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X 



the deeper seated the injury becomes. The diseased portions will ex- 

 hibit a discoloration in the wood, and all such parts should be removed. 

 The following extract from a recent publication was communicated 

 by a well-known horticulturist and successful orange-grower, and is 

 worthy of the serious consideration of every person contemplating the 

 establishment of an orange grove on forest lands : 



I wish to say a word about the plan of deadening the timber instead of making a 

 naked clearing, which is often referred to as a "shiftless cracker way." I came to 

 Florida many years ago with these same prejudices very strong against the "shift- 

 less cracker" deadening. I cleared off every tree and stump and planted to oranges 

 and lemons 25 acres of heavy pine timber. I think I have learned something by 

 experience, and I can now see the " crackers " were right and I was wrong. 



A deadening is vastly superior to a naked clearing in economy and favorable con- 

 ditions for the growth and health of the newly set grove. 



As soon as the timber is deadened it ceases to make damaging drafts on the soil, 

 and it makes a semi shade on the ground very grateful to the young tree in its new 

 quarters. It also breaks the sweep of the winds and thus decreases the evaporation 

 from the tree and the soil in which it is placed. After awhile the leaves begin to 

 come down and cover the ground with a thin mulch, retaining moisture and protect- 

 ing the soil from the blazing rays of the sun. A year or more later the smaller twigs 

 and fragments of bark are added to the leaves, and when the ground is plowed a 

 most valuable dressing of vegetable matter is incorporated in a soil whose greatest 

 want is humus. At the end of three years your grove is well established and the 

 decaying timber begins to be dangerous. Then chop it down. All the branches and 

 much of the bark will break into fragments so small the plow will dispose of them. 

 Cut up the bodies in some 10-feet lengths and pile them in the checks midway 

 between the rows. In 3 years more the sap wood and a large part of the heart will 

 be thoroughly rotted and can be spread and plowed in like a manure pile. Those 

 hearts that remain sound are valuable for posts, rails, and fuel. The cost of clearing 

 a lot after it has been dead 3 years is about two-fifths of the cost of clearing green tim- 

 ber. In fact, the interest for 3 years on the cost of clearing green timber will nearly 

 clear the deadening. 



But, after all, the great gain is in the superior vigor of the young grove the first 

 few years and the great improvement to the soil by the shade and add^d humus. 



There are many hundreds of acres of young orange groves which 

 would be greatly assisted by the introduction among them of some kind 

 of tree for shelter. Additional trees would involve additional expenses 

 for manure ; the trees should therefore be of such kinds as would af- 

 ford some remunerative crop. Peach trees and Japan persimmon might 

 be tried, although an evergreen tree would be more valuable. The Lo- 

 quat, known in many localities as Japan plum, having heavy foliage, 

 would afford effective protection ; it is also much hardier than the 

 orange. Perhaps the olive tree might be profitably employed. Of 

 course any tree used for this purpose would be removed when their 

 presence was no longer required. 



PLANTING A GEOVE. 



There are numerous methods in vogue for establishing an orange 

 grove. That most widely adopted, according to my observation, is to 

 set out trees three or four years from the seed. 



