more harm than good is usually done by such slipshod methods of 

 manuring. Looking at the matter from a broad standpoint, one may 

 say that fertilizers of this class should never, or at any rate very 

 rarely, be used in the citriis orchard. Exception is made in favour of 

 the application of absolutely rotten stable or cow manure when applied 

 to trees of mature age standing in some of the heavier soils, bi such 

 cases the manure should, for preference, be spread over the land and 

 turned under with the plough just before or during the rainy season 

 so that assimilation with the soil may take place as rapidly as possible. 

 The application of fresh stable manure, largely consisting of un 

 decomposed bedding and reeking with urine, is decidedly injurious to 

 the fruit produced, causing thick coarse skins with that tendency to 

 pufhness which is decidedly objectionable in an orange. Reports to 

 hand from the Government fruit inspectors during recent export 

 seasons go to bear out this statement. Oranges from districts where 

 nothing but such manures have been used have invariably received 

 unfavourable comment at the hands of these officers, their remarks in 

 all cases being strongly condemnatory of the quality of fruit produced 

 under such conditions. In order to arrive at some clear understanding 

 of soil requirements recourse should be liad to analysis, and this is 

 provided for by the Agricultural Department chemists. 



Soil Ingredients must be Replaced. 



This, however, is not the only thing to be studied. The ingredients 

 removed from the soil annually by large crops of fruit must be 

 replaced and no shortage allowed to occur in any particular. 

 Phosphoric acid, lime, potash, and nitrogen are the principal items, 

 and it is therefore these particular constituents which must be returned 

 to the land in order that a good state of fertility be maintained. Citrus 

 soils should be kept " in good heart," meaning that all necessary 

 constituents for crop production must be present in a form readily 

 available for use by the roots of the trees; also tliat the mechanical 

 condition of the soil should be as nearly perfect as possible. There 

 are pamphlets mostly issued by dealers which would tend to confuse 

 an unpractical grower. For instance, one may advise the use of nitrate 

 of soda, another basic slag, and a third potash in certain forms. 

 Naturally each pamphlet advocates a large application of the particular 

 ingredient the sale of which it is advertising. It is obviously impossible 

 that all of these different formulae should be correct. It is also true 

 that no exhaustive experimental work has been hitherto undertaken in 

 South Africa which could serve more or less as a guide as to exactly 

 what fertilizers to give to bearing citrus trees, and even had such work 

 been done there would still remain the difficulty of correctly applying 

 the results of the experience gained to an orchard containing a diversity 

 of soils. 



In order, however, that some approximately correct idea may be 

 formed, the following suggestions are put forward: — 



From an analysis of the ash from 1000 lb. of oranges, made at 

 the University of California, it was shown that the following 

 ingredients were withdrawn from the soil: Potash, 2.11; nitrogen, 

 I 1.83; lime, .97; phosphoric acid, .53. 



These constituents must, therefore, be returned to the soil without 

 any reference to the analysis first mentioned. It is, of course, possible 

 that an abundant -supply of any one item might render further applica- 

 tion of this particular ingredient less necessary were it present in 

 available form. 



