The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-09-10
Orange Culture.

Editors of The Florida Agrculturist,
The only way for beginner in any
kind of business to learn rapidly, is to
place himself under the care OF master
ship of one who has made himself prac-
tically acquainted with it, and under
stands all the details. But when we
commence business that is compare.
lively new in the country, and we can
not find one who is thorough master,
one who can say, I know it all what
are we to do where all are pupils T? This
is our condition in regard to orange cul-
ture.
How shall we learn how to select from
the varieties of fruit, proper modes of
culture, and best kinds of manure to be
used? Evidently by noting the result
of the experiments of others and com.
pairing them with our own experiences.
One great obstacle in the way of desir-
ing benefit from these experiments is,
that those who write upon the subject
and endeavor to tell what they know
(this is the duty Of all) often fail to men
ton what kind of land their groves are
49, g.isaro tss 49,. =. l,s:s
both in regard to flavor and thickness of
peeling, is often determined by it.
Last winter / eat some oranges from
the grove of Judge j. c. Bryson, on the
St. johns, and decided that they were
superior to any that had ever tasted.
Meeting the Judge, / spoke of his good
fruit, when he asked if I knew where
he got start of that kind of orange,
grove-which do not consider superior |
to my other trees-and said it came |
from that one. Now. what has produced |
this change in flavor and difference in |
appearance of the fruit? The Judges |
grove is upon shell land, and mine upon
high pine land his contains large |
quantity of lime, mine but a small |
amount Knowing thatsoil and manure !
exert great influence to determining
the character of the fruit, 1 have re-
peatedly applied ashes and muck to
those trees producing fruit that was
too acid, and changed them to fine flavor,
at the same time making the peel thin
ner.
From the foregoing, can we have any |
assurance that buds from foreign varie- |
ties when inserted in trees growing in a |
different kind Of soil will not change, TO |
be any better than selected seedlings of |
our own growing? Are we not rather
hasty in this matter of budding our
seedlings? Has sufficient length of |
time been given to determine whether |
many Of our own seedlings may not !
prove superior to those from abroad !
Further the question is yet an unsettled |
one, both in this State andiu California, |
as to which is the better method. to bud |
or depend upon seedlings? The advo-
Gates upon both sides seem to be about.
equally divided. My own observations
incline me to prefer the seeding tree,
believing that they make larger top, I
and consequently having larger bear
ing surface, are more productive.
Budding is the only positively certain
way of propagating varieties, except |
when modified by soil or manure. It |
must be resorted to with the lemon, as |
the seed from the Sicily produces a |
fruit in Florida entirely different from
the original. I know of but one tree
that resembles the parent, and that is in |
the grove of Captain Adams, Palatka.
1 anticipate one trouble from the in
PRODUCTION of the orange from foreign
countries, which is that their diseases
and the insects that infest them will be
propagated and extend to ether trees in
the groves where they are planted or
budded into. Already we have diseases
to contend with that thus far have
proved unmanageable, because we are
unacquainted with the condition or sur
roundings that produce them. Let us
have the result of the careful observa-
tions of fruit. growers presented through
the press, each one telling what he has
seen, and what success he has met with