44 



ORA>-GE CULTURE. 



water, that it fills up and runs over into the furrows and ditches 

 prepared to carry off the surplus moisture : yet in defiance of this 

 and of the " croakers" who declared the trees would die as soon as- 

 their tap roots reached the hard-pan ; Mr. Hart's grove is to-day 

 one of the finest in the State, although, as he says, on several 

 occasions the river ([ St. John's ) rose to an unusual height, and 

 stood for several weeks a foot or more deep, in the lower parts of 

 my grove, the higher ground being also completely soaked, by 

 reason of no drainage. So far from suffering injury, the trees ap- 

 peared rather benefited by the irrigation." 



Also this same orange grower, having ditched his grove af- 

 terwards, decided that a simple, shallow furrow was all that was^ 

 needful. 



In Sardinia there is a famous grove, a square mile in extent. 

 Avhere a stream of water running through the center, is employed 

 to lay the whole grove under water every two weeks, all through 

 the summer. 



Xow, here are well authenticated instances goiug to prove 

 that the orange is more '* given to drink " than used to be be- 

 lieved, and that they will grow on low lands if properly looked 

 after; and by " properly "" we mean that in planting, the trees 

 should be set a little higher than the surrounding land, and that 

 shallow ditches or furrows, a hundred feet apart, should be run 

 through the grove. 



Therefore, we would not advise the settler to select flat- 

 woods" for a grove, other things being equal, yet if such lauds 

 offer decided advantages, as to price, location as to transit lines, 

 society and health, over other lands ofiered in the desii'ed vicinity, 

 we would say, " take them, set you trees high, furrow your grove,, 

 to lead off superfluous waters: put out a few Eucalyptus Globu- 

 lus trees here and there, and have no fears of the result."" 



The orange tree is a good deal of a cosmopolitau, and will 

 flourish in a variety of soils, in clay. sand, shell ur loamy soils : in 

 low or high hammocks ; in pine land, or black-jack lands ; very 

 much depends on the treatment they receive ; but when it is a* 

 easy to obtain pine land or high hammock, they are to be pre- 



