48 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
If they have a piece of flatwoods land that 
is naturally acid from the nature of the 
growth on it, clear and plant without a 
chance to lime and sweeten the soil, what 
can you expect the first two or three 
years ? The trees may live but will simply 
stand still barely holding their own; then 
the tree man, the fertilizer man or the 
country gets the blame and the disap¬ 
pointed grower will say the land is worth¬ 
less for citrus fruits. On the other hand, 
had he prepared the soil thoroughly, limed 
it well and grown a crop of legumes on 
it to encourage the bacteria as an aid in 
breaking down the fertilizing material on 
the soil, and then planted his trees, at the 
end of the three or four years he w r ould 
have had a far better grove than he could 
possibly have had by starting his trees 
at once. 
Another serious proposition through¬ 
out the entire state is the matter of the 
absentee landlord. People come and start 
groves and put them into the hands, in 
very many cases, of incompetent people 
to care for them. Many of these groves 
are cared for at so much per acre. The 
owner knows little or nothing as to the 
cost or practice of properly caring for a 
grove. He depends upon hearsay in the 
neighborhood where he is located and 
makes a contract with some one who 
probably does not know, and often does 
not care. The caretaker has agreed to 
care for the grove at a certain price and 
he may pay a reasonable portion of the 
price into the care of the grove, and 
he may not. But, as many of you know, 
at the end of the year when the owner 
comes back to see the grove, he is disap¬ 
pointed and discouraged. Then, instead 
of giving the grove what it needs, he be¬ 
gins to tighten up on his purse strings, 
and the result is at the end of the second 
year, he has no grove and only condem¬ 
nation for the state. 
It is a very serious proposition and a 
drawback to the development of the state 
in many sections. It gives the industry 
a “black eye.” It has a tendency to dis¬ 
courage many who come here to stay and 
build homes. 
As to the best methods of handling 
bearing groves, I hope that will be thor¬ 
oughly brought out in the discussion that 
will probably follow, as that is going to 
depend very largely upon (the various 
soils and local conditions, such as I have 
mentioned. I would say, however, that I 
believe from the observation I have had 
in many sections of the state, that the 
less you cultivate and plow the old bear¬ 
ing groves, the better off you are, pro¬ 
vided you keep some cover crop coming 
on in the grove, with as little cultivation 
as possible. There is the Kudzu Vine 
that I would like to see experimented with 
more generally, possibly some of the 
growers here have had experience with it. 
I believe it is going to be a great thing 
for bearing groves where you want to 
largely cease plowing and cultivation. It 
is a perennial legunimous plant and keeps 
a thorough cover crop on the ground. I 
think it will be a wonderful help in caring 
for old bearing groves. 
Jack Peters 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
The ultimate object in the planting and 
raising an orange grove is the net profit 
