A Fertilizer Program 
S. F. Poole, Lake Alfred 
Any material added to the soil to pro¬ 
duce crops and maintain the soil strength 
may be termed a fertilizer. This being 
the case any real fertilizer program for 
our groves and farms has a double pur¬ 
pose to fulfill: (i) To retain and add 
to the soil reserves, and (2) produce the 
maximum of crops. 
Soil reserves. At all times during the 
production of the crop (and in a citrus 
grove this means twelve months every 
year), there must be sufficient plant food 
to properly feed the tree. This plant food 
should not be too readily soluble, for dur¬ 
ing periods of wet weather the absorption 
by the trees together with leaching, would 
remove too much plant food from the 
soil. Then would follow a period when 
the trees could not secure sufficient food 
to continue operations. 
The grove man, following a system 
of fertilizing at stated intervals, is often 
at a loss to understand why his trees 
do not always maintain their usual 
healthy condition. I have in mind a num¬ 
ber of groves that, two years ago this 
summer, illustrate this very condition. 
At that time we had all through June, 
July, and during the most of August a 
rainy season such as I have heard the old 
settlers tell about. By the first of Sep¬ 
tember the rains shut off and two months 
of dry weather followed. By the middle 
of July these groves were seriously af¬ 
fected by withertip as evidenced by a con¬ 
siderable dropping of fruit. By October 
the situation was really serious, with from 
25 to 50 per cent of the fruit on .the 
ground and the trees full of dead wood. 
Groves that had been fed a less readily 
soluble fertilizer weathered this trying 
period in safety. In these latter instances 
the soil had sufficient stocks of food in 
reserve to carry the trees along. 
Soil reserve should be maintained; or 
in other words, keep food before the tree 
at all times. No bank can do business 
without capital. Add to this, for as your 
capital increases so grows your ability to 
transact business. With the citrus grow¬ 
er this spells bigger crops and better fruit. 
The trees require certain kinds of food 
from the soil and these should be supplied 
by the fertilizer in proportion to the needs 
of the tree, the fruit and the deficiencies 
of the soil. There should be provided for 
the trees the food they need to produce 
complete growth and fruit. 
A complete fertilizer is so termed when 
it contains ammonia, phosphoric acid, and 
potash. These three are named because 
they are the three elements of which a 
Florida soil is usually deficient. They 
are also regarded as the most active in 
fostering growth and production of crops. 
The other elements that are necessary 
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