THOROUGH CULTIVATION. 83 



condition of the groves at Federal Point, on the St. 

 John's, and other groves where the surface water 

 can be carried off by shallow ditches, sufficiently 

 demonstrates that the orange can be successfully 

 grown on low lands by mulching, or by shallow 

 cultivation with the hoe, or, as in some instances 

 where the soil is rich, by mowing the grass and 

 weeds twice a year and leaving them to rot on the 

 ground. 



Where material is abundant and near at hand, 

 mulching is the cheapest method of cultivation, as it 

 is equivalent to both manure and frequent disturb- 

 ing the surface with hoe and plow. In many parts 

 of Florida abundant material is at hand. Leaves 

 from our forests can easily be collected and carted 

 to the ground. In many places a horse-rake can 

 be used for gathering them in piles. The wire- 

 grass can be cut by hoe, or better, where the forest 

 is open, by means of a mower and horse-rake. Our 

 marsh lands along our extended coast and the banks 

 of our numerous rivers and lakes in Florida are at 

 no distant day to be utilized and made valuable by 

 furnishing thousands of tons annually for the pur- 

 pose of mulching. The first year of my residence 

 in Florida, living on a lake with a margin covered 

 with grass growing above the water, I constructed a 

 flat-bottom boat with a mower attached in front 

 and driven by man-power, which enabled three men 

 working a half day in a week to furnish nine head 

 of horses with abundant and nutritious forage. 



