552 FKUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



as also to avoid the formation of any pools, especially about the foot of 

 the orange trees or in close vicinity to them, the same being exceedingly 

 prejudicial. According to the opinion of many experienced cultivators 

 the orchards about Valencia may pass from four to five weeks during 

 the summer season without being irrigated, but this should not be de- 

 layed longer, as it would only redound to the detriment of the fruit, 

 which would not thrive as it should do. In the winter the gardens can 

 be well left for eight or nine weeks without irrigating. 



Water is so scarce in some parts in summer that frequently two 

 months or even more pass without it being possible to irrigate the 

 orangery, in which case the orange trees suffer a great deal and the 

 fruit is small, thus causing a loss of importance to the grower. By giv- 

 ing a much deeper tillage the evil is in great part avoided, but exceed- 

 ing care must be taken not to cut any of the roots, or should such occur 

 that it should not be to the extent of causing the trees to suffer there- 

 from, for which reason it is best to perform the tillage gradually and by 

 piecemeal. There are some plantations so exceedingly superficial as 

 not to admit of deep tillage ; thus the seasoning only produces effects 

 of short duration, and when it rains said plantations scarcely benefit 

 from the nutritive elements washed down and deposited by the rains on 

 the surface, for as soon as the sun shines the greater portion are rapidly 

 evaporated, having penetrated but such a short depth into the soil. 

 These do not admit of any improvement ; but it must be borne well in 

 mind that the greater the quantity of earth turned over on planting, 

 the tree to be cultivated has more nutritive elements, and, at the same 

 time, requires less water for thriving. 



Although all the trees of this species greatly love water, so much 

 so that without it they can not live, still great care must be taken not 

 to let them have too much, as, unless graduated with the greatest 

 rigor, it does them harm ; consequently it has to be arranged according 

 to the season and the position and quality of the earth, so that on an 

 average and reckoning on soil suitable for the vegetation of these 

 trees it will be sufficient to irrigate the gardens once in every twenty 

 days in summer and suspend it during the autumn and winter. Should 

 the earth be at all compact it is only irrigated occasionally, but should 

 it be loose it requires it ofteuer. In general, the degree of watering 

 given to the soil should be sufficient to maintain the leaves smooth and 

 straight without being twisted ; should the irrigation be carried be- 

 yond prudent limits it is detrimental to the tree, and it may be easily 

 known when the waterings are too frequent or exceed the necessities 

 of the tree, as the leaves commence turning yellow. 



Hormigueros. All cultivators are unanimous in agreeing that the 

 hormigueros give excellent results in the cultivation of the orange tree 

 in this zone. The orange tree itself shows by its wider and deeper 

 colored leaf how much it benefits from the hormigueros, and there are 

 many who believe they contribute in giving consistence to the fruit. 



