TREATISE HAND BOOK IX FLORIDA, T. W. MOORE, FRUIT COVE, FLORIDA . v JACK si IN vi i. !.!;: KI.A. : -IN AM) PilKSS .Mil! KtinMS. TREATISE X AND HAND BOOK ON ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA BY T. W. MOORE, ^FRUIT COVE, FLA. JACKSONVILLE, FLA. .PRINTED AT THE SUN AND PRESS JOB ROOMS. 1877. 1- ' Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1877, by T. W. MOORE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PREFACE. CHAPTER I. PROFIT OF ORANGE GROWING. CHAPTER II. THE SEVERAL METHODS OF PLANTING ORANGE GROVES. CHAPTER III. WILD ORANGE GROVES BUDDED. CHAPTER IV. GROVES FROM TRANSPLANTED SOUR STUMPS. CHAPTER V. PLANTING THE ORANGE SEED. CHAPTER VI.- BUDDING. CHAPTER VII. SELECTING A LOCATION FOR AN ORANGE GROVE. CHAPTER VIII. THE ADVANTAGE OF PARTIAL FOREST PROTECTION. CHAPTER IX. TRANSPLANTING. CHAPTER X.- DISTANCE APART OF TREES IN GROVE. CHAPTER XL- CULTIVATION. CHAPTER XII. PRUNING. CHAPTER XIII. FERTILIZING. CHAPTER XIV. SPECIES AND VARIETIES. CHAPTER XV. THE INSECTS DAMAGING THE ORANGE TREE; THEIR ENEMIES AND THE REMEDIES. CHAPTER XVI. DISEASES TO WHICH THE ORANGE TREE AND FRUIT ARE LIABLE, AND THE REMEDIES. CHAPTER XVII. GATHERING, PACKING AND SHIPPING THE ORANGE. CHAPTER XVIII.- CROPS THAT MAY BE GROWN AMONG THE ORANGE TREES. CHAPTER XIX. OILS, PERFUMES, EXTRACTS &c. FROM THE CITRUS. CHAPTER XX. CONCLUSION. 379987 PEEFACE. The writer for several years suffered greatly for want of some reliable advice on Orange Culture. Could he have had such instruc- tions as the following pages contain he might have hastened forward to profitable bearing by several years an orange grove now crowning his labors with success. He could have done this with half the amount of money expended by him in experimenting, in following unreliable advice, and in doing, what at the time, seemed wisest. It is to save oth- ers such useless expenditures and to help forward the best material interest of Florida that he has undertaken to give to the public the result of his experience and observation on ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. Nor has he undertaken this without the earnest solicitation of many who are engaged in orange growing and have witnessed his success and discussed with him his plans. The writer has not only had ten years of actual experience in 'jrange growing, but he has had before him a wide field for observing the efforts of others engaged in this business. He has had throughout his life a passion for horticulture ; in early life considerable experience as an amateur cultivator of fruits. For twenty -five years he has been accustomed to eat fresh from the trees the orange grown in Cuba, in Central America, in California, in Louisiana and in Florida. His admiration of this " queen of fruits " has led him to observe and inquire after the methods of culture in each of these several countries. During the ten years of his experience he has frequently traveled over the State of Florida, visiting, at all seasons of the year, the various sections en- gaged in growing oranges, discussing with growers their theories and noting the results of their efforts. This little work, therefore, is not the result of the experience of a single individual confined to a single location, but the result of experi- ments, successes and failures of the many, extended over the State of Florida. The Press of Florida has done much to help forward to a knowl- edge necessary to sqccess in orange growing in this State. Its appre- ciation of this great interest, and the readiness with which it has devoted its columns to growers for the interchange of thought arid the discussion of theories, both false and true, have given to persons widely separated the benefit of each others' experience. For this work, the Press of Florida, and especially the Agriculturist and the Semi- Tropical, as more especially devoted to this interest, is deserving all praise, and whosoever would keep up with the rapidly growing knowledge of orange culture in our peculiar climate and soil must continue to read, as the Press will continue to publish, every new light on this subject. The Author here makes acknowledgments to the Press of Florida as well as to the thousands whom he has visited, and with whom he has discussed the contents of these pages. All technical terms, as far as possible, have been avoided in these pages. Where such terms have been employed it has been solely to make the meaning less questionable. This book is intended as a Manual for all who wish to best succeed with the least expense in growing the orange. Such terms as can be understood by the un- learned can be also comprehended by those who can command ency- clopedias and the elaborate work of Gallesio. With earnest desire foy the success of the orange grower in Florida and with hearty good will to them and to others who may engage in this honorable and profitable business, this humble and little book is submitted by the AUTHOR. ORANGE CULTURE. CHAPTER I. THE PROFIT OF ORANGE GROWING, When compared to the profit arising from other kinds of business, is so large that a statement of facts is often withheld because the truth seems fabulous to those who have only had experience in the cultiva- tion of other kinds of fruits. Those engaged in the business consider each tree, so soon as it is in healthy and vigorous bearing, worth one hundred dollars. Indeed the annual yield of such a tree will pay a large interest on the one hundred dollars from ten to an hundred and in some instances one hundred and fifty per cent, per annum. Now if we take into consideration that from forty to one hundred trees are grown on an acre, the yield is immense. In the quiet country, breath- ing its pure atmosphere, with fresh fruits and vegetables from January to January, with milk, butter, honey and poultry, the product of his farm, and accessories to his grove, the man who has once brought his trees into successful bearing, can enjoy all these and much more besides, having at his command an income quite equal to that com- manded by owners of blocks of well improved real estate in our towns and cities, with not one-tenth part of the original cost of city invest- ments. Or, if the owner chooses, he is at liberty to go abroad without fear of the incendiaries' . torch, or the failure of commercial firms. And even if a frost should come severe enough to cut down full grown trees and but one such frost has come in the history of Florida the owner of such a grove has but to wait quietly for three years, and out of the ruin will come a second fortune as large as the first, and without the cost of brick, mortar and workmen. The age to which the orange tree lives, from three hundred to four hundred years, is so great that Americans do not know how to consider it in the light of a permanent investment. The fear has sometimes been expressed that the business will be overdone, that the supply will after a while exceed the demand and the price of the fruit so decline that the orange will be unprofitable to the grower. But those who entertain this fear have certainly not considered the facts. That portion of the States, with climate suitable for growing the orange, is comparatively small. The southern portion of California, a very small part of Louisiana and the whole of Florida if devoted to orange culture is but a trifle compared to the vast sections of the United States which will be well filled with inhabitants long before the orange growing sections can be brought into bearing. The present yield of ~ fruit grown in the United States furnishes hardly one orange a year to each inhabitant. Our population will likely double, judging the future by the past, in the next thirty or forty years. To furnish such a population with one orange or lemon a day will require no less than thirty thousand millions of oranges or lemons per annum. The skill in gathering, curing and packing the late and early varieties now appearing will enable the grower to furnish for the market at all seasons of the year either oranges or lemons. The wholesomeness of the fruit, together with its medicinal qualities, will increase its popu- larity as an article of food, until it will be universally used. At pres- ent the production of Florida oranges is so small that it is not known in the markets of many of our largest cities. The foreign varieties offered in those markets, even