CITRUS CDLTURE IN CALIFORNIA — FRUITFULNESS. 45 



one of , the healthy and productive old orchards these three 

 points of treatment are faithfully attended to, while I find not 

 one of the ordinary or inferior orchards in which either one or 

 two, and sometimes all three, are disregarded. I do not mean 

 that they are intentionally ignored in the latter class. The 

 owner hasn't the means to properly manure his orchard. He 

 follows the conventional method of cultivating, and would be 

 surprised if one should intimate that his work was lacking in 

 thoroughness. He runs water in abundance, and often enough, 

 but the shallow stirring of strong soil prevents its proper pene- 

 tration. It has been a surprise to myself to find that I have 

 failed in thoroughness, and I am sure that if others shall exam- 

 ine they will find that there is need of improvement. Old orange 

 groves will not be profitable unless we use intelligent methods. 



Where unhealthy trees exist because of a shallow soil, or 

 where the rise of surface water has made the locality unfit for 

 citrus fruits, or where the frost too often does injury, what I 

 have said does not appl3^ Such conditions it is impossible to 

 overcome. 



No man can study the condition of our older orchards with- 

 out having proof supplied of the truth of the scriptures to the 

 effect that ''To him who hath shall be given." Men of wealth 

 who dare to invest heavily in fertilizers every season, and 

 whose orchards want neither for intelligent labor nor for irri- 

 gation, are the ones whose dividends are assured and regular. 

 Handicapped with a heavy mortgage, the intelligent and 

 shrewd orchardist may be forced to try to extract profit from 

 his grove with the least possible annual expenditure, and may 

 make thorough cultivation aijd faithful attention serve fairly 

 well with a scant supply of fertilizer. But he can not attain 

 the results achieved by him who adds to these methods the 

 ability to furnish the fertilizing elements needed. 



I have pointed out the fact that certain old orchards have 

 maintained health and productiveness, while others, having 

 equal if not superior natural conditions, have proved either 

 only moderately profitable or a source of loss to their owners. 

 Many of the less successful groves have not apparently been 

 neglected, and, it may be, have failed to use only one of the 

 three essentials to success. It is possible that the calling of 

 the attention of their growers to the practices which have won 

 most marked success may lead them to appreciate the need of 



