ORANGES IN INDIA. 



451 



are dotted about at intervals in a gently rolling country where the fine 

 soil has been collected from the exposed and disintegrated trap rock. 

 This soil forms a stiff loam from 2 to 3 feet in depth, containing about 

 7 per cent, of lime and 1 per cent, of vegetable matter. The subsoil is 

 open, nodular limestone mixed with clay, and gives excellent drainage. 



Climate. The climate of Nagpur is shown in the following table, 

 which is compiled from the Government Meteorological Reports. It 

 may be described as comparatively hot and moist from June to Septem- 

 ber, cool and dry from October to February, hot and dry from March to 

 May. 



It must be noted that the temperature given in the following table is 

 taken from a barometer shaded from direct sunshine and from radiation 

 at night. The increase obtained by exposing the barometer to the sun 

 averages 59.8 F., and the decrease from exposing the barometer to the 

 open sky at night varies from 12.8 in January to 2.7 in July. 



Table showing the climate of Nagpur, India, where very fine oranges are grown. 



There are two distinct seasons in which the trees will flower and ripen 

 fruit, and to obtain high-class fruit the cultivator must elect which sea- 

 sou he will work a particular break or division of the orchard, be- 

 cause the trees will not bear properly at both seasons, and the attempt 

 to make trees bear fruit at both seasons has been the destruction of 

 many plantations in other parts of India. The finest fruit is obtained 

 from flowers that open in June and July. This is on the market from 

 February to May. The other flowering takes place in February and 

 March. This ripens fruit from December to February. 



Irrigation. The trees are kept dry during May or December, ac- 

 cording to the season a,t which fruit is wanted. At other seasons irri- 

 gation is carried on sufficient, with the rain fall, to provide 4 inches of 

 water over the entire surface. The water is drawn from wells 30 feet 

 deep by means of a leathern bucket which contains about 25 gallons, 

 by a pair ot'oxcn that walk down an incline plane, pulling a rope that 

 s over a pulley. The cost of drawing water by this means is 1 