when fully ripe and eaten fresh in their own countries, will not compare with the' Florida orange. But in order to reach this country in sound condition they have to be gathered when green and hence are not only unpalatable but unwholesome. When the Florida orange becomes generally known, and the supply is - adequate, it will exclude these foreign varieties and, because of its excellence, become uuiverally used. Such will be the demand. Now note the possibility of supply. Only a small proportion of those sections with climate sufficiently mild to grow the orange can ever be made available. The long, dry seasons of California prevent the possibility of growing this fruit in that State except by irrigation, while the estimated yield per tree is only six hundred oranges. In 9 Louisiana the possible area is but small. In Florida the climatic con- ditions are more favorable, but the laud and location suitable are not one hundredth part of the State. Another fact lessens the possibility of yield. Orange culture belongs to the class of skilled labor. Hun- dreds engaged in the business will fail, because success requires intelli- gence, application, patience and skill. Hundreds have already failed from one or all of these causes, and have left the State, never dream- ing that they alone are to be blamed for their failure. Men in the very communities thus abandoned have succeeded because they were more prudent in the selection of soil and location, and used their intelligence and the intelligence of others and persevered in the face of partial failure brought about by ignorance. But those men who failed took no advice except that of the land owner who offered to sell land cheaper than any one else. They read nothing that had been written by men who had succeeded. They took no warning of those who had failed. Stilted on their castle of self conceit they stood, nor deigned to look down to the humble but prudent laborer for advice, till their castle fell and they left the State imagining that the "Sand of Florida" had proven an unstable foundation and overthrown them and their castle. Such instances will repeat themselves. Whoever may succeed, such men will fail. Whatever may be written and wisely written on the subject, and however published, whether in book or journal, will not be read by them. But while the above facts will lessen the general yield of oranges, it will make the business vastly more profitable to the men who possess the virtues necessary to success. The orange will pay beyond any other fruit at half a cent an orange on the tree. In Europe, where lands are exceedingly high, a grove is considered a most profitable investment even when the fruit sells from two dollars to four dollars per thousand. Ten years ago the Florida orange was considered well sold when the grower could get one cent on the tree. Few now sell for less than., one and a half cent, and some average at their groves as high as four cents per orange, and the price *till advances. In no business can a young man with pluck, intelligence and application, so certainly lay the foundation for a competency and fortune as in orange growing in Florida. With the exercise of these he may in ten years be what the country could call a rich man. 10 A young man from Middle Florida borrowed money enough from his father to buy a piece of laud. After paying for his land, located a few miles above Palatka, he landed in Palatka with three dollars m his pocket. These he paid for provisions and went to work growing vegetables on about an acre and a half of cleared land. Six years afterward he sold his place for twelve thousand dollars cash, without owing a cent for anything. Many instances could be given of young- men, as well as old men, who have done as well, and of some who have done still better. Young men have frequently written to the author to aid in securing for them a clerkship. His advice has been invariably given "Go to work raising fruit in Florida and be indepen- dent and have a home." 11 CHAPTER II. OF THE SEVERAL METHODS OF PLANTING ORANGE GROVES The question is frequently asked, " Which is the best?" The several methods are, 1st, the budding of the wild sour trees without moving them ; 2d, .budding them first and planting afterwards in some suitable location; 3d, planting the sour stumps and budding afterwards ; 4th, growing the trees from sweet seed without budding; 5th, planting the sweet seedling and budding either before or after removal from nurs- ery ; 6th, budding on sour seedlings either before or after removal from nursery, and 7th, a grove of sweet seedlings. Each of these plans has some advantage over the others. They all have advocates; but which of all has the greatest number of advantages, is questionable. I have tried them all, but, after stating the advantages of each, must leave to the grower to select for himself as circumstances and inclination may control. If one is impatient for return, let him choose the sour grove, if he can find it, and bud the trees where they stand. With proper man- agement he may begin to gather in two years. If he is still impatient but cannot find a sour grove, let him buy the sour stumps, plant them in some suitable location, and he may begin to gather fruit in three years from planting. But if he can wait awhile longer for fruit with the hope of getting a longer lived tree and more abundant yield, let him plant younger trees, either seedlings or budded stock. If he wishes an early bearer and comparatively smaller tree, he can select the sour seedling budded. If a larger but later bearer, he can select the sweet seedling budded. If he wishes an abundant yield and the largest trees, and can wait a longer time, the sweet seedling, uiibudded r will suit. With good treatment such trees will begin to yield in eight years, and, after a longer time, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, give him a fair quality of fruit; but perhaps he will have as many varieties or sub-varieties as trees in his grove. The sour stock for a few years grows more rapidly, but will finally make a smaller tree than the sweet. The best quality of fruit can be insured only by bud-J ding from the best varieties. 12 CHAPTER III. THE WILD ORANGE GROVE BUDDED Yields so readily under so simple treatment that we shall consider it at once. Of course nature has already determined the location, and in many instances the location has been wisely chosen, not only with reference to best protection from frost, but also in many instances with reference to cheap and easy transportation, on the banks of navigable rivers and creeks. Wherever a wild grove can be found so located the purchaser can afford to pay a liberal price if he has to buy, or the owner can afford to improve by the most approved methods. Many, however, have been the blunders made in attempts to improve such valuable property. I know of many groves greatly damaged, and some completely sacrificed by bad management. The two mistakes most frequently made, in the treatment of such groves, are, first, the reckless destruction of the forest trees furnished by nature for the protection of the orange, and second, the continued pulling off the young shoots from the stumps cut off for the purpose of budding. The first and second buds having failed, the cultivator continues to reduce the vitality of the tree by pulling off the young shoots, until at last the sap, for want of elaboration through the leaf, becomes diseased, and the tree, tenacious of life as it is, dies of the double cause of exhaustion and disease. It may be well to caution the orange grower at once against the commission or repetition of thi& frequent blunder. Few of our forest trees will survive being cut down to a stump, still fewer will survive if the young shoots are kept down for a few months. Every time the young shoots are pulled oft; the young rootlets, corresponding to and starting at the same instant with the shoots, die, and the effort of nature to restore vitality is checked and weakened until the hardiest tree is soon killed. In bud- ding old stumps I have found it of great advantage to allow a few shoots to grow along the trunk, below the bud, pinching back these shoots, allowing a few leaves on each shoot to grow to full size and so furnishing the tree with healthy sap, encourage the development and maturity of new wood and new roots and keep up an active circulation. . 