Food for Nitrate of Soda will furnish the necessary Nitrogen in 



^"^^ its most available form, and at less cost than any other ma- 



^ terial. It will probably be best to use in addition to the 



Nitrate an equal quantity of bone meal or " Dissolved 



Bone " (superphosphate), say two pounds of each per tree 



applied as recommended for plums and apricots. 



c^,-»:i:,^^^ fr^^ The writer has taken considerable pains 

 rertilizers ror • r 11 1 • • ^ 1 



Oranges and ^° ^^cen^^n from the best authorities and 

 Other Citrus Practical growers the effect of different 

 p . fertilizing materials on orange trees and 



fruit. The facts obtained seem to show 

 that the following results are, as a rule, produced : 



First — Phosphoric acid alone produces very little effect, 

 either on the growth of the trees or fruit. 



Second — Nitrogen produces a marked effect in promo- 

 ting good growth and increasing the size of fruit ; but unless 

 combined with phosphoric acid in some form, tends to make 

 the fruit too large, dry and puffy. This is especially true 

 when the Nitrogen is applied in an organic form, such as 

 cotton-seed meal, blood, "tankage," etc. 



Third — The best fertilizer seems to be a combination 

 of phosphoric acid, potash in the form of sulphate, or wood 

 ashes and Nitrogen in an immediately available form, such 

 as Nitrate of Soda. 



Fourth — That the Nitrate should be applied while the 

 fruit is small, or only just forming, and not in quantities so 

 large that an excess of wood growth will be produced and 

 the fruit made too large and puffy. 



Mr. G. W. Peck, a large orange grower of Orange 

 county, Florida, savs : 



"When I started in the orange-growing business I was sure that there was 

 nothing so good as ground bone, for the Nitrogen and phosphoric acid it 

 contained, so I used it in large quantities with sulphate of potash to make a 

 complete fertilizer, using enough bone, as I thought, to supply the necessary 

 quantity of Nitrogen. The bone used was of the best quality and finely 

 ground, but although it is several years since it was applied, the trees have so 

 far been unable to find the Nitrogen that the dealer said was there and that the 

 chemist guaranteed. I now use Nitrate of Soda, and the trees find it as well 

 as the chemist, and thrive and bear full crops that show very much less dam- 

 age from red spider and rust mites than when bone was used. 



"Until quite recently the old orange growers used to tell us that we must 

 give the trees but very little Nitrogen, or they would have the 'die bark' and 

 foot-rot, which may be true if too much is used from animal sources, not 



