82 ORANGE CULTURE IN FLORIDA. 



sunlight and air for the further penetration of roots. 

 But this case is exceptional. Nature's method is 

 to deposit the most valuable manures near the sur- 

 face of the ground. Trees, weeds, and grasses are, 

 by means of roots, reaching down to bring up some 

 of these manures from beneath, while the leaves 

 are reaching out to gather other manures from the 

 atmosphere, and so from these two directions nature 

 is gathering and combining in organized and useful 

 forms substance for plant-food to be deposited 

 upon the surface of the soil, to be carried down by 

 means of rain to the roots of the growing crops. 

 Hence with nearly all plants, and especially those 

 having yellow roots, the orange included, the most 

 abundant feeders lie near the surface. Hence the 

 most natural means of cultivating a grove is to 

 mulch the entire surface with sufficient material to 

 prevent any growth of weeds or grass. This meth- 

 od gives a treble advantage it secures sufficient 

 moisture for the roots of the orange, it avoids the 

 necessity of cultivation with either hoe or plow, 

 and gives sufficient fertility to the soil. Thi 

 method is especially adapted to natural groves that 

 have been budded and to groves planted on low 

 lands. In the first instance, nature has already placed 

 the roots near the surface, and it is poor policy to 

 disturb the roots by plow or hoe, and so attempt to 

 force nature from its long-established habit. In the 

 second instance the roots will not penetrate a wet 

 soil, but grow near the surface. The flourishing 



