CHAPTER XXXIII. 

 COVER CROPS. 



In the judicious management of the citrus grove, the 

 use of a cover crop is frequently an important factor and 

 one well worthy the consideration of the producer of 

 citrus fruits. Not all soils can be treated in the same 

 way. The soils are unlike, conditions differ and no one 

 should know the peculiarities of any soil better than the 

 man who tills it, who comes in contact with it day after 

 day. He should study it carefully, become acquainted 

 with all its peculiarities and then he is in a position to 

 handle it to the best advantage. No other person can 

 know so much about a given piece of land, as the intelli- 

 gent man who tills it and studies it as he works. He, in 

 the end, should be best able to decide whether clean cul- 

 ture throughout the year, clean culture with a cover crop 

 or no culture is best for his conditions. The amount of 

 fertility in the soil, the amount of available moisture, the 

 physical qualities of the soil and the climate are the more 

 or less known quantities with which he must work out 

 the equation of citrus fruit production. When the differ- 

 ent conditions are brought to mind it may readily be seen 

 that no one kind of treatment will be best for all groves. 



The benefits to be derived from the use of cover crops 

 in the citrus districts are in part the same as those which 

 obtain in more northern fruit regions, but the problem is, 

 in some respects different. The advantages, presented 

 briefly at this point, are as follows: 

 1. Affecting the physical condition of the soil. 



