18 CALIFORNIA CITRUS CULTURE. 
tion is in a very protected district. But most of our nurserymen 
protect the young plants by use of a lath cover. The seeds should 
never be planted until the earth is warm or they may decay. In 
any case, the soil should be rich, loamy, and with a surface of sand at 
least for two or three inches. If this is slightly ridged, and the seeds 
planted on the ridges, the drainage will be more perfect and the damp- 
ing-off fungus will not be so likely to put in its deadly work. 
From March to May, depending upon season and soil, is the time to 
plant the seed bed. The seeds are best planted in rows one foot apart. 
The seeds are covered about one inch with soil that has been screened. 
Fic. 7.—Young seed bed orange stock. (After Lelong.) 
Tt is easy to irrigate between the rows and to cultivate with a hand 
cultivator. The seeds will come up in about three weeks if the weather 
is favorable. The young seedlings should be well watered and culti- 
vated and left in the seed bed for one year. As already stated, many 
prefer to protect the young seedlings. The earth must be kept moist, 
but not too wet or the plants will die of fungus attack. The early 
spring is the best time to plant not only the seeds but to transplant 
the seedlings. 
The young plants from the seed beds (Fig. 7) should be transplanted 
to the nursery in rows at least three or four feet apart, or so as to 
