456 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



known here. The atmosphere is humid at all times and is very moist 

 at night, so much so that in Manila the belief prevails that a foreigner 

 is almost sure to contract rheumatism, neuralgia, or a low type of fever 

 if he sleeps near the earth. Residences for foreigners are, therefore, 

 usually built with the sleeping rooms from 10 to 12 feet above the 

 ground. The nights are damp and cool and the days warm and sultry 

 during the greater part of the year. During January, February, and 

 March rain rarely falls, and frequently December is also a dry month; 

 the rainy season sets in fairly in June, and for six mouths drizzling rains 

 prevail with occasional drenching showers. 



Irrigation. Irrigation is never necessary except for the rice fields. 



The orange and lemon trees develop more rapidly during the rainy 

 than the dry season, and the fruit is gathered eight months in the year. 

 Under proper cultivation oranges and lemons could probably be had the 

 year round. 



Propagation. Nature is generally allowed to take its own course in 

 regard to fruits of all kinds, but occasionally an unusually enterprising 

 native will undertake to propagate a few orange trees from the seeds 

 or by the following method : 



A strong hemp cord is wound several times around a flourishing 

 branch, 2 or 3 feet from the end, and a section of bamboo 4 or 5 inches 

 long and about 2 inches in diameter, is split in halves and bound around 

 the branch, the lower end resting on the cord. Into the bamboo cup is 

 placed some moist earth, which is frequently watered, and into which 

 the branch sends small shoots. When these have developed sufficiently 

 the branch is severed from the tree just below the cord, and, after the 

 latter and the bamboo cup have been removed, it is planted in light, 

 sandy earth, which is kept loose and well broken until the tree fairly 

 takes root ; after this its owner pays no further attention to it except 

 to gather the fruit. No fertilizing material is used, nor is any regular 

 system of pruning followed. A tree thus propagated will bear fruit 

 the following year, while a tree grown from the seed requires four years 

 or more in which to develop into fruition. When trees are planted 

 they are usually placed about 8 yards apart. There are no insects that 

 are known to either injure or benefit the trees. 



CONCLUSION. 4 



The principal orange-producing districts are the provinces of Batan- 

 gas, Bulacau, and Laguna, on the island of Leuzon, but they are found 

 in almost every province of the archipelago. 



One reason why the natives neglect to cultivate the fruit of the isl- 

 ands is that all who are willing to work can find more profitable em- 

 ployment in the cultivation of hemp, sugar cane, and tobacco, and the 

 care of the orange trees and the picking and selling of the fruit are left, 

 to the women and children. The foreigners, too, find more profit in 

 hemp, sugar, and tobacco than they could possibly realize from fruit, 

 with a corresponding investment of time and money. 



