62 



THE OKANGE, 



from within, survey it externally and lop 

 off the ends of such branches as destroy 

 the regularity of outline. 



A tree thus thinned out admits a free 

 circulation of air, which is as good in a 

 sanitary point of yiew as fresh air for an 

 individual. The tree is then able to cope 

 with its enemy the scale and smut, and its 

 fruit is cleaner, larger and better therefor. 



HINTS ABOUT THE WORK. In cutting a 

 limb of good size, the neatest method is to 

 saw it from below, raising the limb gradu- 

 ally so that it shall not pinch the saw. In 

 this way a smooth cut may be made close 

 to the body of the tree and there is no dan- 



ger that the limb in falling may strip off a 

 portion of bark from the trunk. If the 

 limb must be sawed from above, first cut 

 the bark below to avoid the tearing away 

 referred to. 



Do not leave a stub of a limb protruding 

 from the trunk or a main branch. Cut 

 smooth and close up in order that the bark 

 may readily close over the wound. 



In cases where limbs of half an inch or 

 more in diameter are sawed, it is a good 

 plan to daub the cut surface with paint or 

 grafting wax to prevent it from drying 

 out and checking. 



CHAPTER XVII 



FERTILIZING. 



In one respect the orange growers of 

 California are behind the times. They 

 cultivate thoroughly, irrigate scientifically 

 and appreciate the value of good pruning; 

 they know the book of insect pests from 

 Genesis to Exodus; they grow the best 

 fruit of the best varieties known; thej' 

 gather freely and in riches increase and 

 multiply, but they do not replenish the earth. 

 By this single dereliction they approve 

 themselves short-sighted, improvident 

 gathering for themselves to impoverish 

 their children; building for a day, not for 

 all time. 



There are old orange groves in Los An- 

 geles county that scarcely pay the cost of 

 cultivation; trees in a semi-dormant con- 

 dition the .greater part of the time, with 

 leaves of a sickly yellow color and fruit 

 small, leathery of pulp and lacking in 

 flavor. These trees have been undergoing 

 a process of starvation for ten, fifteen or 

 twenty years. It is a wonder that they 

 have maintained the unequal struggle so 

 long. Indeed, had it not been for the de- 

 gree of fertilization which comes from the 

 application of water in repeated irrigations 

 they would probably have succumbed 

 long ago. It is not in reason that any soil 

 can sustain the continual demand made 

 upon it for the formation of a larger tree 



and the annual production of a crop of 

 fruit without becoming exhausted. Groves 

 in this impoverished condition need to be 

 renovated, first by a heavy pruning of the 

 trees, and second by a thorough renewal 

 of the soil. With this stimulus the trees 

 will make a new start and regain their 

 former productiveness. 



In Florida, and in most other countries 

 where orange growing is prosecuted as a 

 scientific industry, much attention is paid 

 to fertilizing. Rev. T. W. Moore, in his 

 work on orange culture in Florida, says: 



"No crop feeds more ravenously than 

 the orange, and none will convert so large 

 an amount of suitable fertilizers into fruit 

 so profitably. Much of our Florida laud 

 will produce and sustain fine trees for a 

 few years without the aid of manure; but 

 after some years of fruiting the leaves will 

 begin to turn yellow, indicating a defici- 

 ency in the soil." He then discusses the 

 various fertilizers in use, naming the com- 

 mercial compounds of ground bone, pot- 

 ash and sulphuric acid, Peruvian guano, 

 land plaster, green crops turned under, 

 stable manure, and swamp muck. 



In California not one of these fertilizers 

 is in use, unless it be stable manure in 

 exceptional instances. The reason that 

 our fruit growers have paid so little atten- 



