ORANGES 



281 



of thirty to thirty-six inches from the ground. This makes them 

 branch and form the head of the future orchard tree. The sprouts 

 below the buds must be removed persistently. 



In the orchard the trees are " shaped up " and are pruned to keep 

 down diseases, and remove injured parts. The pruned surfaces 

 should be painted. 



Culture.- — Orchards are commonly cultivated the first half of 

 the summer with disk harrows and other harrows. Then a winter 

 cover crop is grown to be worked into the soil in spring. This green 

 manure may be turned under by the only plowing given the orchard 

 each year. In the irrigated orchards the dust mulch is re-estab- 

 lished after each watering (Fig. 196). Cultivation is abandoned or 



Fig. 196. — A California orange grove showing style of pruning trees and showing the 

 irrigation furrows. (U.S.D.A.) 



neglected in some orchards in both Florida and California, but 

 this is not usually a good plan. 



Harvesting and Marketing. — In California the Valencias (Fig. 

 195) are picked from June to October; navels from November to 

 April, and seedlings in Spring. Most of the Florida crop is moved 

 from October to May or June. Figure 197 shows an orange picking 

 scene in California. 



The bulk of the orange crop in America is handled through large 

 associations that have central packing houses and market only 

 well graded and wrapped fruits (Fig. 198). They are shipped in 

 two-compartment boxes having a capacity of two cubic feet. 

 Boxes half this size are used for the mandarin types. 



