ITS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



39 



non-deteriorating trees. Too much care 

 cannot be exercised in this matter if our 

 standards are to be maintained. 



Grafting. — The cheapness and greater 

 convenience of budding the orange has 

 rendered grafting obselete. A nursery- 

 man of my acquaintance claims that he 

 can bring the orange to fruit much earlier 

 by grafting than by budding, and has ex- 

 periments under way to proye his asser- 

 tion. It is possible that the next step in 

 scientific culture may be in this direction, 

 but I deem it hardly probably. In Flor- 

 ida grafting is a popular method of con- 

 yerting the wild (Bigarade) orange to the 

 commercial fruit. Grafting would be of 



equal advantage with us in treating old 

 trees, in which it is difficult to make buds 

 liv^e. 



Care of the Budded Stock. — The care 

 of budded niTrsery stook, as regards culti- 

 vation, irrigation, staking up, pruning 

 and keeping free from insects, should be 

 as painstaking as that enjoined for j^oung 

 seedlings. When the buds are one year 

 old and the stocks two or three (according 

 to the age at budding), the trees are suffi- 

 ciently advanced to betaken up and trans- 

 ferred to the orchard. Of this transf»lant- 

 ing I shall say something in a subsequent 

 chapter. 



CHAPTER IV, 



A WORD TO THE WISE. 



The man who contemplates planting an 

 orange orchard — especially the man of 

 limited means— ought to stop and think 

 twice. He should consider that it is a 

 great undertaking to raise orange trees; 

 and he should also bear in mind that, 

 during the long period in which they are 

 attaining maturity, his family and him- 

 self must have a living. If, after weigh- 

 ing the matter carefully, he comes to the 

 conclusion that he is possessed of the req- 

 uisite courage, perseverence, energy and 

 thrift for the undertaking, with a natural 

 taste for it which will make his labors and 

 trials endurable; and if he thinks he can 

 see his way clear to keep the pot boiling- 

 through several non- producing j^ears, 

 why, let him go ahead, and God speed 

 him! He is embarking in a good enter- 

 prise, and one that will surely bring its 

 reward if intelligently carried through. 



Too many men undertake the growing 

 of an orange grove without fully compre- 

 hending the magnitude of the task. When 

 it is past the time for them to retire with- 

 out sacrifice, they find out that it was a 

 fancy, not a well -settled purpose, that 

 first possessed them, and the labors in- 



volved are too onerous to be borne; or, 

 their means having rtm out, they get into 

 debt, mortgage the farm, and then, per- 

 haps, as the trees are just about to bear, 

 the result of all their labors and sacrifices 

 is swept away! I do not propose to read 

 anybody a lecture. Neither do I wish to 

 discourage any who have reasonable 

 chances of success from entering the field 

 of orange growing; but, if a candid word 

 of mine may set some over-sanguine man 

 to thinking, and avert from him the heart- 

 burnings incident to the course above out- 

 lined, that word shall not pass unspoken. 



If, my reader, you have thoughts of 

 growing an orange orchard, and after 

 looking the clifficulties squarely in the 

 face, 3^ou conclude that you can overcome 

 them; and if you would, to that end, be 

 advised concerning approved theories and 

 established methods, follow me through 

 the succeeding chapters and T will lay 

 them before you. Remember that in our 

 age no man can afford to ignore the ex- 

 perience of others; and he who informs 

 himself most thoroughly is the one who 

 encounters least mishaps and firally com- 

 mands success^ 



