Budding Orange Seedlings in the Orchard.

What are the objections or advantages of planting sour stock seedlings where one wishes the trees and one or two years later bud into the branches instead of budding the young stock low on the trunk?

Planting the seedling and at some future time cutting back the branches and grafting in the head above the forks is an expensive operation and loses time in getting fruit.  You will get very irregular trees and be disappointed in the amount of re-working you will have to do.  Suckers must be always watched for; that has to be done anyway, but a sucker from a wild stock is worse in effects if you happen to overlook it.  Avoid all such trouble by planting good clean trees budded in nursery rows.  You may have to do rebudding later, if you want to change varieties, and that is trouble enough.  Do not rush at the beginning into all the difficulties there are.

Grapefruit and Nuts.

Peaches, pears and plums predominate in this section, but would not grapefruit, almonds and English walnuts be just as profitable?  What is your idea about English walnuts on black walnut root?

You can expect grapefruit to succeed under conditions which favor the orange.  Therefore, if oranges are doing well in your district, grapefruit might also be expected to succeed on the same soils and with the same treatment.  Planting of almonds should proceed upon a demonstration that the immediate location is suited to almonds, because they are very early to start and very subject to spring frost and should not be planted unless you can find bearing trees which have demonstrated their acceptance of the situation by regular and profitable crops.  English walnuts are less subject to frosts because they start much later in the season.  They need, however, deep, rich land which will be sure not to dry out during the summer.  English walnuts are a perfect success upon the California black walnut root.

Soil and Situation for Oranges.

Is it absolutely essential that orange trees be planted on a southern slope, or will they thrive as well on any slope?  What is the minimum depth of soil required for orange trees?  How can I tell whether the soil is good for oranges?

Orange trees are grown successfully on all slopes, although in particular localities certain exposures may be decidedly best, as must be learned by local observation.  How shallow a soil will suit orange trees depends upon how water and fertilizer are applied; on a shallow soil more fertilizer and more frequent use of water in smaller quantities.  Any soil which has grown good grain crops may be used for orange growing if the moisture supply is never too scant and any excess is currently disposed of by good drainage.  There can be no arbitrary rule either for exposure, depth or texture of soils, because oranges are being successfully grown on medium loam to heavy clay loam, providing the moisture supply is kept right.