74 



OEAXGE CULTURE. 



Do not trim tlie branclies up high on the trunk ; encourage 

 low growth, especially while the trees are young. This is Na- 

 ture's plan for protecting the tender bark from the sun, and should 

 not be interfered with. As the tree grows taller, cut away the 

 branches gradually, until when the tree is in bearing, you can 

 just get under it by slightly stooping, but can stand upright 

 against the trunk. 



The most successful groves and the healthiest trees are those ' 

 w^here the lower branches, when laden Avith fruit, barely escape 

 or even touch the ground. 



Keep an open head to the tree, so that the sun and air can 

 reach freely to all parts, leaving the most vigorous lateral 

 branches, and cutting away the weaker ones. 



Xever allow your young trees to become matted Avith 

 branches inside, so that the trunk cannot be seeu. Sooner or 

 later they will crovN'd each other so much that you will be 

 compelled to cut them out, and then all their vigor of growth 

 will be just so much vitality thrown away. Better keep the head 

 o'pen from the start, and allow no such wastage of time and thrift. 



By pursuing this course systematically, by the time the 

 tree is ready to bear, it will be in fine shape — " a thing of beauty 

 and a joy forever." It will then need very little after-pruning, 

 except to clear out dead branches. 



If you have set your trees twenty-five or thirty feet apart 

 keep the tops low to facilitate gathering the fruit ; if, however, 

 they are set only twenty feet ajoart, higher tops will be desirable, 

 since the ground must not be too densely shaded by the foliage. The 

 orange is emphatically a child of the sun, and will not thrive unless 

 sun and air can circulate freely about and above its roots. 



Prune in the spring, in January, February, or March. 

 Fall or winter pruning is apt to be injurious, as promoting new 

 growth at a season when growth should be checked. 



Whenever possible, cut away the large thorns, that not 

 only makes gathering the fruit a slow and delicate operation, 

 attended with torn flesh and clothes, but punctures the oranges 

 when swaying in the breeze, and thus renders them unsalable. 



