22 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
arriving sound, the prices received are usu¬ 
ally very gratifying and compensate for 
many of the disadvantages encountered in 
production. 
* * * * * * 
Perhaps it would not be out of place 
right here to mention an experience which 
was had this spring in what was, to us at 
least, an unusual method of grafting. We 
had occasion to move quite a lot of sour 
orange seedlings that would caliper from 
an inch to an inch and a half just above 
the ground. We wished to have these sour 
seedlings worked over to sweet orange 
trees as quickly as possible, and so, after 
receiving permission from the Nursery 
Inspector, we took them up, hauled them 
forty miles, and on February first and 
second (just before the recent freeze) 
cleft-grafted and then planted seven hun¬ 
dred ninety-seven of them. The process 
was accomplished by first sawing the sour 
tree off about an inch above the collar, 
then splitting the stump with a cold chisel 
and inserting one sprig graft having three 
or four eyes which had been beveled on 
two sides, care being taken to see that the 
cambium of the sprig was placed so as to 
unite with the cambium of the stump. The 
cold chisel was then removed and the 
stump gripped the graft quite firmly. The 
grafted stump was then carried away and 
planted, using plenty of water to pack the 
roots firmly. Then a bank of sand was 
drawn up all around, until only the tip of 
the graft protruded above the bank—but 
on receipt of the freeze warning, the 
grafts were then completely covered with 
sand. After the cold was over, enough of 
the soil was removed to allow one or two 
eyes of the graft to be exposed. 
On April 12th, examination showed 
that of the 797 grafted stumps which 
were planted just before the freeze, 210 
grafts, or 26% had died; 261 grafts, 
or 33% were alive but had not started; 
326 grafts, or 41% had made growth and 
several of them had grown more than 
thirteen inches. Nearly every growing 
graft had put out anywhere from one to 
a dozen bloom, and one graft in particular 
had over a dozen open bloom at one time. 
I11 many cases, after bloom petals had 
dropped, young fruit had set and grown 
as large as a pea. It is not expected, how¬ 
ever, that any of these young fruits will 
last to maturity; but the instance is men¬ 
tioned here as indicating that grafts cut 
from bearing trees may be expected to 
bear reasonably early. 
Discussion 
Mr. Lamont: In regard to the discus¬ 
sion of handling citrus groves, I would 
like to learn the best method of handling 
a grove that is in solid Bermuda grass 
to get the full benefit of the fertilizer. 
The grass is so dense that you cannot use 
a disc harrow. 
Mr. 'J. A. Stevens: We had some 
patches of Bermuda grass, but never wor¬ 
ried much about it. In cases of severe 
drought the trees seemed to do a little 
worse, but not much. We put on the 
fertilizer as usual, perhaps a little more 
of it. The grass probably took up some 
of it. I never tried to get rid of it, be¬ 
cause, as Mr. Painter used to say, the 
best way to get rid of Bermuda grass is 
to move away from it. 
