136 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
grower will say they expect to lose about 
2% of their trees every year after the 
trees are ten years old on rough lemon and 
none on sour orange. 
The fruit grown on rough lemon is un¬ 
deniably coarser of skin, has less charac¬ 
ter and dries out quicker than fruit grown 
under same condition on sour orange 
stock. The advocates of rough lemon ad¬ 
mit this to be the case while trees are 
young, but claim the trees overcome it in 
later years, but this isn’t borne out in 
Lake county, or any other sour orange 
section, where the tree fails to improve 
with age. 
Comparison of groves in Grand Island 
section of Lake county budded on sour 
orange and rough lemon is very striking. 
Valencia Late oranges on lemon stock 
during late April were beginning to dry 
out and were poorly colored, while same 
age trees in same grove under same cul¬ 
tural conditions on sour orange were in 
prime condition. 
One reason why so many trees on lemon 
stock have been sold and planted is be¬ 
cause the nurseryman wanted the planter 
to use lemon stock, as the nurseryman can 
produce the same trees on lemon stock in 
one-half the time and at one-half the cost 
of production. It is easier to produce the 
rough lemon seedlings, it is easier to get 
a larger per cent of buds to take and it is 
easier to get them to start off, and easier 
to get a salable tree than on sour orange 
or grapefruit. 
It is the perfect root stock from the 
nurseryman’s standpoint. The sour or¬ 
ange and grapefruit seedling is a slower 
grower, requires longer time in the seed 
bed and nursery row before it can be bud¬ 
ded, and it is impossible to get a perfect 
stand of buds, whereas the lemon can be 
budded at almost any time of growing 
season by the most novice of budders with 
almost a perfect stand. The big develop¬ 
ment companies prefer lemon stock, for 
they can produce a fine looking grove in a 
much shorter time. But no one disputes 
the fact that the lemon is more subject to 
disease and cold, produces poorer quality 
fruit, has less color and is shorter lived 
than the sour. 
The high pine ridge lemon men will say 
that they are too far south to be damaged 
by the cold, but we must remember that 
the bulk of lemon stock groves have been 
put out since we had a disastrous freeze. 
What would happen if we had a bad 
freeze? 
We have had more frost injury in late 
years as far south as Fort Myers than we 
have had in Lake, Orange or Marion 
counties. Suppose California groves had 
been on lemon stock, what would have 
been the result this past winter. Wouldn’t 
it be better to build more permanent 
groves, produce better, juicier fruit, in¬ 
stead of trying to get too quick results. 
Mr. H. B. Stevens of DeLand, sums it 
up—at least from the viewpoint of the 
sour orange growers—when he says, 
“The only advantage I can see for the 
rough lemon is it will grow faster and 
make a grove to sell quicker to some ten¬ 
derfoot.” 
I have been informed by the manager 
of the Florida Citrus Sub-Exchange that 
the Government during April sent a man 
into the Winter Haven section to investi- 
