THE CITRON OF COMMERCE. 903 



The most desirable locality for a citrus orchard is that most distant 

 from the sea and not of such an altitude as to lie within the frost line. 



PROPAGATING THE PLANT. 



There are four methods of propagating the citrus plant ; by the seed, 

 by cuttings, by grafting, and by budding. 



The seeds for planting are taken from the choicest fruit when per- 

 factly ripe, and are planted in the spring in some warm sheltered spot 

 from 4 to 5 inches apart. The soil should be composed of loose earth 

 and well-rotted manure. The young plants should be sparingly but 

 frequently watered. The plants must be transplanted to the orchard 

 after the growth of a year or two. 



To propagate by cuttings, young healthy shoots that are straight are 

 selected. They should be about 1 foot in length, and must be planted 

 in the ground to the depth of 4 or 5 inches in a soil similar to that used 

 for the seed. Care should be taken to plant the cutting upright, as it 

 grew upon the tree. When the cutting becomes well rooted, and has 

 had a healthy growth of a year or two, it may be removed for final 

 planting to the orchard. 



The grafting and budding methods, which are so commonly practiced, 

 need not be described. Citrus plants in this part of Sicily are propa- 

 gated almost entirely by the budding method. 



For the stock upon which to bud, use is made of the bitter-orange 

 tree. The bitter orange is indigenous to this climate. It is more hardy 

 and less liable to disease than those that bear the choicest fruits. Its 

 natural fruit has no value, but the Sicilians sometimes convert it into a 

 kind of preserves. 



For the purpose of propagating the choice fruits, the bitter-orange 

 plant is grown in nurseries from the seed. When the plant is a year 

 old it is transplanted, and when it has attained a growth of about 1 inch 

 in diameter (being three or four years old) it is again transplanted to 

 the orchard. 



ORCHARD. 



The distance to be maintained between the trees in the orchard de- 

 pends much upon the location and nature of the soil. When the locality 

 is warm and the soil is naturally rich, mellow, and of easy culture, the 

 distance between the trees must be greater than when the soil is hard 

 and the climate colder, because the trees will grow more luxuriantly 

 and form larger tops. In such a soil, for lemons the plants should be 

 about 24 feet apart, and for oranges about 17 feet. When the soil is 

 naturally hard and poor and the climate colder, the distance between 

 the trees ibr lemons may be about 20 feet, and for oranges about 13 feet. 

 The judgment of the horticulturist must determine this matter. 



When the bitter-orange plants are thus transplanted to the orchard 

 the tops are cut off about 4 feet above the ground. When they become 

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