IN THE CITRUS INDUSTRY 33 



It is difficult to impress those who are not familiar with 

 the intricacies of orange and lemon growing with the im- 

 portance of individual skill on the part of the owner or 

 manager. There is such a multitude of factors entering into 

 successful growing that a practical scientific and business 

 education is almost a necessity in addition to the ordinary 

 intelligence that the common farmer must have. It has 

 been stated that conditions often vary widely in the same 

 grove, even though it be but five- or ten acres in extent. 

 Hence it follows that no general rules for cultural procedure 

 can be laid down, and it is incumbent upon the owner or 

 manager to apply different processes to different conditions. 

 To such a degree is this true that some of the most pro- 

 gressive growers take the individual tree and not the grove 

 as a whole as a unit, and adjust care to the requirements 

 of the individual tree. A performance card is made for 

 each tree on which is entered for each year the amount and 

 quality of its fruit, how the tree responds to fertilization, 

 what diseases it has, etc. Then if any tree is not measuring 

 up to requirements it can be budded over from stocks that 

 have proved their productiveness. As there are only from 

 seventy-five to ninety trees to the acre, each one is far too 

 valuable to be neglected. In the summer the grower must 

 be on the alert to see that each tree has sufficient moisture; 

 in the winter he must keep a watchful eye on the thermome- 

 ter, and at all times he must be sure that the fertility of the 

 soil is not being depleted, that insect pests or fungous dis- 

 eases are not spreading, and that the pruning is being prop- 

 erly done. Each of these operations is so delicate and 

 exacting that poor judgment or neglect at a critical time 

 may mean the difference between profit and loss. It is al- 

 most an impossibility for an uneducated man to become a 

 first cla,ss grower. 



Let us now assume that the crop has been grown accord- 



