The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-01-01
2266
Cultivation of the Orange.

to your journal, I am tempted to
trouble you with few questions in
relation to the cultivation of the
orange and the lemon. The growth
of these fruits in orchards is one of
the great industries of this portion
of the Pacific coast. We have in
this colony about 100000 orange and
lemon trees in orchard and about
100000 in nursery. The trees in
orchard are planted about twenty
feet apart. Nothing is grown be-
tween the trees. ard the usual GUS
tom is to pillow the orchard twice
each season with heavy two-horse
plow and cultivate with a diamond
tooth cultivator as often as may be
necessary to keep down weeds or
keep the surface of the land loose
and friable after irrigation, as we can
not rely upon growing anything here
without irrigation. 1t has seemed to
me that this frequent deep blowing
would destrow the surface roots and
ultimately injure the trees; but in
our oldest orchards, six years trans
planted, we do not as yet detect any
injury.
The Seeding trees begin to bear
in six or eight years from the seed
according to the care and attention
given. Budded trees bear in one or
two years from the time of budding.
So much for prelude; now, from
your experience in the cultivation of
deciduous fruit trees, would you adj
wise such frequent deep blowing OF
the orchard after the trees are plant
ed? Will not budding dwarf the
growth Of the seeding tree ? Would
it answer to seed the orchard to
alfalfa, and take an occasional crop
of grass and leave an occasional
ssZR, sayts s Is the gesl. =. :. J.
od fields it will yield two tons Of
dried hay per acre, but requires thor
ough irrigation to do this. Would
like to hear your opinion upon these
points and any suggestions you may
be able to give in regard to the
cultivation of the different varieties
of the citrus family"
There is no general rule in regard
to blowing orchards. There are
many cases where it is absolutely
best to pillow orchards, and others
where one may absolutely refrain
from blowing them. Then there are
cases which cannot be settled so de-
cisively, but it is to be a balance of
advantages or disadvantages whether
we should plow or not. Flowing or
non-plowing of orchards is just one
of those cases in gardening where
nothing but practical skill and expe-
rience of ones wants and ones sur
roundings on the spot can decide
To give an illustration There is
in no case doubt but that tree has
need of all its roots, and more if it
could get them; so some people
would say, we will SOW the orchard in
grass and thus avoid ploughing,
which must injure some roots. But
the roots are of no use unless they
have something to eat; and if we
let the grass have the best of the food,
there is no gain and often a loss.
In such cases, it is better to plough
the ground and destroy the grass
though some roots are destroyed, be-
cause the roots left have at least all
the food to themselves. But it we
arc so situated that we can give the
grass all the food it wants, and the
tree roots all the food they need, then
it is far better not to plough the
ground, because then you have not
only all the roots to work for you,
but some cool shade besides. 1t fol-
lows that in those parts of the world
al