CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA — FRUITFULNESS. 43 



material that it can no longer increase its output; the differ- 

 ence, if any, in the time occupied being easily explained by 

 the superior texture and greater amount of nutriment con- 

 tained in the Navel over the seedling fruit." 



THE AGE OF CITRUS TREES* 



Apparent Deterioration in Old Navel Orchards — Due to 

 Improper Management. 



The questions I here present are, then: Is there a lack of 

 vitality in the tree* as it grows old? If there appears to be, 

 what is the cause, and can we remove it? 



I find that there is a radical difference in the condition of 

 the oldest groves. Some are marvelously beautiful and pro- 

 ductive, and others are light of color and scant of fruit. In 

 some fairly good orchards there are sections in which the trees 

 are unhealthy, and this to an extent to reduce the yield to an 

 unsatisfactory figure. The fact that the good and bad orchards, 

 and the large number which are neither very good nor very 

 bad, are located under practically identical conditions of soil, 

 climate, and irrigation facilities, is proof enough that the cause 

 of unsatisfactory conditions of tree and product is not due to 

 any constitutional weakness of the tree, but to differing methods 

 of treatment. 



I am thoroughly convinced that the tree is above the average 

 in vitality, and that there is no justification for the belief that 

 it is to become nonproductive as it grows old. 



It is a fact which can not be denied that many of the oldest 

 orchards are yielding light crops, and that their foliage lacks 

 that dark rich green characteristic of the thoroughly healthy 

 orange tree. But I am satisfied that the fault is not with the 

 tree, but with the owner. It is true that the young bearing 

 orchards average better crops than do the old ones. But it is 

 also true that the very best trees, the richest foliaged and 

 heaviest bearing, are the oldest in the valley. These facts 

 seem to point clearly to causes outside the tree itself for the 



* Extracts from report of E. W. Holmes, of Riverside, who, at the request 

 of the Riverside Horticultural Club, made an investigation regarding the 

 alleged tendency of the Washington Navel orange tree to fall off in product- 

 iveness with the approach of age. In "Press and Horticulturist," January 

 6, 1900. 



