PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 135 



dreds, yes, even thousands, of dollars have been spent on some such 

 groves, and these to-day are almost out of existence. The reason in 

 some cases is neglect. Many have been informed that all they have to 

 do is to get the ground, plant the trees, and at the end of two years they 

 would have paying returns. They find out about that time that it takes 

 considerable cash to take care of an orange grove as it ought to be cared 

 for, and the consequence is that they try to cut down expenses by let- 

 ting the cultivation go. In consequence, the trees all turn yellow and 

 eventually die. The following year the grove looks so bad that the 

 owner in many cases abandons the place altogether, and swears the 

 orange business is a fraud. 



I would always advise a person, with the view of having a model 

 grove, to test and examine the land thoroughly. You may be told it is 

 a beautiful looking tract, but remember it may be only skin deep, and 

 below the surface you will find hardpan, cemented gravel, pipeclay, or 

 some such subsoils which are undesirable and have caused many an 

 orchardist disappointment and loss. In fact, so much so that I have 

 known them to abandon the place altogether. 



Everything depends upon the character and situation of the land to 

 be planted, and according to these you mast select and arrange your 

 grove. 



The orange delights in a warm, deep, fertile, and well-drained soil, 

 and under these conditions will give to growers a bounteous crop. A 

 cold and damp soil breeds disease, and death is sure to follow. Always 

 select a position for an orange grove in a rich, deep, porous soil, where 

 the trees will grow strong and vigorous. Better never plant a tree than 

 put it in a heavy, low ground, or where water can be reached within 

 three or four feet of the surface. The orange must not at any time 

 -stand in water, which in a very short time will cause the roots to die, 

 and your tree will soon be beyond recovery. 



The orange is sometimes root-killed by winter rains, although as a 

 rule it is well on in the spring when the trees show the damage by 

 turning yellow and the limbs begin to die. Drainage, as I will here- 

 after state, will overcome the trouble by lowering the water table and 

 keeping the roots dry. 



Throughout the northern counties the soil is of a red, gravelly loam, 

 particularly so in the foothill lands, and is charged heavily with oxide 

 of iron, which gives our oranges a much richer color than that of the 

 orange in many other parts of the State. 



We are more inland and have a much higher temperature during the 

 summer, which certainly ripens our fruit five or six weeks earlier than 

 the orange matures in the South. 



The soil on the river bottoms is sandy on top and adobe below in 



