130 TRUCK FARMING 



containing a low per cent of ammonia,* probably 2.^/2 per cent or 

 3 per cent, and increasing the potash and phosphate propor- 

 tionately. 



It is also advisable to keep away from the trunks of the trees 

 several feet the third year with this fertilizer, and increase the 

 distance each year, corresponding with the development of the 

 growth of the trees. On the other hand, such trees as pecans 

 and tropical fruit trees can be grown for as much as six or seven 

 years under heavy applications of ordinary vegetable fertilizer 

 without detrimental results. In fact, my experience has prompted 

 me to believe that these heavy applications are beneficial to any 

 of the above trees throughout the first six or seven years of their 

 growth. 



Much has been written about the influence of the stock upon 

 the scion, but in no variety of fruits is it so marked as in the 

 citrus family. That the soil has considerable to do with this can 

 hardly be questioned, as trees that produce satisfactorily upon 

 certain stocks in one section of Florida are an absolute failure 

 in other localities of the State. For instance, most of the growers 

 in Central Florida have used the trifoliata stock with success, but 

 it certainly has proven an absolute failure in the southern part 

 of the State. Because of the failure of this stock to produce here, 

 it was at one time considered impossible to grow oranges and 

 grape fruit in extreme Southern Florida, but just at this critical 

 time the sour or rough lemon stock showed its adaptability here 

 and successful crops are now grown upon it. 



One serious fault they have, however, is that this fruit goes 

 dry or pithy too early in the Spring, and another is that a sort 

 of second growth is produced in the fruit when the sap starts in 

 February which has a tendency to thicken the skin, and for these 

 reasons hurts its marketing quality and even makes it unsalable. 

 To produce a fruit par excellence, one having the finest quality 

 and flavor and one that will retain its weight throughout the sum- 

 mer, a sour orange stock should be used to bud on. As this stock 

 will not thrive on ordinary thin or poor pine land (sand), it can- 

 not be recommended for this soil, but it is pre-eminently adapted 



See last part of Chapter VI. 