13 Continue this until the sweet bud has so far advanced as to be able to furnish the tree with sufficient leaf to enable it to collect sufficient carbon from the atmosphere to insure the health of the tree. After this point has been reached you may then pluck off all the sour shoots and keep them off. In some instances where a sweet bud has made an early start, a more vigorous growth of the sweet bud may be obtained by plucking off all the sour shoots from the first, but this is at the risk of the health of both the stock and the bud. I will mention one other thing in this connection : do not allow the sweet bud to grow too long before pinching it back. If allowed to grow two or three feet, as it will from a very vigorous stump, it is liable to be broken off by the wind. But even if it should be securely tied so as to prevent such an accident it should, nevertheless, be pinched back in order to hasten the maturity of its own wood and leaves. The mature leaves are neces- sary to the health of both stock and bud, and necessary to gain a controlling influence over the circulation, and to draw it as early as possible to the sweet bud. By this means also the mature wood of the sweet bud is better enabled to resist the blighting influence of both sun and frost. Still another advantage is gained. By pinching back the bud it is induced to branch near its junction with the stock and so enlarge and strengthen its connection with the stock. I again call the attention of the reader to the other mistake men- tioned in the beginnig of this chapter and so frequently made by those who have undertaken to improve wild groves. Nature has not only planted these groves, found above the frost line, on the south side of bodies of water, but has also taken the additional precaution to plant them under the protection of forest trees. Thus, doubly guarded, these orange trees have grown, some of them probably for a century As the cold winds from the north-west have swept down upon them, the frost has been tempered by passing over a body of water of higher temperature than the winds. The spreading branches of forest trees, hanging like canopies, have checked the radiation of heat passing from the surface of the earth, and enclosed the orange grove in a vapor bath. And even if the tempest has been too strong and cold, and swept away the warm air blanket thrown by nature over the tender orange shoot, and the cold has frozen the sap until the tender woody 14 tissues have been ruptured, still the forest trees have stood like foster mothers to keep off the rays of the morning sun till these ruptured tissue and sap vessels could be healed by the efforts of nature. The mother, who has suddenly plunged the body of her scalded child into a bath of flour or oil to save the child from suffering and death, has not shown a tenderer care than have the forest trees extended for scores of years over their charges. And yet the first thing done by many of us who wished to improve our wild groves was to cut down these natural protectors to a tree. The wonder is, not that so many of these wild groves have been destroyed, but that any have been saved with such abuse. But we will not now discuss the advantages of partial forest pro- tection. The subject is of too much importance to be dismissed by a single paragraph. We will consider this subject in a separate chapter further along. I have thus early noticed this subject lest the reader may do what I and hundreds of others have done, dextroy these mag- nificent wild groves when attempting to improve them. Before beginning to bud a wild orange grove first cut down all the under brush, and then the smaller forest trees. This rubbish can be removed or burned and the ashes used as fertilizer of the orange trees, spreading a liberal quantity around the trunks to keep off the "wood lice" white ant which frequently attack trees where there is much rubbish left on the ground. Or if lime can be had, sprinkle this around the trunks and let the rubbish rot on the ground. The decayed brush will add greatly to the fertility of the soil and will soon be out of the way. It would add, however, greatly to the ease with which you accomplish your work to come after to take all this rubbish out of the way. The ground cleared of under brush and small trees, pass through and select at suitable intervals the forest trees you wish to remain. Select a plenty of these trees and mark them so that they will not be cut down. If afterward they are found standing too thickly on the ground some of them can be felled. If felled too hastily fifty years cannot restore them. The number of these trees which are to remain is to be determined by circumstances. If the place is well protected by water, fewer trees will answer. But be certain to leave enough 15 trees to break off the morning sun after a frost, as it is the sudden thawing more than the freeze which kills the trees. Trees intended for shelter should be of habits the opposite of those of the orange. You wish the orange to have low spreading branches. Select as their pro- tectors trees so tall that their lower branches will not interfere with the foliage of the orange. The orange tree sends most of its roots near the surface of the ground. Select as their protectors trees that send their roots deep. I have noticed several varieties of live oak in the State. Only one of these is in the habit of sending its roots deep into the soil. Whenever I have found this variety growing I could plant the orange close to its trunk without damage to the orange. The persimon has this habit of deep feeding, but unfortunately it drops its foliage in the Winter. The pine has this habit only when grown in a well drained soil. There are some individual trees whose habits are an exception to the general habits of the variety. These can soon be discovered by the use of the spade or hoe. But if trees without surface feeders cannot be found, then select trees with other desirable qualities and cut the surface roots by a trench ten or twelve inches deep a few feet from and around the base. After those trees have been selected and marked which you wish to remain, you can now cut next such trees as can be felled without damage to the standing orang'e trees. The work thns far should be done during the Fa 11 or Winter, so as to be ready for the Spring and Summer work which is to follow. In early Spring, before the new growth of the orange has started, begin to saw off the limbs, if they branch near the ground, of the orange trees, taking off all the top. If the trunks are long, cut off the tree, leaving about two and a half feet of stump. Immediately ^follow- ing, fell the balance of the forest trees that are to be cut. So soon as the sap begins to flow freely and the bark break by the springing of new shoots, insert sweet "sprig" buds, ranging from the top to six inches below the top of the stump, inserting four or more buds to the tree. I have sometimes hastened the development of the bud by inserting the bud before cutting off the top, if the sap was flow- ing freely, and so soon as the bud was known to be living then cutting oft" the top. But this has been with trees standing apart from others. Where they stand thickly, as is generally the case in the wild grove, 16 the felling of the tops usually knocks out, or so disturbs the bud as to cause it to die. As the young sour shoots start rub off all above and in the imme- diate vicinity of the buds. Allow a few shoots to remain along the trunk, but pinch them back after growing a few inches. Be careful to allow none to reach higher than the bud, as the tendency of the sap is to flow in greatest abundance to the highest point. I have already mentioned some advantages to be derived from first allowing sour shoots to grow and then pinching them back. I mention one other advantage. This method soon furnishes new and mature wood on which tq bud if the first buds fail. After the sweet buds have grown ten or twelve inches pinch back, simply taking out the terminal bud. So soon as the buds have started if airly a second growth, you may begin to lessen the quantity of the sour shoots below, until you can safely risk the tree's health with the foliage furnished by the sweet bud. You may have to occasionally pinch back the sweet bud. It is safest to hold it in such check as will hasten to maturity of wood and thickness rather than length of branches. 