ITS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



non-deteriorating trees. Too much faro 

 cannot be exercised in this matter if our 

 standards are to be maintained. 



GRAFTING. The cheapness and greater 

 convenience of budding the orange has 

 rendered grafting obselete. A nursery- 

 man of my acquaintance claims that he 

 can bring the orange to fruit much earlier 

 by grafting than by budding, and has ex- 

 periments under way to prove his asser- 

 tion. It is possible that the next step in 

 scientific culture may be in this direction, 

 but I deem it hardly probably. In Flor- 

 ida grafting is a popular method of con- 

 verting the wild (Bigarade) orange to the 

 commercial fruit. Grafting would be of 



equal advantage with us in treating old 

 trees, in which it is difficult to make bud--* 

 live. 



(.'ARK OF THK l>i:jDKD 8 JOCK. The care 

 of budded nursery .stook, as regards culti- 

 vation, irrigation, staking up, pruning 

 and keeping free from insects, should bo 

 as painstaking as that enjoined for young 

 seedlings. When the buds are one year 

 old and the stocks two or three (according 

 to the age at budding;, the trees are suffi- 

 ciently advanced to be taken up and trans- 

 ferred to the orchard. Of this transplant- 

 ing I shall say something in a subsequent 

 chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 



The man who contemplates planting an 

 orange orchard especially the man of 

 limited means ought to stop and think 

 twice. He should consider that it is a 

 great undertaking to raise orange trees; 

 and he should also bear in mind that, 

 during the long period in which they are 

 attaining maturity, his family and him- 

 self must have a living. If, after weigh- 

 ing the matter carefully, he comes to the 

 conclusion that he is possessed of the req- 

 uisite courage, perse verence, energy and 

 thrift for the undertaking, with a natural 

 taste for it which will make his labors and 

 trials endurable; and if he thinks he can 

 see his way clear to keep the pot boiling 

 through several non- producing years, 

 why, let him go ahead, and God speed 

 him! He is embarking in a good enter- 

 prise, and one that will, surely bring its 

 reward if intelligently carried through. 



Too many men undertake the growing 

 of an orange grove without fully compre- 

 hending the magnitude of the task. When 

 it is past the time for them to retire with- 

 out sacrifice, they find out that it was a 

 fancy, not a well - settled purpose, that 

 first possessed them, and the labors in- 



volved are too onerous to be borne; or, 

 their means having run out, they get into 

 debt, mortgage the farm, and then, per- 

 haps, as the trees are just about to bear, 

 the result of all their labors and sacrifices 

 is swept away! I do not propose to read 

 anybody a lecture. Neither do I wish to 

 discourage any who have reasonable 

 chances of success from entering the field 

 of orange growing; but, if a candid word 

 of mine may set some over-sanguine man 

 to thinking, and avert from him the heart- 

 burnings incident to the course above out- 

 lined, that word shall not pass unspoken. 

 If, my reader, you have thoughts of 

 growing an orange orchard, and after 

 looking the 4 difficulties squarely in the 

 face, you conclude that you can overcome 

 them; and if you would, to that end, be 

 advised concerning approved theories and 

 established methods, follow me through 

 the succeeding chapters and I will lay 

 them before you. Remember that in our 

 age no man can afford to ignore the ex- 

 perience of others; and he who informs 

 himself most thoroughly is the one who 

 encounters least mishaps and fir ally com- 

 mands success. 



