102 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
into forms that are soluble and beneficial. 
The helpful soil bacteria cannot do their 
work unless they have plenty of humus 
and an abundant supply of fresh air and 
water. Conversely land that has no soil 
bacteria is dead and will not produce sat¬ 
isfied grove owners. 
The soil may be compared to a factory 
in which the: Building is the inert par¬ 
ticles of soil; labor, the bacteria; raw ma¬ 
terials, the water, air, solvents and hu¬ 
mus; capital, the fertilizer; finished prod¬ 
ucts, the products absorbed by the tree 
roots. 
A good fertilizer program requires a 
consideration of all these factors. Nor is 
the case as simple as this presentation 
might lead one to think. These factors 
are entirely dependent upon each other 
for the absence of any one interferes 
with the health of the trees. 
Let us sum up briefly: 
Apply fertilizers to the soil that are 
congenial to the tree and sufficient to 
build up the soil reserves, and see to it 
that the soil bacteria have a chance to 
flourish. I know this is not always an 
easy thing to do, that there is danger in 
straying from the straight road. 