17 CHAPTER IV. GROVES FROM TRANSPLANTED SOUR STUMPS. The next most expeditious way of getting a sweet grove is from transplanted stumps of sour trees. It is sometimes the case that per- sons improving wild groves, having budded all the trees and finding them too thickly set on the ground, will sell those budded stumps at a fair price. When this is the case a grove can be brought into bearing in a short time. I have frequently had such trees to fruit the same year of planting. But this has been the case only where they have been 'taken up with great care, with abundance of root and removed but a short distance. But even where this early fruiting can be secured the policy is doubtful. The tree should not be taxed with efforts to bear fruit so early after its removal and in its enfeebled con- dition. It requires much greater effort on the part of the tree to bear fruit than to produce new wood. One of these budded sour stumps of medium size, carefully taken up with good roots and carefully culti- vated, will begin the second year to bear considerable fruit, if it has not been allowed to fruit the year of planting. The third year such a tree will begin to pay a good interest on the investment of purchase- money. There are some objections to a grove of this kind. These trees from old stumps never grow to be so large as the unbudded seedlings, nor bear so abundantly. They are believed, also, to be much shorter lived. European writers tell us such is the case, but I do not believe that our experience in Florida has been of sufficient length to test the age to which one of these trees will live and bear fruit. One other objection I will mention. It is generally believed that it is hard to make the old stumps live. The sad experience of those of us, who, a few years ago, bought such stumps by the hundred and had them die almost as fast as they were set, has made this kind of business very unpopular. But I am persuaded that most of this disaster can be attributed to ignorance and carelessness. I am satisfied now that if I had handled sw r eet seedlings, as I and every one else then handled sour stumps, the sweet seedlings would have died almost as badly. There 18 is 110 doubt that the younger the tree the less risk there is in removing it, But the early return to be gathered from these sour stumps, bud- ded either before or after removal, will justify the risk in planting a few in every new grove, and if the stumps can be bought at a fair price and are near at hand, so as not to be damaged in transporting them, the grower would do well to plant them liberally. In trans- planting sour stumps too much care can not be exercised. Many of the wild groves are found in low wet laud. The tap- root is small and the laterals near the surface, while reaching a consid- erable distance, have few or no fibrous roots near the base of the tree. They have also been accustomed to an abundance of shade and mois- ture. One must see at once that new and entirely different habits must be formed by such trees transplanted into a dryer soil and with less shade and moisture. These new habits have to be formed at a time whenthe tree is least able to bear the change. It is better to select trees grown in a dryer soil. I have, however, succeeded in transplant- ing trees from a swamp, at the time of taking them up, flooded with water. Some such are now healthy and tine bearers. In taking up large sour trees have at hand a sharp axe, a sharp narrow bladed saw and two sharp spades prepared especially for such work. The spades should be made to order, narrower than usual, with handle and jaws sufficiently stout to be used in prying. With such tools the work will be greatly expedited and done much more satisfac- torily. The time saved in one day's work with such tools will pay for their cost. If ready to begin, saw off the top, leaving a stump five or six feet high to be used as a lever for bending the tree out of its bed. Now drive down the spade cutting the roots in a circle two feet and a half from the base or trunk. Shake the tree to see if all the lateral roots have been cut. If not it will be necessary to cut a trench the width of the spade to enable you to cut deeper. In making the second cut, incline the point of the spade towards the tap-root. Next cut the tap- root two feet and a half from the surface and lift the stump from its bed. Place the stumps at once in the shade and wrap them well with wet, green moss. Protect as far as possible from the sun and drying winds. After taking a stump from the soil plant it in position as soon 19 as possible. One great cause of failure has arisen from keeping them out of the ground too long and allowing the roots to be exposed to wind and sun. In setting have the holes freshly dug. Do not allow the soil to dry before it is replaced around the roots. Dig the holes, for resetting, live feet wide and ten or twelve inches deep. If the holes are dug too deep it is almost impossible to keep the tree from sinking too deep in its position, as the the fresh soil settles. In the center of the hole dig a deeper hole the width of the spade for the tap-root. With a sharp knife, and where the roots are too large for the knife, with a sharp saw with fine teeth, cut away all fractures and bruises from the ends of roots. So set the tree that it will stand, after the soil has been settled by showers, a little higher than it stood in its original bed. It had better be higher by two inches than lower by one inch than it origi- nally grew, You cannot be too cautious at this point. If the tree is set too deep, it may live 1 , but it will not flourish for some time. It may be not for years, but certainly not till it has sent out fresh surface roots to take the place of those which have been smothered by having been buried too deeply. The tree having been put in position, replace the soil, packing it first firmly around the tap-root. Now press down the ends of the laterals so that they will have a slight dip and fill in with soil, treading it firmly upon the roots. Finally cover over with two inches of light soil and leave the ground level. When the ground is sufficiently wet it is not necessary to use water. But if the ground is dry use enough water to settle the soil firmly around the roots, and especially around the tap-root, but do not wet the top layer of earth. I prefer planting after showers to using water. If the planting is done in Spring or Summer mulch at once with one or two inches of litter, and if the trees have been set in the open ground shelter them from the sun by setting a pine bough to the south of the tree. If the stumps have been taken from a dry soil the above is sufficient to insure their living, but if taken from a very wet soil, be careful to keep the ground moist till the new roots have well started and penetrated well into the soil. The stump should be cut off two and a half feet high. If the stumps have been budded and the buds have grown to considerable length, cut them back, leaving here and there a few leaves to direct 20 the current of the sap into the sweet wood. If the stumps have not been budded, so soon as the bark begins to break with new shoots and separate freely from the wood, insert three or four sprig buds near the top and treat the tree as directed in budding the natural grove. Fer- tilizers should not be added till the tree has well started. 