530 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



showers in summer are very beneficial. In some years there are 

 droughts in summer, and the fruit trees suffer much ; consequently the 

 fruit is small and frequently rough. 



Irrigation. Irrigation not required. 



Cultivation. There is no particular method of cultivation. 



Fertilizers. About February lupin is sown broadcast, and when 

 about 2 feet high is dug into the ground ; some people (but very few) 

 sometimes use farm -yard manure, and guano has sometimes been 

 applied. 



Pruning. Pruning is not generally practiced before 'the trees attain 

 an age of seven years, and then at about 4 feet from the ground. 



Picking. Picking begins about the 15th of November and continues 

 up to March ; the fruit is rot properly ripe until January. 



Curing and packing. There is no system of curing. The fruit is 

 packed in boxes containing from 400 to 500 oranges, according to size 

 of fruit, wrapped in Indian -corn leaves. 



Planting and propagating. Distance from plant to plant, in rows, 15 

 to 20 feet. If planted closer, which is sometimes done, the trees shoot 

 up too high and the branches touch one another, preventing the sun 

 from shining into the trees as much as desirable. The trees are now 

 mostly propagated by selecting a healthy branch about half an inch in 

 diameter, taking off the bark all round about an inch in height, then 

 putting round it some sifted soil. When it begins to throw out roots 

 it is cut off from the tree and planted out in beds till it attains a height 

 of at least 3 feet, and then it is ready to be transplanted. They are 

 also propagated by layers, that is, by pegging down the lower branches 

 and grafting in the ordinary way. From seedlings the oranges are 

 better than from layers, but they take a long time before they produce 

 any fruit. Sometimes also the trees are budded. The orchards are 

 from one-third* of an acre up to 20 acres in size. 



Maturity. The trees will produce in seven years, not however in large 

 quantities, but the largest crops may be expected when they attain the 

 age of twenty years up to forty years, at which latter period they begin 

 to produce less. 



There are no insect pests. 



Many years ago there was a fair quantity of lemons and some were 

 shipped, but now there are very few. Nobody ever thinks of planting 

 lemon trees except for their own use, or for sale in the market, where 

 sometimes 5 cents are given for one. None are now shipped. 



AU GUSTO S. MOREIRA, 



Acting Consular Agent. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULAR AGENCY, 



8t. Michael's, Azores, December 31, 1889. 



