation. — Young orchards must be thoroughly cultivated around 

 the trees. It is a common practice for two or three years to grow a strip 

 about ten feet in width of alfalfa, beans or some other crop between the 

 rows of trees, keeping a cultivated and irrigated strip immediately around 

 the trees. As the grove comes into bearing, the normal cultivation of the 

 whole area is taken up. 



Many different systems of cultivation are followed in different places. 

 In Florida the common practice is to grow a leguminous cover crop, such 

 as beggarweed or cowpeas, in the grove during the summer, this being 

 plowed or disked in, in the fall, followed by more or less frequent, shallow 

 cultivations until the early summer when the cover crop is again sowed. 



In California the most common practice is to grow a cover crop of some 

 legume in the grove during the winter, from September to the first of March. 

 The plants most commonly used for this purpose are the bitter clover 

 (Melilotus indica) and the vetch (Vicia sativa). Of these the bitter clover 

 is much the best. The purple vetch (Vicia atropurpurea) , recently 

 imported, is far superior to the ordinary vetch for this purpose, and will 

 doubtless be much used when a sufficient supply of seed becomes available. 

 The cover crop is plowed under to a depth of seven to ten inches during the 

 early part of March before the trees begin to bloom and while the ground is 

 still in condition and moist from the winter rains. Following this the land 

 is harrowed and disked both ways. . Very thorough working with the disk 



