142 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



wrapped in burlap to hold the soil in place. When trees are to be removed 

 for only a short distance, they may be planted with free roots, as is usually 

 done in Florida. Great care must be exercised at every point to keep the 

 roots moist, and they must be thoroughly watered after planting. 



Planting the Orchard. The site for a citrus orchard must be carefully 

 selected to insure success. The warmest regions should be taken for the 

 lemon and the slightly colder regions for the orange and pomelo. In 

 California, the sloping sections next to the hills are usually considered the 

 best and warmest, as they give good air drainage. In Florida lands in the 



southern part of the state or with water 

 protection to the north are usually the 

 warmest. The selection of a good site 

 with reference to warmth is highly im- 

 portant. 



The orange grows successfully on a 

 wide range of soils, but a good, fine, sandy- 

 loam soil is usually preferred. It is im- 

 portant to have well-drained land. Citrus 

 fruits cannot be successfully grown in 

 wet, soggy soil. 



The laying out of the grove is always 

 important and in irrigated countries re- 

 quires very great care, as it is of the 

 highest importance to be able to water 

 the grove uniformly, and this cannot be 

 done unless the irrigation furrows run at 

 a uniform and proper slope. 



Leveling or grading the land is rarely 

 desirable, as this removes the surface soil 

 from some places and makes it for some 

 time unfit for tree growth. 



The land for planting should be 

 plowed deep and gotten in thoroughly 

 good condition, finely pulverized and 

 moist. Orange trees are usually planted 

 from 20 to 25 feet apart, most coninonly 

 about 22 feet. Sometimes they are planted 20 feet apart one way and 

 22 or 24 feet apart the other way. Lemons and pomeloes are usually given 

 rather more space than the orange. 



There are four methods of arranging the trees known as the rectangu- 

 lar, triangular, quincunx and hexagonal. Of these the rectangular or square 

 is the simplest and mostly commonly used. Planting in squares 20 by 20 

 feet gives 108 trees to the acre, and planting 22 by 22 feet, a very common 

 distance, gives 90 trees to the acre. The land to be planted must be laid 



l From Farmers' Bulletin 539, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



SHIELD OR EYE BuDs. 1 



A Method of cutting bud from 

 round twig. B Bud cut ready 

 to insert. C Face of bud 

 showing the cut surface. 



