Laying off the Ground 



19 



San Dimas, California 



across each end and one through the center, putting in stakes 

 every twenty feet, commencing at one end first and leaving plenty 

 of room between the first row and the end of the plot for turn- 

 ing purposes in cultivation. After the headlines are run 

 across each end it is necessary then to stretch a wire lengthwise 

 of the plot, being careful to have it perfectly straight. After 

 this is done stakes should be set every twenty feet along the 

 wire, which will mark the center of the hole to be dug. After 

 the plot has all been staked off in this manner and the holes dug 



can be planted at any time in the year when the conditions are 

 favorable, and this is determined by the condition of the tree and 

 the season. The orange tree makes several growths during the 

 season, varying in number and season with different varieties and 

 different seasons. But there are periods when all orange trees are 

 dormant, and others when nearly all are active. In transplanting, 

 the trees should be taken at their dormant stage, or as nearly so 

 as possible, as the shock of removal will not then be so severe 

 and the tree will more quickly recover." 



PACKING CITRUS TREES WITH OPEN ROOTS IN MOSS FOR SHIPMENT. 



with the necessary preparations for planting, a board should be 

 taken something about 1x4, three to four feet long with a 

 notch cut in the center of one side and one at each end. The 

 center notch should be placed where the tree stake stands with 

 smaller stakes at each end before the holes are dug. This will 

 admit of removing the center stake while digging the hole, and 

 in planting the board can be placed over the hole with the notches 

 on each of the end stakes, the center notch being where the body 

 of the tree should stand. This board should be left on the tree 

 while filling in the earth, and by following this method all of the 

 trees will be perfectly in line by straightening up after irrigating 

 before the soil becomes packed. 



TIME OF PLANTING. The following from "The Orange in 

 California" is to the point: "The orange, being an evergreen, 



THE LIFE AND BEARING CAPACITY OF THE ORANGE. 

 Under favorable conditions the orange is a very free bearing 

 tree. Wallace mentions a tree in St. Micheals that bore 20,000 

 fruits in one crop. The longevity of the tree is not less remark- 

 able. At Versailles one tree is still growing which was sown in 

 1412, and the famous tree, now upwards of 35 feet in height, in 

 the convent of St. Sabina, at Rome, is said to be more than 600 

 years old. Some commentators suppose that the "Apples of 

 Gold" were oranges; but there does not seem to be any defintie 

 evidence that the orange was cultivated in Palestine in the time 

 of Solomon. More than 700 years later Theophratus, however, 

 describes the citron as occuring in Northern Persia (Media), and 

 as being cultivated by the Jewish nation in Syria, while under 

 Roman dominion. Locally, there are a number of orange seed- 

 ling trees over a century old. 



