82 FLORIDA FRUITS ORANGES. 



The objections made to its use by some are, that it tends 

 to increase the surface roots and increase their liability to 

 injury from frosts. 



The first of these statements is true mulching does pro- 

 duce more roots at the surface but what then ? 



It is to these very surface roots that the citrus family is 

 indebted for its chief supply of food ; these are the main 

 purveyors of the tree, the large roots serve as anchors and 

 canals through which nourishment is conveyed, but the 

 tiny, fibrous roots that creep here, there, and every where, 

 are ever on the lookout for food supplies, and where they 

 find it most abundantly there they go. They seek moist- 

 ure and warmth ; beneath the shelter of the mulch they 

 always find it ready for them. The warmth they might 

 have had without the mulch, but not the moisture. The 

 more of these surface roots there are the better, as the 

 orange is a surface-feeding tree, and, as the mulch rots 

 away, a rich vegetable mold accumulates around the tree 

 which is of immense benefit. 



A grove where the trees are well mulched does not need 

 half so frequent cultivation as one where the ground is left 

 entirely bare. Whatever portion is covered by the mulch 

 is kept free from weeds and grass, the ground is rendered 

 porous and friable, and the roots which would be near the 

 surface, even without the mulch, are protected from their 

 greatest enemy, drought, very effectually. 



Some advocates of mulching go so far as to recommend 

 shading the entire surface of the grove. Now this is prof- 

 itable under some circumstances, where the trees are large 

 and shade a good portion of the ground by their foliage, so 

 that the mulch need only cover the intermediate spaces ; 

 but when the trees are young it would require so great an 

 expenditure of time, labor, and money, as to be almost 

 impracticable. It is all-sufficient that the ground be cov- 