21 CHAPTER V. PLANTING THE ORANGE SEED. In selecting seed for the nursery, if you intend budding the young trees, you need not be careful as to the quality of fruit from which the seed is taken. The plant from the sour seed, as already stated will, for Si few years, grow more rapidly but make a smaller tree than the plant from the sweet fruit. If you desire to grow your trees without budding select only from the best fruit, and from trees not grown in the vicinity of any trees bearing sour or indifferent fruit. All the varieties and even species of the citrus family mix very readily, and if grown in close proximity seeds from the same tree will give an endless variety of fruits, the ten- dency however being towards the kind produced by the tree from which the fruit is plucked, as the pistils are more apt to be fertilized by pollen from flowers near at hand. If sour seed are to be planted the fruit may be thrown into piles till rotted and the seed washed out from the pulp. But whatever kind is used do not allow the seed to dry. Put them at once into moist sand, to be kept till ready for planting. The seeds may be planted either in boxes or in the open ground or under glass as quantity or other circumstances may suggest. If iruit is eaten in the early winter the seed may at once be planted in boxes and the boxes set in some warm place indoors and the plants be so far advanced as to be ready to set in the nursery early in the Spring. In preparing beds or boxes for seed have the bottom soil covered two or three inches deep with fresh leaf mold from the hummock. Place the seeds about one inch apart and cover with half an inch of soil leaf mold. Finish by a covering of one inch of mulching and .thorough watering. Keep the soil moist, but not wet. If the seed bed is in the open ground it is well to hold the mulching in place by laying a few brush on the bed. I have sometimes succeeded very well by allowing the seed to remain in a box of sand till they have started to sprout and then plant- ing them directly in the nursery. In this case select a place partially 22 sheltered by forest trees. Prepare the soil thoroughly for ten or twelve inches deep. Open the rows four feet apart and eight inches deep. Fill to within two inches of the top with well rotted muck, drop the seed three inches apart and cover with one and a half inches of soil. In selecting a position for the nursery, if your place is well pro* tected by water on the cold points, you may risk your nursery in the open field. But if you are not satisfied about the protection select a position sheltered from the morning sun to prevent the too sudden thawing after a frost. I would prefer shade on the south as well, a? the sun sometimes breaks out suddenly during a cold snap about noon. Under such circumstances I have known serious damage done to young plants. A still better plan is to clear away a half or a quarter of an acre of ground in the midst of a tall forest. Around this half acre or quarter acre sink a ditch two feet deep in order to cut the surface roots of the forest trees. Plow or spade the land deep. Open the rows four feet apart and eight or ten inches deep, fill them with good muck or leaf mold clear of such litter as would attract wood lice. Over this muck place an inch or two of soil to keep the muck moist. A dressing of ashes or slacked lime will be of advantage, especially if the muck has not been previously well rotted in heaps. Your land can now stand till the trees are ready to be taken from the seed bed. Some prefer putting the muck, or whatever fertilizer used, broadcast over the land. But my reason for advising the muck to be put in drills is that if well rotted it will not heat, but will serve to keep the roots of the young plant in a compact body. A great deal is saved by this means when you come to transplant to the grove, the roots having grown in a compact body very little will be lost by root pruning. And where the distance from the nursery to the grove is short, and the transplanting is done when the ground is wet, the entire ball of muck may be taken along with and adhering to the roots and the tree hardly feel the shock of the removal. When the young plants in the seed beds are a few inches high and have four or five leaves, they may be transplanted to the nursery. In taking them up cut off the ends of the tap-roots so that they will not be apt to double up in setting them. The setting is better done in rainy weather. The ground should be thoroughly wet in order to insure a good result. 23 The rows can now be opened four or five inches deep and the young plants dropped at a distance of six inches apart. Let a hand follow and before the roots have time to dry set them in an upright position, carefully spreading out the roots and packing the soil around them. Be careful not to set the plants deeper than they grew in the seed beds. When a row or two have been set level off the ground with a rake, leaving the sandy soil on the surface and not the muck, as the latter hardens under the influence of the sun. If a shower does not follow soon it is well to water, in order to settle the earth well around the roots. If the sun is hot a little shade for a few weeks would be bene- ficial. Pine boughs can be laid over the ground, or palmetto leaves stuck along the rows. The nursery should be thoroughly worked and kept> clear of weeds and grass and the soil frequently stirred for the depth of two inches. 24 CHAPTER VI. BUDDING. Where it is the purpose of the orange grower to bud his trees it is better that the budding should be done before the trees are taken from the nursery. The reasons are, 1st, the sooner in the life of the tree the budding is done the sooner and more thoroughly the healing of the wounds ; 2d, the budding is done with greater ease and rapidity in the nursery than in the grove; 3d, in transplanting trees of considerable size it is impossible to take up all the roots, and, as it is necessary that the top should not exceed in proportion the roots in transplanting trees, it is beneficial to cut back the top considerably. If the bud- ding has been done but a few months before transplanting the wounds will have healed and the proportion between the roots and top will have become about right for transplanting without the necessity of inflicting new wounds upon the branches at a time when the tree is in its most delicate condition. A good time to begin to bud is when the trees in the nursery are one year old. By budding every alternate tree the budded trees can be set the following season, leaving greater space for larger growth ofj the trees left in the nursery. Those remaining can be budded when two years old and set the season following. Where trees are to be bought from the nurseryman it is preferable to plant trees older than one or two years, as older trees come into bearing sooner. But where persons are growing their own stock the sooner they are set, after the first year, in position, the more rapidly they will grow, if the trees are properly cultivated. In budding nursery stock, but one plan, that of inserting a single bud, is practiced. The graft has not done well. Grafted trees will live, but they do not grow so thriftily as the budded tree. Grafting is sometimes resorted to when one wishes to preserve a new variety and he has obtained a cutting of this new variety in Winter when the sap is not in condition for budding. Sprig budding is not resorted to for nursery stock, as the stem is usually too small to admit the sprig. Do not attempt to bud except when the sap is flowing freely, so freely that 25 the bud will readily lift the bark as you push it downward into its position. The stock to be budded should be trimmed so as to have as few as possible branches or leaves in the way of the operator. The trimming should be done several days beforehand so that the wounds may be in a healing condition and the flow of sap not checked by too much cutting at the time of budding. The budding knife should be sharp that it will (nit through the hard wood of the bud without split- ting the fiber of the wood or bark. Select buds from healthy and vigorous trees of the variety to be propagated. They should not be too old or they will be slow in start- ing, nor too young lest they perish. The wood from which they are taken should be nearly mature, between the angular and the, round. Select buds with well developed eyes. It is sometimes the case that insects have eaten out the eyes. It is useless to put in such buds. In cutting the bud from the branch do not hold the blade of the knife at right angles with the branch, as in such a position it is likely to slip in and out following the grain of the wood and so giving an uneven surface to the face of the bud. The face of the bud should be so level and straight that when it is pushed into its position the cut surface should at all points touch the wood of the stock and so exclude the air. To prevent this irregularity of surface hold the blade of the knife firmly in the hand and almost parallel with the branch from which the bud is being cut. In cutting draw the knife to you as the cut will be smoother by this method than if the bud were severed from the branch by simply pressing the blade through the wood. The knife should be inserted half an inch above the