The Goodland republic., 1899-07-28
LANGUAGE OF NATURE
what the varying Conditions 81
Root, Branch. Fruit and Leaf
show TO the Expert

The skilled hOrtiCulturists VIII look
at an orange and tell you whether 1t
grew on the inside or the outside Of a
tree If inside, Il VIII be Of an e1-
ouisite satiny smOOthness and Of pale
lemon tint, while the orange grown on
the outside win be blOwsy-red, coarse
and rough The outside orange Is
sweeter and richer than the other, but
the latter grades and sells as strictly
fancy, while the coarse one sells as sec
Ond OF third grade. Examining care
fully the oil cells, he viii state that
lemon tree grew near by and that
wandering bee carried some Of the pol
len and mingled 1t with that Of the
orange. If the rag" is melting In the
mouth, almost vanishing away. he says
the tree was well supplied with potash.
When the seeds are large, plump and
heavy, the tree had a sufhciency of
phosphoric acid In the fertilizer.
The hOrticulturist who thoroughly
knows his business can determine
which was the north side Of young
nursery tree, as well as that Of the aged
tree in the grove or forest He can de-
scribe the root formation of a lie COnte
pear tree by seeing the body and head.
II there is a yellow subsoil and deep
growing tap root, the top viii grow up
tail and spindling; If it branches out
low and wide, the roots spread out like
a cartwheel He can tell whether an
orange was grown on clay or on sandy
soil. If a peach is covered with thick
coat Of fuzz, he tells, without tasting,
that it is an old Florida seeding, ac-
chmated by long residence and taught
by nature to cover itself with fuzz as
protection against the curculio and
other insects.
A section Of a limb reveals to him that
the tree was grown IN the sod He can
tell which side Of a pear tree viii die
first. He can point out a hundred yards
away the trees that were injured by
bOrers or salamanders. BY the leaves
Of a tree he can tell what kind of a sea
son prevailed, whether wet OF dry. The
triangular stem tells him that the tree
was Overfed with nitrogen and viii be
very susceptible to frost; that round,
hard stem shows that the tree was well
supplied with potash and viii endure
several degrees more Of cold. Where a
powerful branch strikes out on a tree
he knows that a corresponding strong
root runs out very nearly underneath II.
Let him look at the head Of tree and
he viii inform you that it was planted
too deep. By the color Of the leaves he
knows the tree was starved for nitro
gen. Certain indications on the orange
tell him infallibly that the tree had a
dieback. By the shading Of a russet
orange he viii tell the novice whether
the orange stood up onits stem or hung
down. If an outside orange Of a given
variety, plucked at the proper time, is
sOurer than it should be, he knows the
tree was planted too deep; the roots
supplied the fruit with cold, sour, un-
summed sap. Or, possibly, the season
was unusually wet and cloudy. In a
freeze one tree viii be taken and an
other right beside it viii be left. The
one that was killed was planted too
deep.
a grapevine left unpruned for years
viii have short, puny grOwths Of new
wood, many Of which viii die in the fall
or in the beginning Of winter from in
anitiOn, and the leaves viii be much
smaller than those on pruned vines. A
bunch OF grapes from an old vine and
another from a young vine Of the same
variety although grown only few feet
apart and under the same treatment,
viii show this difference: The bunch
from the old vine viii color up and ripen
first, and viii be Of better flavor, but
not so large.
a box elder topped too short and late
in the spring viii manifest its misery
by short, tightly curled and crinlzled
leaves. An orange tree which has had
green cOwpea vines PlOwed down on its
roots viii express its disgust at such
bUngling by turning its leaves mOttled,
green and yellow. - Florida Times
Union.