30 CITRUS TREES AND THEIR DISEASES 



of your rows without paying any attention to the soil 

 close up and around the trunk of your tree. 



The writer makes the statement here that two 

 thorough cultivations under and around the trunk of 

 the tree is of more value than five cultivations in the 

 middle of the row. The reason for this lies in the 

 fact that proper cultivation under the spread of the 

 tree continues to keep new life in the soil. 



The soil needs to gather moisture and retain the 

 same. Not only this, but when the soil is lively and 

 in a sweet condition, new feeders will form near the 

 trunk of the tree. If nothing under the tree can be 

 found to feed upon, then the roots must gather their 

 food from beyond the spread of the tree. This makes 

 a long transportation to connect with the body of the 

 tree, and where the base roots lose their feeders on 

 account of no substance or moisture, this base root 

 then becomes dry and many times cracks open or scales. 

 This condition, when the sap from the nutritious mat- 

 ter comes from the middle of the row, reaches this 

 affected part of the base root, causes much of the food 

 value to be lost, and a certain percentage does not 

 reach the base of the tree. For this reason it is very 

 important to keep the soil in a condition so that these 

 base roots will be properly taken care of, by keeping 

 the tree from drooping entirely to the ground, and 

 leaving an air space that the air may circulate under 

 the tree and around the body. This, you will find, will 

 be of great value to the tree. 



There could be many things said about cultivation ; 

 I will mention a few of the improper things. First; 



