54 OEANGE CULTURE. 



trees that we have not yet touched on. Years of experi- 

 ence have taught every horticulturist that the attempt to 

 produce certain varieties of fruit from seed almost invariably 

 results in failure. The seed either produces an inferior fruit, or 

 an entirely new variety, which once in a great while is a better 

 article obtained than that which produced the seed, and before 

 the result can be attained 5^ears of care and waiting must elapse. 

 Every grower who has carefully observed the fruit produced by 

 the various trees in a seedling grove cannot have failed to notice 

 a great difference therein. Let the seeds that produced these 

 trees have been ever so carefully selected, some of the trees will 

 produce better oranges than others with the same care and treat- 

 ment. 



In ow, this is not the case with budded trees. 



From the moment the first tiny little leaf starts out the 

 germ of the future tree, its destined work is marked out and 

 known. If a bud from a bearing Mediterranean Sweet, Navel, 

 Homosassa, or Mandarin, is used, then we know what the bud- 

 ded tree will bear, and thus ^\e not only secure beyond doubt a 

 fine variety of fruit, but the identical variety we have selected 

 as preferable. Surely this one advantage alone should be suffi- 

 cient to tip the scale in favor of the budded tree. It is no slight 

 thing to know for a certainty that, after several years' expendi- 

 ture of care, money and patience, we have secured the most 

 desirable varieties of fruit. 



Not many years since the sour orange was the favorite for 

 budding stock ; of late, however, the scarcity of this tree has led 

 to experiments which tend to prove that there are several kinds 

 of stock to be preferred to the sour orange. There are several 

 strong objections to this wild stock from the hammocks. First — 

 and this is a very important matter — it is almost impossible to 

 secure a sufficient quantity of roets in comparison to the size of 

 the trunk ; again, they have grown up from seed to maturity in 

 rich land, protected from sun and wind by the dense foliage 

 around them, and when they are transplanted to a grove they 

 suffer from change of habit. If they live at all, their growth 

 is feeble and sickly. They will put out, perhaps, a few sprouts, 



