FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
' 50 
the tree or prevent full and regular bear¬ 
ing, cause dropping and undersize of the 
fruit; and invite many of the troubles, 
such as dieback, withertip and other cit¬ 
rus diseases; hence the necessity of a soil 
well filled with humus, made alive with 
nitrifying bacteria and capable of admit¬ 
ting the air to a goodly depth. 
Now, as to whether my theory is good 
in actual practice, I wish to say I have 
seen some demonstrations, proving my 
point. Where the legumes are grown and 
progressively deep plowing is practiced, 
and where proper cultivation is kept up, 
there is a considerably less demand by the 
trees for commercial fertilizers, and in the 
end the grove has been produced more 
rapidly, and at less cost. The only restric¬ 
tion I would suggest is not to run this 
process of soil building on into the grove 
after it comes into bearing, but the plow¬ 
ing to a depth of 15 or 18 inches with 
disc or turning plow and subsoiler should 
recede from the trees as the roots take 
possession of the land, until, by bearing, 
the process will have been eliminated. 
Another point that possibly may need a 
little notice in passing is the fact that too 
much organic ammonia will cause dieback, 
but we are loath to believe that the above 
treatment of soil with a sufficiency of the 
basic elements applied would even produce 
unsanitary conditions, and without unsan¬ 
itary conditions of soils physiological 
troubles need not be feared. 
Relative to the cultivation of these soils, 
we should say it is good practice to keep 
the hoe and harrow going about the young 
trees in order to keep the soil active and 
productive, and to keep down weeds dur¬ 
ing the growing period of the trees; in¬ 
deed, heavy growing weeds, like beggar, 
that would rise up and shade the trees, 
should be kept back to a goodly distance 
from the trees all times of the year. When 
the grove comes to bearing we have seen 
that it is advisable to keep up the rapid 
shallow cultivation during winter and 
spring, connecting the cultivation with the 
rainy season, whether it be early or late. 
As to what implements should be em¬ 
ployed in doing this work would depend 
largely on the condition of the soil as to 
whether clean or littered. Ordinarily the 
work can be begun with a disc and con¬ 
tinued with the Acme harrow. That this 
method is obviously better than non-culti¬ 
vation is proven by the fact that these 
soils are free and open, readily yielding up 
their fertility and moisture; and, if the 
cover crop is on the ground during the 
"growing and bearing period, the trees will 
be largely robbed of their food properties 
and both the tree and its fruit must suffer 
in consequence. 
Then in summing up we should advise: 
Start the process of soil building when 
the grove is planted, use basic materials 
to keep the soils in healthful condition and 
the young trees protected from weeds. 
In the bearing grove an occasional shal¬ 
low plowing in the late fall, rapid, shallow 
cultivation during winter and spring, and 
permitting the cover crop in summer and 
fall, would be possibly our best and most 
economical means of handling the sandy 
uplands of south central Florida. And 
thus, so far as the soil is related to the 
health and growth of the trees, handling 
the citrus grove would be much improved. 