bud and come out a half or three quar- ters of an inch below. It is better to insert the bud on the north side of the stock. The incision in the stock should be made with a down- ward cut and about three fourths of an inch long. At the top of this incision make a cross incision, each time only cutting through the bark. With the point of the knife, turning the back of the blade to the wood, so as not to dull the blade, raise the bark at the top of, k and on either side of the first incision so as to enable you to insert and push down the bud. If the sap is flowing freely the bud in its downward motion will easily l^ft the bark and as it takes its position exclude the air from beneath it and the wood 26 of the stock. After the bud has been pushed partly down with the fingers, place the blade of the knife one-fourth of an inch above the eye of the bud and perpendicular to the line of the first incis- ion, press the knife through the bark of the bud and by a down- ward motion force the bud down till the knife comes directly over the second incision. Tie in the bud with strips of cloth a quarter or a half inch wide, or, what is better, with strings of woolen yarn, as it elasticity will not allow the strangling of the bud so soon. In tying do not bring the cloth or string in contact with the eye of the bud. So wrap as to hold the bud firmly in its place and to exclude the rain if any should fall soon after budding. Revisit the buds 8 or 10 days after they have been inserted. If they are living take the wrapping from that part of the bud below the eye. The wrapping above the eye may be loosened but it should not be taken off so soon. Where the bud is living cut off the stock three or four inches above. As the bud grows it should be tied to this upper section of the stock for sup- port. After the bud has started on its second growth, if the stock is small, it should now be cut off just above the bud, if larger a longer time should be allowed before cutting off the stock close to the bud. Before leaving this subject attention is called to the importance of having the top of the bud fit neatly against the bark above. The law governing the growth of trees is this : the sap passing upward through the pores of the sap wood is elaborated through the leaf. It is only after the new sap has entered the leaf and absorbed carbon from the atmosphere that it is ready to make new wood. The sap having secured its carbon descends the tree mainly between the bark and the wood. As it descends evaporation is carried on through the pores of the bark, and the thickened sap makes a deposit along the line of its descent and around the trunk of the tree just under the bark. This thickened sap presently hardens into wood. It is this fact, that new wood is generally formed by this downward flow of sap, which makes it so important that the top of the bud should come in close contact with the upper bark. Placed thus it is put in contact with, and in the way of the direct current of life. Placed otherwise its hope of life is dependent upon lateral circulation or absorption. 27 CHAPTER VII. IN SELECTING A LOCATION FOR AN ORANGE GROVE Special reference should be had to Drainage, Soil, Water Protection, Forest Protection, Proximity to Fertilizers and Facilities for Trans- portation. The soil for a grove should be thoroughly drained either naturally or artificially. Not only should the surface water be carried off 1 , but the drainage should be so deep as to allow roots, and especially the tap-root, to penetrate for several feet: Some think that less than ten feet is not sufficient. But there are in this State groves of fine old trees and good bearers with considerable less than ten feet of drained soil. The sour stock will flourish on a much wetter soil than the sweet. And it may be that these groves that have long done well in such localities are sour stocks budded. Where choice of location can be made, and especially if sweet stocks are to be planted, select a soil well drained by nature. Art and labor can accomplish a great deal, but it costs something and the effect is not so permanent as when nature has done the work. If no positive evil arise from a wet subsoil in close proximity to the surface, still there are reasons why a deep, dry, or moist soil is better. While it is true that the principal feeders of -the orange lie near the surface, yet whoever will take the pains to examine the roots of an old orange tree grown in a deep and well drained sub- soil will find that these roots have penetrated for many feet deep into the earth and in all directions from the tree. Now if trees have been set twenty feet apart in the grove and the soil is drained but one foot deep the roots of each tree have but four hundred cubic feet of soil in which to feed 20x20400. But if the soil has been drained to the depth of ten feet, then the feeding ground for the roots has been in- creased ten fold and instead of four hundred cubic feet of soil in w r hich to feed the tree has four thousand cubic feet 20x20x10=4000. This advantage is more especially to be considered where the subsoil is sandy, as in such a soil air and other nutriment for the roots penetrate to a greater depth. But there are some of these wet soils found in our State that are positively poisonous to the orange, as they contain a large per-centum of salt chloride of sodium. Such is the N case 28 with soils underlaid with "hard pan," a stratum, seemingly of dark sandstone, underlying, and generally but a few feet from the surface, many sections of our State. Analysis will likely show this "hard pan" to be a concrete of sand, iron and salt. The best surface indication of the presence of "hard pan" is an abundance of saw palmetto with an abundance of roots above the surface. The palmetto feeds largely upon salt, its roots containing an unusually large per-cent. But " what is fun" and life to the palmetto is death to the orange, as well as to the pockets of hundreds of those who have attempted in vain to grow oranges on lands underlaid with "hard pan." If your land has on it an abundance of saw palmetto with roots on the surface do not select that location for an orange grove until you have dug a few feet below the surface in search of "hard pan." If you wish to ascertain the in squares. in diamond. 15x15 164 180 18x18 114 125 20x20 90 99 21x21 81 89 25x25 53 58 30x30... . 36... . 39 m CHAPTER XL CULTIVATION. The orange will live with almost no cultivation, but it will only be a sickly existence. I know no plant, shrub or tree, that will pay better for good cultivation ; none, that will respond so certainly to thorough cultivation. The ground in the grove should be kept level; the surface light As far as the roots have extended the surface should not be stirred deeper than three inches. The more frequently it is stirred the better. Beyond the reach of the roots it is well to cultivate deep and frequently, but as the roots extend themselves this area of deep cultivation should be lessened. After the roots have extended themselves well over the ground, the best plow to be used is the sweep. A single thirty-two inch sweep, or a gang plow, the middle or front plow twenty-two inches wide, and the two side plows, fourteen inches each, does excellent work. It is better than the turning plow or cultivator. The sweep is much more uniform in the depth of its cutting than either. It is much more rapid in its work than the single plow. It is more apt to cut off the weeds below the surface and destroy them, than the cultivator. With such an implement, u grove free from stumps and litter is easily and cheaply kept in fine condition. While the orange trees are young, it is of advantage to keep the ground planted in garden crops peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, any- thing that requires frequent work and will mature within a few weeks, partially shading the ground. Of course nothing should be taken from the ground without making adequate return in the form of manures. Suitable fertilizers will be noticed in a separate chapter. Where the trees are planted far apart and ten or twelve years will elapse before the ground will be all occupied by the orange, grapes and peaches will do well and prove profitable, provided the soil is well ("rained. At no time should the roots of grass and weeds be allowed to mat themselves on land growing the