38 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
statement the question will be raised as 
to expense. When you consider that the 
market will give you a fine price for 
large fruit, bright fruit; that an orange 
affected by scale is injured in its quality, 
and sum the whole matter up, you will 
find about 200 per cent, against you, for 
any grove that will produce from five 
hundred boxes up; and you will see that 
you are in pocket a profit of 700 per cent, 
on the most costly spraying you can use. 
In my experience of past seasons I was 
troubled for years with scale. Now, in 
about 2,600 trees I doubt if you could 
find many scale from end to end. 
Mr. Hart's position is a very strong 
one. I have seen the results he has ob¬ 
tained, and they are good. I argue, Mr. 
Hart’s location is unique. I can show 
groves in my section that have never 
been sprayed and that have had the scale 
for fifteen years (ever since I have been 
in the State.) I have seen trees abso¬ 
lutely killed with the scale, and I have 
seen them thus not in one case but in a 
number. In Mr. Hart’s location, were I 
putting out a grove next to his, I would 
follow his methods, but I do say that 
spraying should be looked upon as a 
fixed charge upon the growing of fine 
fruit, and that with it you can obtain de¬ 
sired results all over the State without 
reference to location. 
SPRAYING IN THE BLOOM. 
Mr. Waite—What effect does this 
spraying have on bees and the setting of 
fruit? 
Mr. Porcher—No bad effect on bees. 
Even the spraying of water would have 
bad results generally on bloom. The 
trees sprayed during bloom are heavily 
laden, however. The proportion of 
caustic potash to whale oil soap is one to 
four, that is, a quarter of a pound to a 
gallon of water. That proportion was 
sprayed upon the bloom without refer¬ 
ence to them. It went right into the 
bloom. We were spraying for the pur¬ 
ple mite and the trees were heavily laden 
with bloom. A bee will be attracted 
very often by the disagreeable smell. 
The thrips is destroyed, and I am quite 
sure it would be very difficult to find 
thrips upon the bloom in my grove, and 
as far as I have been able to examine the 
fruit, there is not an orange that has a 
thrips upon it, or is thrips marked. 
Mr. Phelps—This orange that Mr. 
Hart has handed up to the paltform as 
being wet so long, I find by actual test 
of it that there is at least 50 per cent, of 
water in the juice, and a large amount of 
acid has gone to the rind. Otherwise 
the orange seems to be well preserved. 
The juice is very thin indeed and the 
acid that gives the flavor has ben ab¬ 
sorbed largely in the rind. 
Mr. Hart—Do you think the flavor is 
less than it would have been if dry? 
Mr. Phelps—It is probably better pre¬ 
served than if left to evaporate. 
Mr. Porcher—I am agent of the In¬ 
dian river orange growers. As said 
agent it is my duty to do or to have done 
the work of inspection. We have found 
a variety of conditions as to carrying 
quality of fruit. We have not all perfect 
fruit. We have not all perfect carrying 
fruit, and I must emphasize the fact that 
we do not claim to have all the brains of 
the State on the East Coast. We have 
found, however, that to refuse any form 
of organic matter in fertilizing has been 
absolutely our safeguard. Use chemical 
fertilizer and mulching. Take pine 
needles if you can’t get anything better. 
