16 BULLETIN 1435, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
fruit. Consequently, the end in view in developing the farm organi-_ 
zation is the more efficient production of citrus fruit. Nearly all the 
growers practice diversity in citrus-fruit production; that is, each 
grower usually has several varieties of oranges and grapefruit to 
extend the marketing season and thus lend stability to the industry. | 
There is an element of safety in the growing of several different citrus | 
fruits, such as oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit, in that it is not — 
likely that there will be a poor marketing season for all of these — 
fruits the same year. | 
Many of these grove farms studied had no cultivated land other 
than that planted to citrus trees, but it was the usual thing to have a 
few acres of woods and waste land, the waste land usually being low 
and wet. In some instances, grove owners pastured their wooded — 
acres; but since the livestock enterprise for most farms was a neg- : 
ligible factor, and the pasturing of woods in the citrus district required — 
good fences, not much pasturing was done within the most highly © 
developed sections. i 
The groves managed by caretakers averaged much less in crop — 
acreage than the owner-operator groves, the average farm being 15.4 | 
4 
: 
y 
4 
and 43.2 acres, respectively. On the owner-operator farms, some feed 
crops were raised and sales of general crops and livestock were — 
reported, but in nearly all instances the quantity of feed crops raised — 
was small. There seems to be no basis of comparison here as to the — 
influence of general crops or livestock enterprises on the effectiveness — 
of the farm organization. In most instances no enterprise of any — 
extent, other than that of fruit, existed. 
The most important factors in organization, as reflected in net — 
returns, are the number of prolific trees per acre, the selection of the — 
proper varieties of fruit, utilization of the surface of the ground as com- 
pletely as possible, and the necessary materials, equipment, labor, and 
experience properly to care for the trees. 
Many of the groves were owned by growers who did not live on 
the farm and caretakers were employed. In some cases the owner ~ 
lived near enough to the grove to give it some supervision. When 
the grove was managed by the owner-operator, the organization was 
usually a complete unit; but when operated by a caretaker, he usually 
furnished all equipment and laborers were paid on the basis of the 
amount of work performed. About one-half of the caretaker groves 
had no buildings. Caretakers who had supervision of several groves 
Maintained a central establishment where teams and all necessary 
equipment were kept. In most instances highly satisfactory results 
were obtained from caretaker groves, and in general the production of 
eroves and the returns per dollar of investment were about the same 
for the farms operated by caretakers and those operated by owners. 
The caretakers, on the whole, are responsible men of high standing 
in their communities. They possess considerable experience and 
ability, and some own grove property themselves. 
DISTRIBUTION OF FARM ACREAGE 
The 100 grove farms studied averaged 41 acres. The total acreage 
per farm did not show any appreciable change over the six-year period 
of the investigation. Of the 41 acres, 9.7 was woodland, 3.7 was 
waste land, and 27.6 was tillable land. (See Table 11.) The tillable 