orange. Not only will they draw heavily upon the soil while they are growing, but when turned over the 40 turf and matted roots will necessarily leave the surface very irregular, causing the ground to dry rapidly under the influence of sun and wind. Some have advised cultivation to cease during August and September, alleging it to be better to allow the weeds and grass to grow after these months in order to check the full growth, and so allow the wood of the orange to harden as to resist the influence of frost during the winter. But the writer has experimented extensively and expensively consider- ing results with the above policy, and where others were pursuing the same policy, he has advised them to try clean culture or garden crops on a part of the grove, and in every instance where the laud has been kept thoroughly cultivated the trees have doubled, in size and thrift, those allowed to be left to the mercy of the weeds and grass. Another result should be considered in this connection. Where grass and weeds are allowed to grow in the grove they are generally killed by the frost during the Fall or Winter. In this condition they absorb and part with moisture very readily, absorbiug moisture when the atmosphere is warmer than the ground, and yielding it up when the atmosphere is cooler than the ground or the wind is blowing. But to part with moisture is to part with heat and increase the cold. In some sections of Europe, before the invention of ice machines, consid- erable ice was collected stored away and where the general tempara- ture was only 40. The freezing was induced by simply covering over lightly, and surrounding the ice ponds with wet straw. The wind passing through the wet straw took up from the exposed and larger surface of the straw its moisture together with its heat, and left the water to freeze. To leave any dry straw, weeds or litter on the ground during the winter, only intensifies the cold and invites the frost. The writer knows of several beautiful groves that were entirely frozen down from this cause, while others in the immediate vicinity were unhurt. Mulching during the winter has a similar effect. In this immediate neighborhood an old and beautiful orange tree was heavily mulched during winter. It was the only tree hurt by the frost in the grove that was hurt very badly, taking two or three years to recover. While the trees are young keep the grove clear of grass and weeds, Summer and Winter. If you mulch during the Summer, bury the mulching as the Winter approaches ; dig holes and bury the litter. 41 In cultivating the grove with the plow there is a constant tendency of the soil to pile up around the trunk of the tree. This should be watched, and if the crown of the lateral surface roots is a half inch below the surface, from this or from deep planting, the soil should be drawn from around the trunk till the upper sides of these roots are brought to the top of the ground. If the upper parts of these roots are left bare, for one or two inches, where trees are five or six years old, and for a greater distance where the trees are older, these roots develop very rapidly and not only furnish stout braces to the trunk, but great arteries for conveying life and food from the soil. This point is so little understood and attended to by many cultivators, that it may be well to state further. This development of the crown roots is nature's plan when it is not interfered with. Whoever will visit and examine a natural forest, whether of orange or other trees, will find the top of the crown roots from one to several inches above the ground and running in many instances, as great braces, well up the trunk of the tree. This development of the crown, is slow at first, but increases in proportion as the upper surface of the roots lift themselves above the surface of the ground. This development can be hastened by taking away the earth from above the roots for a short distance from the tree, as mentioned above. The principle is the same as that adopted for the development of the bulb of the onion by taking the earth from around it. The root of the plant, being more porous than the stem, parts more readily with its moisture at the point where it is exposed, and hence the thickened sap lodges more readily at that point, and so hardens into wood and increases the growth. As the upward circulation passes only through the new or sap wood, this enlarged base furnishes, at the very seat of life and strength, new and increased capacity to the tree. 42 CHAPTER XII. FKUN1NG Is universally adopted by nature. In the forest all the branches of the little oaks and pines are near the ground. But as the trees grov- these lower branches die and drop off. A few years later we behold thousands of graceful, well trimmed trunks. Where the oak grows uj? in the open field its method is to prune the inner branches and extend the surface, giving, what fruit growers call, an open head. The grape vine prunes itself. Where its branches are thickest the tendril-, first strangle and then cut off some of the excessive branches. It i- the Divine plan. " I am the true vine and my father is the husband- man. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he cutlet h away; and every branch that beareth fruit he pruneth it that it may bear more fruit." Wise is the man who will follow such teaching. Happy is the man who has a taste for such a work and can take u\i the vocation first taught man when " the Lord God put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it;" especially where he cai. dress a garden of this golden fruit a relict of Eden that is "plea-- ant to the sight and good for food." It may be said "if nature prunes at all let her do it all." Ye* and it may be said, " If nature plants and grows the corn at all why should I take the trouble to plant and cultivate?" But such a ma:. will reap little more than the harvest of his folly and indolence. Nature makes suggestions, but does not propose to do all the work where man'.', interest is especially concerned. Even before thorns and briar.- haii sprung up, it was man's duty, and to his interest to " dress -the garden" so perfectly planted. Again, where nature prunes, knots and dead wood often become the starting points for extensive decay. But where a living bauch is cut off, with a sharp knife, from a vigorous tree the \vound soon heals over, leaving no scar nor injury. The writer has practiced on a grove of about 4,000 trees all the methods of pruning, and not pruning, to satisfy himself as to the best method. Nor has has he spared himself the trouble of visiting many of the best groves in the State, watching the operations, of others, 43 and questioning them closely as to their practice and the results. He will not trouble the reader with the many theories advanced, much less with discussing them. A feAv essential points are all that is necessary to be attended to. In pruning, the sharper the knife or saw, the better. Let the cut be clean and smooth. When the knife is used it is better to cut -up than down ; as the downward cut is apt to split the wood and peal off' the bark. Do the principal pruning in the Spring. By all mean- avoid Fall or Winter pruning, as it is apt to start new wood at a time when it is most exposed to damage from frost Cut oft* all dead wood, and up to, or a little into the living wood. Thereby the wound heals more readily. As a general rule cut off all diseased branches; especially if they have become so far diseased as to fail to develop healthy leaves. Do not trim up the trunk too high. Encourage the lower branches to extend themselves well around the trunk and far over the surface of the ground. If they do not touch the ground they are not too low. As the tree grows these branches will continue to. droop nearer the ground until the lowest may have to be cut off after awhile ; but this late cutting off is much better than to have the trunk exposed either to sun or cold. Give and keep an open head to the tree. To do this, select the most vigorous lateral branches, leaving some on all sides of the tree so as to obtain a head as uniformly balanced as possible. After cutting off the other branches close to the trunk, trim up these selected branches almost to a point leaving only a few of the terminal, smaller branches. When this is done, the tree will look like a skele- ton and you will likely conclude you have used the knife too freely. But if this pruning has been done in the Spring and you keep the "water" shoots pulled off the trunk, and cultivate well, you will find the trunk by Winter enclosed by a beautiful head with a dense wall of foliage on the outside. The next Spring trim these laterals in a simi- lar manner, allowing the first laterals to rebranch a little distance from the trunk so as to be able to fill up the larger area by FalL Continue this method till your tree is large enough to bear its fir.