The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1880-03-17

began with 1900 trees at Brighton,
Sacramento county. 1 first exam
ined the temperature of the locality
and found that while the summers
were equal to those in the orange
growing countries the winters were
not too cold. A comparison showed
me the mean summer temperature of
Brighton to be 60.4So; of Naples,
60.03o of Lisbon, 51.e4o. The.mean
temperature of the coolest months
was: Brighton, 1929; Naples, A.
O40; and Lisbon, 51.040. l began
my purchasing in 1868, a dollars
worth of decayed oranges-about
three bushels. / chose these from
the fact that the seeds of an orange
ripe enough to eat will not sprout to
any extent, while those of decayed
orange grow as readily as peas. AT.
ter soaking them in water for while,
the pulp and water were poured off,
and the seeds planted in the month
of May, in light, sandy loan.
-Four weeks later the shoots APP.
peared, and for two years afterward
I kept them in beds, covering the
little trees with sticks and willow
branches. After four years l set
them out in the orchard in soil
composed partly OF red clay of the
plains and partly of the rich sandy
loan deposited by the river.
In 1876 I irrigated them, each tree
being worked once in three weeks.
The last irri gation took place on
September 18TH: On the I'd of JAN
uary, 1877, the temperature fell to
260, having been two degrees colder
on the night preceding. The follow
ing week produced the same temper
allure every night. The orchard
looked very ragged at the end of
that time. All the new wood had
been killed, the sap cells bursted,
and the leaves had fallen off The
lines suffered most, all being de-
stroyed. The lemons came next, so
per cent. of them being ruined, while
about 10 per cent. of the orange
trees had been killed. l now think
that if had cut away all the FROST
bitten branches l could have saved
some Of the latter. / filled their
places with trees from Los Angeles
and irrigated as before, but stopped
on the 1st Of August, SO as to have
no new wood by winter. On De-
cember oath, the temperature fell to
go: on the 25th to go; and on the
26th to 800. The weather, for a
week or two following was moist and
cloudy. l visited the orchard on
January 18th, and expected to find
everything killed as before. Instead,
however, 1 found among the oranges
only some leaves curled, but no
wood frozen. Among the lemons
there was no wood frozen, but the
lines had lost all their leaves, and
the mortality among them was large.
l am led to think, therefore, that
oranges can be grown in those parts
of the state where the temperature
does not fail below go, if irrigation
be stopped by August LIST. Some
thing depends on the weather imme.
diately following the cold snap. 1t
is not safe to grow lemons where the
temperature falls below 2S'. With
lines the leaves fall off at 800 and
the young wood is killed at go
Trees grown here will sustain lower
temperature to the extent OF three
OF four degrees than those imported.
THE OLIVE.
With regard to olives l have had
young trees turned out of forcing
house in November stand the frost
without irrigation. l am satisfied
that they will grow all over the Sac.
ramento valley, from Sumner to
Shasta, and on the Sierra foothills, OF
the lower portion to the hight OF
5000 feet, and in the upper portion
to the hight 500 and 1000 feet. The
great enemy of the olive is an ex.
cess OF moisture at the roots, and for
this reason it cannot be grown in
moist bottom lands. 1t thrives best
in the red clay lands OF the Sacra-
mento valley, and should be planted
about two feet below the surface.
Humboldt discovered that olives did
not sprout from the seeds that fell
underneath the tree, but grew in
places adjacent, among rocks and
underneath other trees. He found,
by careful investigation, that this was
due to the birds that eat. the fruit, the
oily pulp being removed during the
digestive process. This action is
initiated in the arts by soaking the