54 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
plication was exhausted. I am well aware 
of the fact that I have but little company 
in my plan of non-cultivation of a bear¬ 
ing grove. Most of my neighbors culti¬ 
vate, but I am quite willing to compare 
groves and fruit, both in quantity and 
quality. I think there is only one reason 
for cultivation—and that is to admit air 
to aid the soil in digesting the raw ma¬ 
terial, and making plant food of it, to 
keep the soil open and porous. The stir¬ 
ring of soil does not add a particle of 
plant food and, if there is an abundance 
of plant food with a soft, open, porous 
soil, the rains will carry the plant food to 
the feeder roots of the tree. My best 
groves have not had the soil stirred, not 
even to hoe around the trees, for over ten 
years. The trees were planted twenty- 
five feet apart, and some are meeting in 
the rows. There are many rows that I 
cannot go through with a one-horse wag¬ 
on without rubbing the limbs on either 
side. They bear good crops, and the fruit 
has a good finish. The soil, for several 
inches, is filled with humus, constantly de¬ 
caying, and with the chemicals that I 
apply is taken to the feeder roots with 
every rain. In walking through the 
groves the foot sinks into the soil, almost 
like walking over fresh plowed land. 
Now, Mr. President, bear in mind that I 
am telling of my method, in my kind of 
land. I cannot tell what is the best meth¬ 
od on the turkey oak land that the grower 
says is good orange land; in fact, I don’t 
think I would ever be able to learn what 
is the best method on that kind of land, 
as I would never have the hardihood to 
try to make a grove on that kind of land. 
I am too lazy to make the necessary effort. 
Fortunately for Florida, there are many 
men who do not agree with me, and there 
are good groves growing on what I con¬ 
sider a very poor foundation, but I think 
there must be quite a difference in the cost 
of producing fruit. 
T. Ralph Robinson, Terra Ceia, Fla. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
The chairman of our committee sug¬ 
gested that a member should contribute 
to the subject of grove management with 
a view to bringing out the varying condi¬ 
tions and hence different methods in evi¬ 
dence in the various sections of the state 
where citrus fruits are grown. At the 
1913 meeting of the Society, as a member 
of this same committee, I briefly recounted 
the methods in vogue in my immediate 
neighborhood; viz., on Terra Ceia Island. 
We have a low hammock soil that is 
almost black, underlaid in most places at 
two to five feet with a so-called hard pan. 
The most noticeable feature of grove 
planting on the island is perhaps close 
planting, 100 to 200 trees to the acre be¬ 
ing the usual range, though a few small 
settings have close to 400 trees to the acre. 
Grapefruit is chiefly grown and on ac¬ 
count of its shallow rooting habit, and 
vigorous growth, the rough lemon stock 
is almost universally used. The trees are 
set on mounds or ridges for drainage, and 
some of the best groves are also tiled for 
drainage and sub-irrigation. The fertil¬ 
izers used are usually relatively low in am¬ 
monia (the soil containing much latent ni¬ 
trogen), and high in potash, 10, 12, or 
even up to 16 per cent. Ground limestone 