-t crop. You can then slacken your pruning so as to encourage the fruiting*. 44 There are several advantages arising from judicious pruning. Whenever a branch dies, it not only ceases to benefit the tree, but becomes a drain on its sap and vitality, as an ulcer to the human body. The same is true, to some extent, with a diseased branch. Moreover, as a branch begins to die, its fermenting sap is slowly taken up into the general circulation, and so the disease extends itself some- times to the entire tree, unless it be cut off below the sound wood. This is especially the case when the frost has partially killed the young wood. The writer has known quite vigorous trees to be killed, not only to the ground, but entirely, by neglect at this point. The open head not only gives room for the free circulation of air through the branches, but also enables the gardener to watch the trunk and larger branches and remove from them insects that might prove damaging. Another advantage arising from the open head is, it causes the lower branches to extend themselves far out from the trunk, and so gives a greater bearing capacity to the tree. Trees in the grove of the writer pruned after this plan have doubled within two years, in their surface area, others standing by their side with the same treatment, except that the latter were not pruned. 45 CHAPTER XIII. FERTILIZING Has never been sufficiently appreciated in the South. Her broad acres have always tempted to planting too much laud and using too little manure. Somehow when Northern men come South they, too, yield to the temptation and fall into the Southern fashion. And yet no soil responds more readily to the influence of manure than our warm South- ern soil. The manure put by Peter Henderson on a single acre would be deemed by some Southern farmers ample for the broad fields of cotton stretching around his decaying mansion. A few men are wiser ; they have ceased to fell the forest for more land and are contracting the planted area of the old land. They are endeavoring to increase their crops by manuring. Such men have succeeded and are still succeeding. Some I know have grown rich by such a policy. No crop feeds more ravenously than the orange, and none will convert so large amount of suitable fertilizers into fruit so profitably. Much of our Florida land will produce and sustain fine trees for a few years without the aid of manure ; but after some years of fruiting the leaves will begin to turn yellow. and the fruit to rust, indicating a deficiency in the soil. Some of our lands considered poorest black-jack ridges in the vicinity of dwellings grow fine trees and continue to sustain fine crops of excellent oranges. But these trees so located are almost daily replenished with accidental deposits of nitrogenous manures, (theprinci- cipal fertilizers needed on black-jack lands,) as well as considerable wood ashes and soot from the daily fires of the kitchen, and suds from the wash tub. The flourishing condition of these trees only shows the advantage of manures. It is not safe to manure trees at the time of planting. In some instances this has succeeded very well, but only when the manure has been long composted and frequently turned, so that DO fermentation will occur around the wounded roots. When manur- ing willbe done thus early it is better to scatter it on the ground and turn it several times in the soil some weeks before the tree is planted. After the tree has been planted and once started to grow it is then 4f> well to manure it heavily till it begins to bear. Begin with a moderate quantity, applying nearer the outer extremity of the lateral roots and increase the quantity every year and enlarge the area to which it is applied. When garden crops are planted, scatter the manure broad- cast. Aim to make the ground rich, rich as a city garden. It will pay for the manure and cultivation if the ground be planted and well cultivated in crops, and especially if planted in vegetables where a market can be readily reached. There are several advantages de- rived trom generous manuring when the trees are young; not only is the development of the tree hastened, but the tree is less liable to be attacked by some of the insects, and when attacked is better enabled to resist their ravages : and when' in vigorous health, but is not making new wood during Winter, it is less liable to be damaged by the influence of frost. To prevent this last named evil, the tree should never be stimu- lated in the Fall or latter part of the Summer. It is much better to manure in the Spring. Another advantage to be noted is, when trees are pushed before coming into bearing, the heavy manuring does no damage to the fruit. After trees have begun to bear it is better to manure heavily once in four or live years. Manuring bearing trees, and especially when the manuring is heavily done, has a tendency to make the oranges .split and drop off the first year after manuring; and even when they do not split, the fruit for the first year is not so sweet and i.s more liable to rot soon after picking. To insure a good general yield and saleable fruit each year the manuring should be applied alter- nately to different parts of the grove, laying off the grove into four or five equal parts and manuring the first part the first year, the second, the. second year, tfcc. The kind of fertilizer to be used depends largely upon the charac- ter of the soil. If the land planted was originally heavily set in hard wood and the ashes of the wood, cut in clearing, has been scattered on the ground, it is more than likely that the soil for a few years will have a sufficiency of lime, soda and potash. In that case nitrogenous ma- nures will be needed. But if all the hard wood has been taken off the land and no ashes left, such a soil will likely have become poor in cal- careous manures, (as the readiness with which the pine springs up in oui 1 worn hummock lands shows) and should be treated as the 47 pine lands, and manures applied, containing all the elements of vege- table life used by the roots. Some of the commercial manures are valuable when used in com- bination with other things, but none of them contain in right propor- tions all the elements needed for the orange. The writer has used and >een used a large variety of these fertilizers, and some benefit has been derived from most of them. From others no advantage has been dis- coverable. A good.article of ground bone, where the oils and phos- phoric acid have not been too generally expelled by burning; Peruvian ^uauo, and potash, both the nitrate and sulphate, are very good when Combined with muck. These are especially valuable when early vegeta- bles are to be grown among the orange trees, as they highly stimulate the soil and hasten forward both the vegetables and orange trees. Laud plaster should be especially mentioned as beneficial to our Mindy soil, as it not only furnishes an important element to the soil, but, in the absence of clay in most of our soil, furnishes a valuable ubsorber and retainer of the volatile manures so easily expelled by our Abundance of sunshine. The writer thinks he has seen another advan- tage in the use of land plaster in the check which the sulphur, Contained in the plaster, has upon some of the insects which damage the trees. Green crops turned under are highly beneficial to -young trees. Rye, oats, and barley sown in the Fall and turned under in the Spring :ind followed by one or two crops of cow peas during the Summer help forward a grove of trees wonderfully. It is still better if this be accompanied by a liberal dressing of wood-ashes. One ton to the acre is not too much. Manures from the stables, cow-pens, hennery and pig-sty, indeed from every place where waste is deposited, should first be deodorized by the liberal use of land plaster or sulphate rtf iron copperas