Practices in Groves Planted on Low Hammock 
Soils 
C. T. Pattillo, Shiloh, Florida 
I am going to be brief so that when I 
have finished I may have time to sit 
back and listen to the discussion of 
the subject which I hope will follow. 
This I know will be both interest¬ 
ing and instructive to myself as well 
as to other owners of low hammock 
groves. It is not the purpose of this pa¬ 
per to discuss practices which may be ap¬ 
plicable to types of soil other than the low 
hammock. In such a discussion it would 
be well to give a short definition of the 
term “low hammock” and to begin the 
discussion with the clearing of the raw 
land. 
The term “low hammock” is generally 
applied to a body of land covered with a 
heavy growth of cabbage palmetto, oak, 
maple and other hardwood trees and usu¬ 
ally requiring considerable drainage. The 
top soil is black or grayish in color and 
varies in consistency from a heavy muck 
to a light sandy loam, all types being 
sometimes mixed with marl or lime, rock 
and containing a great deal of natural 
humus. The sub-soil is often of marl or 
lime rock, which varys in depth from a 
few inches to several feet. 
Clearing is generally accomplished by 
underbrushing the small growth, cutting 
down or digging out and burning all 
hardwood trees but leaving a large pro¬ 
portion of the palmettoes, which afford 
considerable frost protection to the grove. 
After staking the ground for trees, 
mounds are prepared, and will vary in 
height and diameter in accordance with 
the elevation above the water table. When 
necessary the sub-soil is first broken up 
by blasting. These mounds should be left 
three to six months before, planting, to al¬ 
low the ground to become mellow. At 
time of planting the mound is practically 
torn down and rebuilt, all roots and such 
material being carefully raked out. It 
is also advisable to dig down several feet 
through the. sub-soil, afterwards filling 
this in with surface dirt. In selecting the 
tree to be set preference is usually given 
to those budded or grafted on sour or¬ 
ange root. The actual planting is very 
much the. same as is practiced in any 
grove except that the trees are always 
somewhat elevated. 
Cultivation for the first few years may 
best be accomplished by flatweeding and 
hand mowing, for generally the ground 
will be found too rough for mule or trac¬ 
tor. After that time the disc harrow, 
well blocked up so that it may cut only 
about two inches deep, will be the princi¬ 
pal implement for cultivation, plows be- 
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