TWENTY-EIGHTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



171 



ing nature's forces. A good market is impossible without prime quality. 

 Quantity is an acceptable accompaniment to the grower. 



There is no doubt that in any given locality, favorable seasonal con- 

 ditions are the first requisite in fruit culture. Man can combat unfavor- 

 able weather by slightly protective or modifying measures only. It is 

 left with him to improve varieties, to till and fertilize the soil, and to 

 train and care for the tree or vine that bears his fruit. He early learns 

 that nature is not a fruit-grower, but a seed-producer. She is a good 

 mother, but it is not her forte to be a disciplinarian, in the fruitman's 

 business, at least. If he forgets this fact, or neglects to act upon it, 

 nature may do well without his aid for a time, while the plant is young, 

 and grow the fruit as man delights to have it, as well as the seed for 

 reproduction. Eventually she falls back upon the performance of her 

 function, with undesirable results for the fruit-grower. Then wisdom 

 comes to him, and he so directs the energies of growth that a fruitage 

 rich and fair is the reward of his labor and skill. May it be so with 

 the orange-grower. 



There is no question that we need to improve the quality of our 

 oranges. A better orange than the Washington Navel may appear, but 

 it is now this superb variety which has come to need improvement, for 

 there are far too few of them of that high quality we once knew. In the 

 most crowded market, high-grade fruit is the kind that sells, and sells 

 to advantage. Neither our trees, nor our wagons, nor our packing- 

 houses, nor the railroad trains should be burdened with such a dis- 

 proportion of second-grade fruit, amounting often to one half that is 

 grown. 



To a certain extent every year this condition is beyond remedy or 

 change; for without doubt the character of the season is the most potent 

 cause affecting the amount and quality of the crop. Judicious and 

 abundant fertilizing, proper irrigation, and thorough cultivation are 

 rightly regarded as necessary factors in bringing about a good result. 

 Some orchards, or parts of orchards, have naturally differing products, 

 which treatments will not avail to change. 



Already, to a limited extent, the proper pruning of the orange tree 

 has been shown in actual practice to have a beneficial effect in the pro- 

 duction of fine fruit; but when other controlling influences have not 

 been sufficient, or of the right sort, correct pruning alone can not bring 

 about desired improvement. 



In one of these instances of thorough pruning with a well-defined 

 purpose and plan, so thoroughly carried out on some old trees that only 

 four of them could be treated in a day, a traceable effect was seen the 

 same season, almost wonderful as compared with former years. The 

 parts removed, dead and living, littered the ground beneath and aroun,d 

 and seemed equal in quantity to the branches remaining. The trees 



