FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
135 
ference. I think the more vigorous grow¬ 
ing the tree is, the better it is. 
No. 8—What is the best month in the 
year to plant an orange tree ? 
Mr. Waite—November. 
Mr. McLain—I should say, December. 
Mr. Hart—May, if wet, is a pretty 
good month. 
Member—You would not approve of 
May unless the rainy season had started 
in, would you ? 
Mr. Hart—In my part of the country, 
it is sure to start about that time. 
No'. 9—I would like to know if the So¬ 
ciety approves of cutting the trees back at 
the time of setting out ? 
Mr. Hampton—Cut them back every 
time. And about that planting of trees; I 
would prefer to plant them in the month 
of December to any other month in the 
year. Some say November. Don’t you 
think that is a little too soon? They are 
likely to start to growing and the January 
or February cold! snap will take them in. 
If you plant them in December they are 
not so apt to* start to grow. 
No. 10—I would like to ask whether it 
is best to use the Stringfellow method for 
planting on low ground? 
Mr. Hart—I have not had experience 
in that, but if the ground is low, you can¬ 
not push the roots down far. They have 
to grow on the surface. If there is not 
room above permanent water line for tlie 
tap root, little can be made in that direc¬ 
tion. I would prefer fairly high land for 
planting orange trees. 
Mr. Taber—In relation to that Striiu>-- 
o 
fellow method, I want to say that 1 don't 
think that the Stringfellow method is a 
good habit to get into unless one qualifies 
every assertion that he makes. If you 
take a great big tree like Mr. Hubbard 
would recommendl planting, you can’t suc¬ 
cessfully treat it that way. I have set out 
thousands of little nursery trees and taken 
off all the fibrous roots. It is. the proper 
way to plant them. Line up a row, open 
it with a spade and stick in nothing but 
little sticks. But you can’t do that with a 
five or six year old tree. 
Member—I think the success of a new¬ 
ly set tree depends as much on the weather 
following the time of setting, as the meth¬ 
od of setting. As to the Stringfellow 
method, I would say do not prune the 
roots quite so close. 
Mr. Hume—I have seen a few attempts 
at setting trees by the Stringfellow meth¬ 
od which were entirely successful. I have 
seen some that were a dismal failure. It 
requires careful study of the conditions, of 
the soil, of the weather and of the kind 
of tree you are planting before you de¬ 
termine whether you are going to plant 
by the Stringfellow method. He makes 
absolutely no exception tO’ the kind, char¬ 
acter, or size of the tree, and I think any¬ 
one who fohows him implicitly is going 
to get into pretty deep water 
Mr. Hoard—Three years ago, I moved 
600 bearing trees without losing a single 
tree. Some of them had had a ]);vx of 
oranges the vear before, andl I saved all 
the roots I could get. 
Mr. Hart—I am not advocating the 
Stringfellow method in all cases, or any¬ 
thing of the kind. I l)rought the sul)ject 
up to- see what experience others had liad. 
1 am interested in it. All my earb' ex- 
])erience was much in that line in the 
planting of trees. Wdien I came tli.e 
east coast all of our groA'es were set out 
