168 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
acres of muck lands. Humus is neces¬ 
sary to fertility, so the grower should 
give careful attention to this phase of 
soil management. The rapid growth of 
vegetation makes his task simple if 
gone about in the right way, but he 
must not follow the northern practice of 
turning under green vegetation. 
PREPARING NEW LAND 
In preparing new land, it is better to 
grow one crop at least of velvet beans 
or cowpeas before setting trees. Be¬ 
sides giving the land increased tilth 
and adding to the humus, it takes up 
certain compounds, common in our vir¬ 
gin soil, which are deleterious to the 
citrus family. The vines can be mowed, 
or they can be chopped with a disc har¬ 
row set to run shallow, and when dry 
either plowed or disced in. Whatever 
use is made of, the land, each year 
should provide some crop—legume or 
grass, according to conditions—to be 
returned to the soil. 
The foregoing is quite readily accept¬ 
ed by newcomers though many do not 
fully appreciate the value of drainage 
and lime, but the need of fertilizer is 
almost invariably regarded as an impo¬ 
sition. 
The fact that a living can be eked out 
of richer soils has caused people in those 
sections to overlook the far greater 
gains possible through intelligent fertil¬ 
ization. However, this is gradually be¬ 
ing recognized, and often the retired 
business man who comes to us for pleas¬ 
ure and profit as represented by a citrus 
grove, and who honestly believes “folks 
don’t have to fertilize back home” 
would find that farm life in his state is 
very different today from what it was 
when he was a boy. 
However, there are few states in the 
Union that use so much fertilizer, use 
it so wisely, or make so much net profit 
per acre of cultivated land as we do here 
in Florida. 
CAN HARDLY APPROXIMATE OUR CLIMATE 
Only .with glass, steam heat, and 
other expensive arrangements can the 
Northern grower even approximate our 
wonderful climate which gives to us 
twelve months of production instead of 
six months to produce and six to con¬ 
sume; but by attention to lime and hu¬ 
mus content and with just a few dol¬ 
lars wisely invested in fertilizer we can 
duplicate the growing properties of his 
soil, however rich it may be. 
We do not feel aggrieved at the Cre¬ 
ator because He did not add a bountiful 
supply of plant food to the many other 
good things He gave us. Indeed, in 
many instances we find that commerci¬ 
al fertilizers grow far more desirable 
products than would come from natur¬ 
ally rich soil, for naturally grown 
fruit is inclined to be coarse and soft. 
Our produce has a fine, smooth tex¬ 
ture most pleasing to the eye and car¬ 
ries well for hundred of miles. 
We look upon fertilizer not as an ex¬ 
pense but as an investment, the returns 
from proper fertilization being so def¬ 
inite as to preclude any other conclu¬ 
sion when viewed from a business 
standpoint. 
